Self-sovereign identification is an idea that refers to the usage of distributed databases to handle PII.
The notion of self-sovereign identification (SSI) is core to the concept of decentralized identification. As an alternative of getting a set of identities throughout a number of platforms or a single identification managed by a 3rd occasion, SII customers have digital wallets through which varied credentials are saved and accessible by dependable purposes.
Consultants distinguish three primary elements often called the three pillars of SSI: blockchain, verifiable credentials (VCs) and decentralized identifiers (DIDs).
Blockchain is a decentralized digital database, a ledger of transactions duplicated and distributed amongst community computer systems that report data in a manner that makes it troublesome or unattainable to alter, hack or cheat.
Second, there are VCs known as tamper-proof cryptographically-secured and verified credentials that implement SSI and defend customers’ information. They’ll characterize data present in paper credentials, akin to a passport or license and digital credentials with no bodily equal, akin to, as an example, possession of a checking account.
And final however not least, SSI contains DIDs, a brand new sort of identifier that allows customers to have a cryptographically verifiable, decentralized digital identification. A DID refers to any topic like an individual, group, information mannequin, summary entity, et cetera, as decided by the controller of the DID. They’re created by the consumer, owned by the consumer and impartial of any group. Designed to be decoupled from centralized registries, identification suppliers and certificates authorities, DIDs allow customers to show management over their digital identification with out requiring permission from any third occasion.
Alongside SII, which is rooted in blockchain, DIDs and VCs, decentralized identification structure additionally embraces 4 extra parts. They’re a holder who creates a DID and receives the verifiable credential, an issuer that indicators a verifiable credential with their personal key and points it to the holder, and a verifier that checks the credentials and may learn the issuer’s public DID on the blockchain. Furthermore, a decentralized identification structure encompasses particular decentralized identification wallets that gas the entire system.
How decentralized identification works
The idea for decentralized identification administration is the usage of decentralized encrypted blockchain-based wallets.
In a decentralized identification framework, customers make the most of decentralized identification wallets — particular apps that permit them to create their decentralized identifiers, retailer their PII and handle their VCs —as an alternative of protecting identification data on quite a few web sites managed by intermediaries.
Apart from distributed structure, these decentralized identity wallets are encrypted. Passwords to entry them are changed by non-phishable cryptographic keys that don’t characterize a single weak point within the case of a breach. A decentralized pockets generates a pair of cryptographic keys: private and non-private. The general public key distinguishes a concrete pockets, whereas the personal one, which is saved within the pockets, is required in the course of the authentication course of.
Whereas decentralized identification wallets transparently authenticate customers, additionally they defend customers’ communications and information. Decentralized apps (DApps) retailer PII, verified identification particulars and the data wanted to determine belief, show eligibility or simply full a transaction. These wallets assist customers give and revoke entry to identification data from a single supply, making it quicker and simpler.
On prime of that, this data within the pockets is signed by a number of trusted events to show its accuracy. For instance, digital identities can get approval from issuers akin to universities, employers, or authorities constructions. Utilizing a decentralized identification pockets, customers can current proof of their identification to any third occasion.
