May 3, 2023 

Where we work is often a central part of our identity. And it’s more than a cliché conversation starter - Opening a brokerage account - Where do you work? Need a car loan - Where do you work? Applying for insurance - Where do you work? But it’s also something most interested parties really don’t bother checking on unless something is going wrong… and then it’s probably too late. 

Microsoft is piloting a job verification scheme based on their Verified ID offering; employees can authenticate through their employer to generate a Verifiable Credential that can be held in the Microsoft Authenticator wallet. This VC can be presented at relying verifiers, such as LinkedIn, as a proof of employee relationship with the issuing employer.

For enterprises already using Azure AD for employee authentication, the setup looks straight-forward. The enterprise can enable Verified ID via the Azure Portal, and as employees already have the MS Authenticator mobile app for MFA they only need to scan a QR code from their mobile device to receive the VC Card. I set up Skavi Dev for a demo through the tutorial and with a couple configurations and tweaks of the demo app quickly had a Verifiable Credential in the MS Authenticator wallet. 

In waiting on the next step - setup with LinkedIn to establish a relationship between the issuing authority vc.skavi.dev and the employer Skavi Dev - I'm thinking about a few things: 

• A VC is only interesting if there is a verifier that wants to see it - (similar to the challenge I've run into with Utah's Mobile ID (mDL) not being accepted by TSA at the airport)

• It will be interesting to watch how the interoperability develops with VC - using a wallet and issuing authority of your choice - and see it demonstrated for this use case