LockChain
Frequently Asked Questions
We didn't just choose any blockchain. We chose Bitcoin. No single person, organization, or government can alter Bitcoin's timestamp server, making it an ideal choice for our purposes. Although Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto to facilitate peer-to-peer cash transactions without needing a trusted intermediary, its ledger offers unparalleled immutable capabilities. This makes it an invaluable tool for combating the rising threat of deepfake and AI generated impersonations.
Embedding arbitrary data on Bitcoin may draw criticism, yet our usage—securing digital identities and data with a valid and meaningful application—justifies our approach. Each user enrollment involves a single transaction. Subsequent QR code generations and identity verifications are not Bitcoin transactions, but rather special block explorer APIs that fetch the null script containing your public key from the transaction hash that's saved to the user LockChain account. One enrollment embeds a 32 byte hash and 11 bytes of other transaction data outputs onto Bitcoin's ledger. To put this in perspective, the entire Bitcoin ledger currently occupies about 551 gigabytes. For LockChain to add just 1 gigabyte of data to the blockchain by enrolling 1 user, it would take 24,970,740 users.
For those interested in Bitcoin and how we integrate with it, we encourage visiting our blog page for detailed insights.
Deepfake technology represents a significant threat to our digital security. At LockChain, we're proactively addressing this challenge. We anticipate that between mid-2024 and late-2025, AI-generated videos will become indistinguishable from real footage, presenting a challenge akin to the Turing Test's evaluation of AI's capacity to imitate human intelligence. However, in this case, the focus shifts from AI's conversational abilities to its potential to produce images or videos so lifelike that people cannot tell them apart from genuine human-created content. This issue goes beyond merely deceiving individuals; it has the potential for grave consequences. For instance, a manipulated video of a political leader making a war declaration could trigger real-world conflicts, or altered videos could unfairly influence elections. On a personal level, consider the distress caused to a grandparent tricked by a fake video call from a scammer pretending to be a family member.
At LockChain, our mission is clear: to safeguard genuine human-to-human connections. We leverage the one feature AI and robots can't replicate – biometrics. Through our technology, we ensure that when you're interacting with someone, they are exactly who they say they are.
Whether you're a politician, CEO, influencer, or simply staying connected with friends and family, LockChain safeguards your identity and ensures your content remains authentic to your audience. Create Bitcoin-secured QR codes for website links, event dates, location, messages or any input you desire.
Here's how it works:
Enroll
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Verification: You must verify you are the owner of the device and that you are human.
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Key Pair Generation: Your device securely generates a unique pair of keys after verification. One of these keys is private and stored securely on your device, while the other, the public key, is shared.
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Blockchain Integration: The public key is uploaded to Bitcoin's ledger, providing a tamper-proof and immutable record that anyone in your audience can verify for themselves.
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Database: Both your public key and its corresponding transaction ID from the blockchain are saved in the app's secure database for quick retrieval. Please note, if you lose your device, you will lose your private key and thus claim to that transaction ID. Our code will not offer recovery seed phrases because we will not take any chances of identity theft from misplaced seeds. If you lose your device, you will have to create a new account and enroll again.
Verify Yourself
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QR Code Creation: After verifying your identity and that you are a human through a biometric check, the system signs your content input (URL, link, text) with your private key and generates a QR code. This QR code includes the content input, signature, timestamp, public key,, transaction ID and if desired, your social account, offering a comprehensive snapshot of your digital identity verification.
This method ensures a seamless and secure way to maintain and verify your digital identity using just your smartphone.
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After your public key is secured on the Bitcoin network with LockChain, you have three distinct methods to claim your identity to show others who are scanning your code:
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Social Media Integration: Easily connect your social media accounts to the LockChain app. When you share a QR code with your audience, it will be associated with your social media profile—whether you use your real name or a pseudonym. This ensures your followers can trust it's genuinely you.
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Government ID Verification (Future update): For those needing stringent verification, such as celebrities, politicians, and other high-profile individuals, LockChain allows you to authenticate your account with our KYC (Know Your Customer) partner using your government-issued ID. This level of authentication reassures your audience of your identity.
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Anonymous Option: Prefer to stay anonymous? That's entirely possible. If you opt not to link social media or an ID, the QR code you generate will only display your public key, which is a 32-byte random string hash—effectively gibberish to anyone not in the know. This option is perfect for private or confidential communications, ensuring only intended parties recognize your identity.
Choose the method that best fits your needs and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with secure, blockchain-based identity verification.
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LockChain engages with Bitcoin's network through transactions and block explorers. Here’s how it works:
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Transactions for Enrollment: To add your identity to the blockchain, the hash of your public key is incorporated into a Bitcoin transaction. The same process applies for uploading file data. Each transaction incurs a fee, which compensates miners for generating the next block that includes your transaction. To embed your data and identity into a transaction, we utilize the OP_RETURN field, a special feature allowing the inclusion of a brief, fixed message within a Bitcoin transaction. Once confirmed, this message becomes a permanent part of the blockchain. The cost for enrolling your fingerprint or uploading data consists of this transaction fee plus a service fee from us.
