- From: Jeremy Townson <jeremy.townson@gmail.com>
- Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2021 19:10:19 +0000
- To: David Chadwick <D.W.Chadwick@kent.ac.uk>
- Cc: "W3C Credentials CG (Public List)" <public-credentials@w3.org>
- Message-ID: <CAAic94EEgMO-0TbZgrQoM268d43pzrQh-shiAgSe566sDEKWUg@mail.gmail.com>
Everybody could benefit here by consulting Sam Smith's talk introducing KERI (given to the SSI meetup). He starts the process of redefining often overloaded terms more objectively -- 'infrastructure independence' for instance. On Tue, 23 Mar 2021 at 18:47, David Chadwick <D.W.Chadwick@kent.ac.uk> wrote: > Hi Drummond > > your characterisation is interesting but is not either a full or correct > picture. > > Firstly centralised could give a false impression of a single system, > whereas all your centralised systems are distributed systems > > Secondly Federated systems build on the former and cannot work without > them. > > Thirdly Verifiable Credentials are not inherently decentralised. They are > no more decentralised than X.509 Attribute Certificates. Remember that VC > IDs are defined as URIs in the standard, not DIDs. And X.509 ACs can bind > attributes to keys in the same way as VCs do. > > Fourthly, I have heard several academics describe blockchains as > centralised systems, surprising as you may find this. > > Fifth, self signed X.509 PKCs are just as decentralised as DIDs. > > Kind regards > > David > On 23/03/2021 16:57, Drummond Reed wrote: > > Michael, the definition is in the first sentence of Chapter 1: > > Self-sovereign identity—commonly abbreviated SSI—is a new model for >> digital identity on the internet: i.e., how we prove who we are to the >> websites, services, and apps with which we need to establish trusted >> relationships to access or protect pri- vate information. > > > That broad definition was a deliberate choice on behalf of Alex Preukschat > and I as co-authors of the book. SSI is a digital identity model (not just > an architectural model, but also a governance model) that is significantly > different than in the digital identity models of the previous two eras of > Internet trust infrastructure, per this diagram that I now show at the > start of all my talks on SSI and ToIP to establish the overall context. > > [image: image.png] > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 9:27 AM Michael Herman (Trusted Digital Web) < > mwherman@parallelspace.net> wrote: > >> Hi Drummond, I’ve read through Chapter 1 of the Manning book just now ( >> https://livebook.manning.com/book/self-sovereign-identity/chapter-1/v-11/88) >> and couldn’t a succinct nor operational definition for the term/concept of >> Self-Sovereign Identity. >> >> >> >> The chapter talks “all around” the topic of Self-Sovereign Identity but >> didn’t seem to conclude with an actual definition. Did I miss it? >> >> >> >> Michael Herman >> >> Far Left Self-Sovereignist >> >> >> >> *From:* Drummond Reed <drummond.reed@evernym.com> >> *Sent:* March 23, 2021 10:02 AM >> *To:* sankarshan <sankarshan@dhiway.com> >> *Cc:* W3C Credentials CG (Public List) <public-credentials@w3.org> >> *Subject:* Re: The "self-sovereign" problem (was: The SSI protocols >> challenge) >> >> >> >> +1 to Adrian Doerk's definition in his thesis (which I highly recommend, >> BTW—Adrian's work is very comprehensive and thorough). >> >> >> >> FWIW, even though the forthcoming Manning book >> <https://www.manning.com/books/self-sovereign-identity> of which I'm a >> co-author (along with 54 contributing authors) is titled "Self-Sovereign >> Identity: Decentralized Digital Identity and Verifiable Credentials", in >> the opening chapter we explain the origin of the term and then recommend >> (and enforce throughout the rest of the book) simply calling it "SSI"—which >> is also what I see happening in the market. I predict that within the next >> 2-3 years, many who have become comfortable with the term "SSI" won't even >> know that it is an acronym or what it stands for (just as many today don't >> know what "IBM" or "ATM" stand for). >> >> >> >> As a final point, I was a speaker this morning on a webinar hosted >> by Condatis called "Scaling Digital Trust in Healthcare" where Charlie >> Walton, VP Digital Identity at Mastercard, shared the following slide, >> which is the first time I've seen the term "Commercial SSI". >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 6:54 AM sankarshan <sankarshan@dhiway.com> wrote: >> >> On Tue, 23 Mar 2021 at 18:40, Michael Herman (Trusted Digital Web) < >> mwherman@parallelspace.net> wrote: >> >> RE: "Decentralized identity" is a *better* choice. Others use >> "self-asserted," I think this has some of the same socio-cultural issues >> that "Self-sovereign" has. >> >> >> >> 1. QUESTION: Why is there this pervasive (pandemic?) of thinking >> spreading across so many of our communities (CCG, SF, ToIP, etc.) about >> giving in to this type of authoritarian, centralizationist thinking? >> Why are people giving up on self-sovereignty in such large numbers? >> Reference: >> https://hyperonomy.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/model-2c.-social-evolution-self-sovereignty-political-spectrum-1.png >> >> The representation such as the above often create an all-or-nothing >> inference on the topic of SSI. It feels appropriate to cite a recently >> published work Doerk, Adrian. (2020). The growth factors of self-sovereign >> identity solutions in Europe. 10.6084/m9.figshare.14182586. and especially >> >> >> >> *We use the terminology of self-sovereign identity for describing a >> concept of giving individuals or organizations control over their digital >> identity. The identity resides with the identity subject in question, who >> is central to its administration. Sovereignty implies that individuals are >> equal among peers and are not administered by a central authority. This >> doesn't mean that individuals can suddenly issue themselves a new passport. >> Instead it means that individuals have control over how their personal data >> is shared and used. Moreover, individuals can now choose whether they would >> like to reveal their personal data and also which kind of data they would >> like to share in the event of a transaction or interaction. Through the use >> of cryptographic proofs SSI enables verifiability for all involved parties.* >> >>
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Received on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 19:10:46 UTC