This article describes how governments of sovereign states might be involved in building identity ecosystems based on self-sovereign principles and how regulatory conformity of such ecosystems can be achieved.

When it comes to identity management the involvement of the government can be a tricky topic. It needs to be involved to enable access to public services, adapt legislature and guarantee equal access for its citizens. However, it should not be able to control or monitor all aspects and activities of its citizens. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) might for some imply, that a citizen is suddenly able to issue his own ID-card…

The trust infrastructure is concerned with the question of how and why the presented information can be trusted. It defines the rules for all stakeholders and enables legally binding relationships with the combination of governance frameworks, which are built on top of trust frameworks.

But before we dive deeper into the part of the trust infrastructure, we need to understand the core components and the different types of identity architecture first.

Core components of identity architecture

There are three core components within an identity system, which in general mainly manage relationships. These are identifiers enabling the means for “remembering, recognizing, and relying on the other…

This article takes the mental models of identity and explores how they can be achieved with a self-sovereign identity (SSI) solution.

To pin down the meaning and definition of identity is a challenging task due to its uniquely human nature. It can have totally different meanings for different people. However, there are reoccurring themes when speaking about the term. The following five mental models describe what people refer to, when speaking about identity and provide a useful structure of how these models can be executed in a digital environment leveraging SSI infrastructure and components. While the concept of SSI can…

This article highlights and describes five aspects, which are crucial for the adoption of self-sovereign identity (SSI).

Every new technology, which aims to change the way we live requires certain aspects to be fulfilled. This article provides an overview of five critical requirements to achieve mass-adoption of SSI. While they are ranked from “least important” to “essential” all of them need to be in place to gain a significant market share for the technology.

1. The Business of SSI

To be successfully adopted on a commercial side, companies need an economic incentive to adopt SSI. Current identity solutions aren’t satisfactory for consumers and companies alike…

This article explains the ethical situation societies face in the context of a transition from an organisational to a self-sovereign identity.

Ethics is concerned with the study of morality and the application of reasons to elucidate specific rules & principles that determine right & wrong for a given situation. Morality is concerned with the norms, values and beliefs embedded in social processes, which define right & wrong for an individual or a community. Hence, ethics rationalise morality to produce ethical theories that can be applied to any situation.

“It asks the following questions: ‘How do we want to live?’, ‘How…

This article aims to explain the current identity-management developments of our society on a meta-level and highlights the importance of self-sovereign identity.

Status quo of online identity:

A person’s online identity is split among a multitude of companies and organisations, which store the personal data of their users on centralised databases. But identity is more than the summary of our login credentials and physical identifiers. The importance lies in the relationship between the individual and the relating party. Currently, we face the problem that most of the time information can’t be proven — only trusted.

“Identity isn’t something an individual holds, it’s not the credentials…

This blog-post aims to help the reader understand current developments regarding the adoption of self-sovereign identity solutions on a European level via ESSIF.

EDIT (16.06.2020): This article originally referred to the framework as “eSSIF”, which has been adjusted to the official syntax.

The European self-sovereign identity framework (ESSIF) is part of the European blockchain service infrastructure (EBSI). The EBSI is a joint initiative from the European Commission and the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) to deliver EU-wide cross-border public services using blockchain technology.

The EBSI aims to become a “gold standard” digital infrastructure to support the launch and operation of EU-wide…

This blog-post focuses on four different online identity scenarios while highlighting the importance of the adoption of self-sovereign identity solutions. It also provides the reader with an overview of the status-quo before diving deeper into the topic.

The history of online identity. Where do we come from?

In the early 2000’s companies increasingly offered their products and services online and therefore created the need for organizing access for consumers to their internal systems. IAM — Identity access management became part of every online business.

Def: IAM is the discipline that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times for the right reasons.

Uncontrolled growth in…