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Block Explorers: The second interaction type involves querying the blockchain, which our app does at no cost. By leveraging specific APIs, our software can search the blockchain's history for any data you've previously added to the ledger. You also have access to your transaction ID and public key if you prefer to verify yourself others using your own methods.
Bitcoin's technology might seem daunting at first glance. For those new to the concept, we highly recommend visiting our blog post for a deeper dive into this technology: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Bitcoin protocol. This resource is designed to help you understand the basics and appreciate the benefits of the world's most secure and decentralized timestamp server.
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If you're interested in our services, don't forget to explore our Pricing page for details on our tiered plans and their benefits. Our mission is to make identity verification accessible to everyone worldwide at no cost. Here's what we offer for free and what comes with a fee:
Free Services:
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App Download: Completely free.
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Verify Others: Verifying other users or your files on the app costs you nothing.
Paid Services:
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Enrollment Fee: Enrolling your identity involves a fee. This fee varies across different tiers, with the V.I.P. tier offering enrollment at no cost as we cover it for you.
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Data Upload: Uploading file hashes to the blockchain incurs a fee as it is considered a transaction.
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QR Code Generation: Verifying your content and identity to your audience requires selecting a plan that fits your verification needs. For those with a significant following who value frequent verification, the V.I.P. plan offers unlimited verified QR code generations, including more. Casual influencers might find the Pro or Advanced plan more suitable, allowing for up to 3 or 10 verifications per month, respectively. The basic plan permits one verification per month, free of charge. However once a QR code is generated, you have access to it forever.
For a deeper understanding of what each plan offers and to find the one that best suits your needs, please visit our Pricing page.
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If you ever find yourself without your Android device—whether it's lost or stolen—you might wonder what happens to your identity within our app. Let's set your mind at ease: your identity is safe. Here's why:
Your app's magic lies in its ability to recognize you, and it does this through a unique key that's as individual as your fingerprint. However, unlike a keychain that holds your keys, this "digital key" doesn't actually hold your identity; it's more like a special handshake that lets the app know it's really you. When you set up your identity in the app, this handshake (or public key, in tech-speak) gets a secure spot on the blockchain that no one can tamper with—not us, not the government, nobody.
Now, here's the crucial part: if your device is ever lost or stolen, nobody else can pretend to be you. That's because the secret part of your handshake stays secret, known only to you (or, more accurately, your device). The moment you enroll or sign in, the app doesn't keep any traces of this secret. It's like writing a note with disappearing ink; once it's done its job, it's gone. All the app does is send a digital "nod" to the blockchain, saying, "Yep, it's them," and then forgets everything.
So, what if someone else gets their hands on your device? Well, without your unique "secret," all they have is a device that doesn't know the special handshake. They can't access your account, create codes, or impersonate you. It's as if they have a keychain with no keys.
In the unfortunate event that you lose your device or have it stolen, since LockChain does not offer you a seed phrase for the keypair, you will have to Enroll again. Even if in the unlikely event somebody accesses your account and device at the same time, they would still not be able to impersonate you since they don't have access to your fingerprint which guards your private key. And physically extracting a private key from Android's Keystore is nearly impossible due to the device's high security modules.
Well... truth is you don't need to use our app to scan QR codes. But you might prefer to. Let us explain. Try scanning the example QR code on our Pricing page using just the camera on your phone, whether it's an Android or iOS device. When you do, your device will read a string of characters which is actually raw JSON output — a special data format that our system uses to store your information securely. While you can view this data with any QR scanner, our LockChain app is designed to interpret this data automatically. It contains special code to verify the authenticity of the information and to provide a user friendly interface to do so. The QR code includes a digital signature, created using your private key from Enrollment. This signature, along with your public key also embedded in the QR code, allows our system to perform cryptographic checks to confirm that the content really came from you. Moreover, if you’re using a social account like Twitter to claim your public key, our servers will also verify that your Twitter account is linked to your public key, adding an extra layer of assurance for your audience that the content genuinely originates from your account.
Put it this way: did you know you can manually create a bitcoin wallet by rolling dice 256 times? But should you? This method is time consuming, complicated and error-prone. Many simply opt to just let an app create a wallet for them. LockChain is similar in this context. You can choose to manually verify everything in the QR code yourself, diving deep into the technical details, or you can simply use our app to handle it all effortlessly. Whether you choose to explore the data manually or let our app do the work, the choice is yours!
We're sorry to see you leave! If you decide to delete your account, please be aware that this will permanently remove all your saved data, including transaction IDs, public keys, QR codes, and private keys stored on your device. To proceed, simply navigate to "Settings" in the app, select "Delete Account," and follow the on-screen instructions. We're here to help every step of the way!