GINC Technology
Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies

Privacy, Identity & Trust Technologies

The capacity to establish digital trust: privacy-enhancing technologies, digital identity, cryptographic and distributed systems of record, and the technologies that let strangers transact and states verify.

Capability group
Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies
Domain
Critical Technology · Hard Power
Identifier
factbase.org/cap/NQRD0HNM08
Reference
Distributed ledger Wikipedia

Papers

58.4k

2020–2024

Paper growth

+325%

2020–24 on 2015–19

Patent families

166.7k

2020–2024

Filed abroad

21%

families in more than one office

Framework

What it covers

What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.

Bounds

Covers trust technology as a family; national identity and payment systems built on it belong to Strategic Infrastructure and governance, and financial applications to the economic domains.

Lineage

Carried from v0.0 (formerly Distributed ledgers) with the same identifier; recast from a single data architecture to the family of trust technologies that architecture exemplifies, the widest rename in the release, carried because the underlying capacity, trust without central authority, is continuous.

Indicators

  • research publication share in cryptography and privacy technologiesResearch
  • digital identity systems deployed at national scalePending
Research

Who publishes it

Papers classified to the capability, by year and by the nation of their authors' institutions, 2020–2024. Read from the v0.0 research topic Distributed ledgers.

Papers by year

The five leading nations, papers by year

Share of papers, 2020–2024

Of papers with a known author nation; 29% have none and are left out.

  1. 1China18.7%9,749 papers
  2. 2India15.2%7,908 papers
  3. 3United States9.2%4,777 papers
  4. 4United Kingdom4.4%2,269 papers
  5. 5Australia3.0%1,545 papers
  6. 6Canada2.5%1,296 papers
  7. 7Saudi Arabia2.4%1,271 papers
  8. 8Italy2.3%1,181 papers
  9. 9South Korea1.9%1,013 papers
  10. 10Germany1.9%1,009 papers

Leading institutions, 2020–2024

By fractional count: each paper divided among its authors' institutions.

  1. 1Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications280fractional papers
  2. 2Vellore Institute of Technology University241fractional papers
  3. 3SRM Institute of Science and Technology228fractional papers
  4. 4University of Electronic Science and Technology of China203fractional papers
  5. 5Sun Yat-sen University172fractional papers
  6. 6Beijing Institute of Technology152fractional papers
  7. 7Chandigarh University143fractional papers
  8. 8Chitkara University124fractional papers
  9. 9Lovely Professional University119fractional papers
  10. 10Beihang University117fractional papers
Patents

Who patents it

Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.

Families by priority year

The five leading origins, families by year

28,741 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 8% of families (HHI 29 of 10,000: unconcentrated).

Share of families by origin, 2020–2024

  1. 1China65.2%108,689 families
  2. 2United States13.8%23,059 families
  3. 3South Korea8.0%13,357 families
  4. 4Japan4.1%6,910 families
  5. 5Germany1.7%2,781 families
  6. 6Taiwan0.9%1,559 families
  7. 7France0.9%1,432 families
  8. 8United Kingdom0.6%986 families
  9. 9Switzerland0.6%948 families
  10. 10Canada0.5%818 families

Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024

Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.

  1. 1HUAWEI TECH CO LTD2,890international families
  2. 2SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD2,366international families
  3. 3ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD1,203international families
  4. 4MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC1,201international families
  5. 5NEC CORP1,041international families
  6. 6ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M992international families
  7. 7ZTE CORP889international families
  8. 8INTEL CORP824international families
  9. 9ADVANCED NEW TECHNOLOGIES CO LTD809international families
  10. 10QUALCOMM INC751international families

Classification read

  • H04L9/00 Cryptography: encryption, keys, signatures, blockchains, homomorphic encryption · 1.3m documents
  • G06F21/30 Authentication of users and devices, including biometrics · 401.5k documents
  • G06F21/6245 Protecting personal data, including anonymisation · 103.2k documents
  • G06F21/64 Data integrity through signatures and certificates · 87.9k documents
  • H04L63/08 Authentication of entities over networks · 488.7k documents
  • H04W12/02 Privacy and anonymity in wireless networks · 42.3k documents
  • H04W12/06 Authentication in wireless networks · 216.6k documents

Shares inventions with

Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).

