Moving into the world where everything seems to be digitized, the process of things that previously were tedious can be more streamlined.
But by bringing the two together, people's digital lives are also getting closer to the real world. As a result, a growing number of services require users to show their real-life ID for authorization.
Telegram here wants to be part of it by launching a feature called 'Passport'.
What it does, is allowing users to store their IDs, birth certificate, any government document, or any identifiable information in its servers.
By having them on Telegram, users can ease the process of authorization on services that require personal identification.
Telegram calls the feature a "unified authorization method for services that require personal identification."
Based on the nature of Telegram, the identifiable IDs and documents uploaded to the its servers are encrypted using end-to-end encryption. What this means, any documents and personal data will show as "random gibberish" to anyone else, including to Telegram.
Only the owner of the data can access the information.
To further secure users' data, Telegram also has plans to move them to a decentralized cloud which removes intermediaries, enabling users to control their personal data.
To use the feature, all users need to do is just upload their documents. After that, they can then use it for services that support this Telegram Passport feature, for either registration or verification.
Among the first to support Telegram Passport, is ePayments.com.
Hoping that more services would use its authorization method, Telegram encourages developers to connect their apps and services to Passport. They can do that all for free.Telegram also has plans to introduce third-party verification to Passport so apps won't even have to access users' documents, and just rely on Telegram as a verification provider.
"All developers are welcome to integrate Telegram Passport into their apps and services free of charge. It takes minimum effort and can save many hours of coding," said Telegram.