Registration and Verification of Birth Certificate using Blockchain Technology

Abstract

The importance of a Birth certificate cannot be overemphasized as it provides age proof, means for issuance of National Identify Number, Citizenship certificate, and is required for job applications and relevant official identities like an international passport. The need to have a digitized, trustworthy, available and reliable system of Birth Certificate management is paramount. Currently, birth data/registration in most cases exists on paper or as siloes of birth records, which may differ from place to place with no form of interoperability within the same country. This implies birth information only exists at the place where birth is registered hence forgery of birth certificates is on the increase as these birth certificates and declaration of age issued by the courts are unverifiable. This jeopardizes the credibility of both the people who hold birth certificates and the government agency that issues them. This system registers birth and issues certificates, stores a digital copy of the certificate, and verifies the integrity of the certificate by the way of smart contracts on a permissioned Corda platform which uses the decentralized technology that blockchain offers. The following technologies are used: hash functions, RSA cryptography, digital signatures, peer-to-peer networks, and smart contracts in this project. The designed system guarantees a simplified registration process and offers increased data transfer, transparency, and effective record maintenance.