Steven McCown

Steven McCown is a Chief Architect at Anonyome Labs and conducts R&D for security and privacy technologies, including:  encrypted messaging, decentralized identity, reusable credentials, secure payments, ledger-based applications, and other cryptographic solutions.  He currently serves in leadership positions at the Decentralized Identity Foundation, Trust Over IP, and is a Commissioner on the Utah Privacy Commission.

During his career, McCown has invented several patented mobile payment and security technologies.  In 2008, McCown co-founded RFinity Corporation and launched a mobile payment system for customers to make purchases by tapping their phone on a NFC-compatible credit card terminals. While at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL; U.S. Dept. of Energy), he performed security vulnerability discovery for computing systems and mobile devices.  He also created a method for common cellphones to detect ionizing radiation (from ‘dirty bombs’) and ‘phone home’ to alert first responders.  While serving as a U.S. Air Force officer, he led virtual reality research and built post-mission analysis systems for the AWACS aircraft.  

McCown has earned B.S. & M.S. degrees in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, holds Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) certifications, and is an inventor on 32 patents.