Companies

Who makes it

The companies that research, design, make, supply and operate the technology, the global leaders and the leading firms of every region.

50 companies in this capability, from 23 nations across 7 regions. Sorted by how experts see each company's global relevance in the field, from very high to very low.

  1. Very high4 companies
  2. 1

    United StatesMicrosoft

    Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the world's most widely used enterprise identity platform, and Microsoft also leads in passkey/FIDO, verified ID and confidential computing patents and deployments.

    Very high relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Redmond · founded 1975 · 228k staff

  3. 2

    FranceThales

    Through the former Gemalto, Thales is a top supplier of SIM/eSIM, payment and ID cards, ePassports, hardware security modules (Luna HSM) and the CipherTrust encryption and key-management platform.

    Very high relevance · Systems integration · France, Paris · founded 1893 · 83k staff

  4. 3

    FranceIDEMIA

    Leading biometric identity firm (formed from Oberthur Technologies and Safran Morpho) whose IDEMIA Public Security biometrics and secure transactions businesses serve border, police and national ID programmes worldwide; its Smart Identity unit was sold to IN Groupe in 2024.

    Very high relevance · Software & platforms · France, Courbevoie · founded 2017

  5. 4

    United StatesOkta

    Largest independent identity-as-a-service vendor, providing workforce and customer identity (Auth0) single sign-on, MFA and lifecycle management to tens of thousands of organisations.

    Very high relevance · Software & platforms · United States, San Francisco · founded 2009 · 5,914 staff

  6. High11 companies
  7. 5

    ChinaAnt Group

    Among the largest global filers of blockchain and privacy-computing patents (including via Advanced New Technologies), operating AntChain/ZAN consortium blockchain and the Yinyu privacy-preserving computation platform.

    High relevance · Operations & infrastructure · China, Hangzhou · founded 2014

  8. 6

    GermanyInfineon Technologies

    World leader in security microcontrollers for ePassports, ID and payment cards, TPMs and embedded secure elements (OPTIGA), and a pioneer of post-quantum secure chips.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Germany, Neubiberg · founded 1999 · 58k staff

  9. 7

    NetherlandsNXP Semiconductors

    Major supplier of secure element, NFC and electronic-ID chips used in ePassports, national ID cards, MIFARE access credentials and mobile wallets.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Netherlands, Eindhoven · founded 2006 · 33k staff

  10. 8

    United StatesIBM

    Co-originator of Hyperledger Fabric, co-author of NIST post-quantum standards (CRYSTALS-Kyber/Dilithium), pioneer of fully homomorphic encryption research and vendor of IBM Verify identity software.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Armonk · founded 1911 · 270k staff

  11. 9

    IsraelCyberArk

    Global leader in privileged access and machine identity security (including Venafi, acquired 2024); Palo Alto Networks agreed in 2025 to acquire it.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · Israel, Petah Tikva · founded 1999

  12. 10

    United StatesEntrust

    Supplies PKI, nShield hardware security modules, card and passport issuance systems and, through its 2024 acquisition of Onfido, AI-based identity verification.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Shakopee · founded 1969

  13. 11

    GermanyGiesecke+Devrient

    Produces secure ID documents, eSIM and smart-card platforms, and through Veridos (with Bundesdruckerei) and secunet delivers national identity and high-assurance encryption systems.

    High relevance · Hardware & devices · Germany, Munich · founded 1852

  14. 12

    JapanNEC

    Its face and fingerprint recognition engines rank at the top of NIST benchmarks and underpin national ID, border and India's Aadhaar biometric systems; it is a top-five patent applicant in this capability.

    High relevance · Professional & data services · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1899 · 105k staff

  15. 13

    United StatesPing Identity

    Major enterprise and customer identity vendor, merged with ForgeRock under Thoma Bravo in 2023, and a contributor to OpenID and decentralised-identity standards.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Denver · founded 2002

  16. 14

    United StatesDigiCert

    One of the largest commercial certificate authorities, issuing TLS/SSL, code-signing and document-signing certificates and running PKI trust management for enterprises and IoT.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Lehi · founded 2003

  17. 15

    United StatesSailPoint

    Market leader in identity governance and administration, controlling who has access to what across large enterprises; it relisted on Nasdaq in 2025.

