SOUTHWARK, U.K. - s4story -- London, UK — As LinkedIn faces growing scrutiny over its identity verification practices — requiring users to hand over passports and biometric data to a US third party — a new Slack-native platform is taking a radically different approach to professional credentials.

Doggos, launching today, offers blockchain-verified skills certifications that workers can earn, own, and carry across jobs — without surrendering biometric data to anyone.

The Problem With Centralised Verification

A recent investigation by The Local Stack revealed that LinkedIn's identity verification, powered by San Francisco-based Persona Identities Inc., collects passport scans, facial biometrics, and government ID data — all stored under US jurisdiction regardless of where the user lives. For the 42 million professionals who use LinkedIn daily, the trade-off between a blue badge and biometric privacy is increasingly uncomfortable.

A Privacy-First Alternative

Doggos takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of centralised biometric verification, skills credentials are verified through a three-layer pipeline:

• AI scanning — automated review of work submissions for quality and authenticity
• Community review — peer verification by recognised contributors
• Blockchain signing — immutable, on-chain proof that lives permanently on the public ledger

The result: verifiable proof of competence that no single company controls, and that doesn't require handing over a passport.

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19 Certifications Aligned With LinkedIn's Own Skills Data

In a pointed irony, Doggos' certification library is directly informed by LinkedIn's own research. The platform launches with 19 blockchain-verified certifications — including 9 new categories mapped to LinkedIn's 2026 "Skills on the Rise" report:

🤖 AI Prompt Engineering🧠 Machine Learning📊 Data Analytics & Storytelling⚙️ Process Automation🔒 Cyber Risk & Compliance🌐 Remote Leadership🌍 Cross-Cultural Communication📋 Strategic Planning💼 Sales & Negotiation

Each certification features 35–44 rigorous multiple-choice questions. Pass at 80%+, and your credential is written to the blockchain — portable, permanent, and verifiable by any employer without trusting a platform.

Built for the 85% Working Remotely

Doggos is purpose-built for distributed teams. Living entirely inside Slack — the operating system for remote work — it combines:

• Peer recognition — react with 🐕 to recognise great work
• Blockchain-verified credentials — skills proven on-chain, not on paper
• Community governance — a 9-seat elected council with recruiter and remote worker representation
• Multi-chain (DOGE and Solana)

Traction

• Production-live with full CI/CD pipeline and auto-rollback
• $150,000 in pre-launch soft commitments
• 10/10 security audit score
• 137 automated tests passing
• GDPR compliant with user data export and deletion

About Costwolds LLC

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Costwolds LLC helps accelerator-backed startups scale with go-to-market strategy and capital raising. Founded by Jonathan Pullinger, the company has facilitated over $7M in capital deployment across early-stage ventures.

Project website: https://doggos4slack.co.uk
Company website: https://costwoldsllc.xyz