Re: [EXT] Could Jevons Paradox take digital credentials in the wrong direction?

I have written specifically about this issue for about three years and have
been firmly asked by various chairs and others to desist.

In particular, I have argued that VCs are a dual use technology and we need
to recognize and actively discuss the harmful consequence of standardizing
digital credentials. The potential harm comes from vastly more efficient
surveillance and the burden of asking subjects to spend more time and
know-how to exercise finer grained consent.

On the flip side, we have few if any legal limits on surveillance
(especially in the US) and we have ample evidence that people will grant
vast power over data use to platform operators in return for subsidized
services and convenience.

Sadly, I've pretty much given up on W3C WGs taking any of this seriously.

Adrian

On Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 6:58 PM Brent Zundel <Brent.Zundel@gendigital.com>
wrote:

> Kyle,
>
>
>
> the concerns you raise contributed directly to the formation of the (now
> unfortunately completely dormant) Generative Identity effort:
> https://generative-identity.org/
>
>
>
> I also used to have regular chats with Nathan George at Sovrin on the
> topic of “How do we avoid contributing directly to a dystopian nightmare
> future, and even avoid one if possible?”
>
>
>
> All that to say, I’d love to talk more about the potential negative impact
> of our technologies on the human lives most of us are actively trying to
> improve.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Kyle Den Hartog <kyle@pryvit.tech>
> *Sent:* Friday, June 23, 2023 3:27 PM
> *To:* W3C Credentials Community Group <public-credentials@w3.org>
> *Subject:* [EXT] Could Jevons Paradox take digital credentials in the
> wrong direction?
>
>
>
> I’ve been thinking of expanding on my thoughts laid out in this issue[1]
> about the potential harmful impact our work may lead to on the web. I know
> traditionally the answer to this has been governance frameworks, but I’m
> concerned that some governments and later the market due to Jevons
> Paradox[2] are actually taking this technology in the wrong direction which
> could lead to harmful effects. Particularly as more and more credentials
> become available. Is this a view that concerns others within this community
> and is there something we believe that should be done here or do others
> think this work is justified and a net gain overall? I’d love to get more
> people weighing in on that issue given this community’s involvement in the
> credentials space. Where do you all land in this topic?
>
>
>
> [1]: https://github.com/WICG/mobile-document-request-api/issues/6
>
> [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox
>
>
>