    High relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Austin · founded 2005

  18. Moderate14 companies
  19. 16

    ChinaHuawei

    Top international patent applicant in this capability, covering authentication, trusted execution, network security and identity in telecom and device systems, plus its Huawei Cloud blockchain service.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · China, Shenzhen · founded 1987 · 208k staff

  20. 17

    South KoreaSamsung Electronics

    Second-largest international patent applicant in this capability, producing secure element and biometric ID chips and the Knox device-trust and Samsung Wallet digital-ID platform.

    Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · South Korea, Suwon · founded 1969 · 268k staff

  21. 18

    ChinaTencent

    Operates real-name identity verification for over a billion WeChat users, the TrustSQL/TBaaS blockchain service and the open-source FISCO BCOS consortium chain via WeBank.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · China, Shenzhen · founded 1998 · 111k staff

  22. 19

    United StatesChainalysis

    Leading blockchain analytics provider used by governments and exchanges to trace transactions on distributed ledgers and attribute on-chain identity.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · United States, New York · founded 2014

  23. 20

    United StatesConsensys

    Ethereum software company behind MetaMask (self-custodial wallet and identity), Infura node infrastructure and the Linea zero-knowledge rollup.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · United States, New York · founded 2014

  24. 21

    FranceZama

    Leading developer of open-source fully homomorphic encryption libraries (TFHE-rs, Concrete) and the first FHE unicorn after its 2025 funding round.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · France, Paris · founded 2020

  25. 22

    IsraelStarkWare

    Co-inventor of STARK zero-knowledge proofs and operator of the Starknet validity-rollup network, a key verifiable-computation technology.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · Israel, Netanya · founded 2018

  26. 23

    United StatesJumio

    Major provider of AI-driven ID document verification, liveness detection and KYC identity proofing for banks and platforms.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · United States, Sunnyvale · founded 2010

  27. 24

    Canada1Password

    Leading password and passkey manager with end-to-end encrypted vaults used by over 150,000 businesses, and an active FIDO Alliance passkey adopter.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · Canada, Toronto · founded 2005

  28. 25

    JapanDai Nippon Printing

    Japan's largest maker of IC cards, SIMs and security printing, and a provider of authentication and personal-data platforms including My Number card infrastructure.

    Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1876

  29. 26

    GermanyBundesdruckerei

    German federal company producing passports and ID cards and, through D-Trust, operating a qualified trust service provider for electronic signatures and certificates.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Germany, Berlin · founded 1951

  30. 27

    IsraelAU10TIX

    Automated identity-verification provider used by major platforms (e.g. Uber, PayPal, X) for document authentication and fraud detection.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · Israel, Hod HaSharon · founded 2002

  31. 28

    United StatesIncode Technologies

    Mexican-founded biometric identity-verification unicorn with a large share of the Latin American bank and government onboarding market.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · United States, San Francisco · founded 2015

  32. 29

    EstoniaVeriff

    Estonian AI-based identity verification company serving global fintech, mobility and gaming platforms across more than 230 countries and territories.

    Moderate relevance · Software & platforms · Estonia, Tallinn · founded 2015

  33. Low16 companies
  34. 30

    United KingdomR3

    Developer of the Corda permissioned distributed-ledger platform and Conclave confidential computing, used by central banks and financial market infrastructures.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · United Kingdom, London · founded 2014

  35. 31

    United KingdomYoti

    Provides reusable digital ID apps, privacy-preserving facial age estimation and certified digital identity services under the UK trust framework.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · United Kingdom, London · founded 2014

  36. 32

    ChinaHangzhou Qulian Technology (Hyperchain)

    Developer of the Hyperchain consortium blockchain platform, one of China's most-deployed enterprise ledgers in government, finance and supply chain.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · China, Hangzhou · founded 2016

  37. 33

    NorwaySignicat

    Europe's largest digital identity aggregator, connecting dozens of national eIDs (BankID, itsme and others) with e-signature and identity proofing.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · Norway, Trondheim · founded 2006

  38. 34

    SwitzerlandWISeKey

    Root certificate authority (OISTE) and, through SEALSQ, maker of secure microcontrollers and post-quantum chips for IoT device identity.

