Summary — An SSI wallet provides a place for people to stand in the digital realm. Using the wallet, people can operationalize their digital relationships as peers with others online. The result is better, more authentic, digital relationships, more flexible online interactions, and the preservation of human freedom, privacy, and dignity. Recently…

Summary — The architecture of an identity system has a profound impact on the nature of the relationships it supports. …

Summary — Self-sovereign identity, supported by a heterarchical identity metasystem, creates a firm foundation for rich digital relationships that allow people to be digitally embodied so they can act online as autonomous agents. An earlier blog post, Relationships and Identity proposed that we build digital identity systems to create and manage relationships-not…

Summary — Sovereign is the right word for describing the essential distinction between our inalienable self and the administrative identifiers and attributes others assign to us online. Descartes didn’t say “I have a birth certificate, therefore I am.” We do not spring into existence because some administrative system provisions an identifier for…

Summary — We build digital identity systems to create and manage relationships-not identities. We need our digital relationships to have integrity and to be useful over a specified lifetime. Identity systems should provide relationship integrity and utility to participants for the appropriate length of time. Participants should be able to create relationships…

Summary — If your identity system doesn’t use DIDs and verifiable credentials in a way that gives participants autonomy and freedom from intervening administrative authorities, then it’s not SSI. A few days ago I was in a conversation with a couple of my identerati friends. When one used the term “SSI”, the…

Summary — We need to replace platforms that intermediate transactions with protocols built on a universal trust framework like Sovrin to avoid a future of hostage taking and retaliatory regulations. Platforms service two-sided markets. We’re all familiar with platform companies like Uber, AirBnB, Monster, eBay, and many others. Visa, Mastercard, and other…

An identity metasystem like the Sovrin Network provides the foundation for creating tens of millions of interoperable identity systems for every conceivable context and use. This post discusses how These identity systems are built, illustrative use cases, and the potential marketplace for credentials. A metasystem is a system of systems…