Re: The "self-sovereign" problem (was: The SSI protocols challenge)

We're introducing powerful digital technology at a time when people are
justifiably suspicious of digital platforms. Any lack of transparency or
waffling around SSI will not serve to build trust and support for our good
works.

Fundamentally, we're trying to explain the role of "governance" (the scare
quotes are intentional) in what otherwise would be SSI.

Be careful out there...

Adrian

On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 3:18 PM Jeremy Townson <jeremy.townson@gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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.*
>>>
>>>