    Low relevance · Professional & data services · Switzerland, Geneva · founded 1999

  39. 35

    IndiaeMudhra

    India's largest licensed certifying authority for digital signature certificates and a PKI, eSign and identity-management vendor active in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

    Low relevance · Operations & infrastructure · India, Bengaluru · founded 2008

  40. 36

    IndiaProtean eGov Technologies

    Runs core Indian identity infrastructure services, including PAN issuance, Aadhaar authentication and eSign, and is a builder of the country's digital public infrastructure.

    Low relevance · Operations & infrastructure · India, Mumbai · founded 1995

  41. 37

    South KoreaRaonSecure

    Korean leader in FIDO biometric authentication and blockchain-based decentralised identity, supplying the government's mobile ID and OmniOne DID platform.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · South Korea, Seoul · founded 1998

  42. 38

    Saudi ArabiaElm Company

    Majority owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Elm builds and runs the Absher e-government platform and the Nafath national digital identity and authentication service.

    Low relevance · Professional & data services · Saudi Arabia, Riyadh · founded 1988

  43. 39

    PolandAsseco Poland

    Through Asseco Data Systems it operates the Certum certificate authority and qualified trust services, and it integrates e-ID and PKI systems across Central and Eastern Europe.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · Poland, Rzeszów · founded 1991

  44. 40

    EstoniaCybernetica

    Co-developer of Estonia's X-Road data exchange layer, internet voting and the Sharemind secure multi-party computation platform, exported to more than 35 countries.

    Low relevance · Research & IP · Estonia, Tallinn · founded 1997

  45. 41

    BrazilUnico

    Brazil's largest digital-identity company (unico IDtech), running biometric facial authentication for most of the country's large banks and retailers.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · Brazil, São Paulo · founded 2007

  46. 42

    BrazilValid Soluções

    Major Latin American producer of ID documents, driver's licences and SIM/eSIM cards, and a digital certification and identity services provider.

    Low relevance · Hardware & devices · Brazil, Rio de Janeiro · founded 1957

  47. 43

    South AfricaEntersekt

    South African developer of patented mobile push authentication and 3-D Secure identity solutions used by banks across Africa, Europe and the US.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · South Africa, Stellenbosch · founded 2008

  48. 44

    NigeriaSmile ID

    Africa's leading KYC and biometric identity-verification provider, connected to national ID databases in more than 50 African countries.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · Nigeria, Lagos · founded 2017

  49. 45

    SingaporeV-Key

    Singaporean developer of the V-OS virtual secure element and software token used by Asian banks and government digital-ID apps for mobile authentication.

    Low relevance · Software & platforms · Singapore, Singapore · founded 2011

  50. Very low5 companies
  51. 46

    BrazilSerpro

    Brazilian federal data-processing company that runs government identity data services (Datavalid biometric validation, CPF data) and the Serpro certificate authority within ICP-Brasil.

    Very low relevance · Professional & data services · Brazil, Brasília · founded 1964

  52. 47

    NigeriaSeamfix

    Nigerian identity-management firm whose biometric capture platform (iClocker, BioRegistra) powered SIM registration and National Identification Number enrolment for Nigerian telcos.

    Very low relevance · Software & platforms · Nigeria, Lagos · founded 2008

  53. 48

    United Arab EmiratesTechnology Innovation Institute

    Government-backed applied research centre whose Cryptography Research Center develops post-quantum, lightweight and homomorphic cryptography libraries for the UAE.

    Very low relevance · Research & IP · United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi · founded 2020

  54. 49

    IndonesiaVIDA (PT Indonesia Digital Identity)

    Licensed Indonesian certificate authority (PSrE) providing digital identity verification, certified e-signatures and fraud prevention to banks and fintechs.

    Very low relevance · Professional & data services · Indonesia, Jakarta · founded 2018

  55. 50

    ArgentinaVeriTran

    Argentine low-code digital-banking platform with built-in patented authentication and transaction-security technology, used by major Latin American banks.

    Very low relevance · Software & platforms · Argentina, Buenos Aires · founded 2008

These companies in the Companies table →