diff --git a/_posts/2020-01-10-getting-started.md b/_posts/2020-01-10-getting-started.md index 59870c79..6810c322 100644 --- a/_posts/2020-01-10-getting-started.md +++ b/_posts/2020-01-10-getting-started.md @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ title: "What is Decentralized Identity? and Digital ID Fundamentals." permalink: /getting-started/ toc: false -last_modified_at: 2020-11-02 +last_modified_at: 2020-11-21 ---
Abstract The desire for increased control over our identity has catapulted the idea of “self‐sovereign identity” into the forefront of digital identity innovation, yet the term lacks a rigorous definition beyond specific technical implementations1. This paper explores what self‐sovereign identity means independent of technology: what people need from independent identity capabilities. I want to understand how such a system enables both individuals whose identities are in play (subjects), as well as those who use those “identities” to correlate interactions across contexts (observers). I start with grounding individual sovereignty in the Enlightenment and identity in its core function of correlation, then propose core characteristics of a self‐sovereign identity system. My eventual goal is to model the technology‐independent requirements of a self‐sovereign solution suitable for realizing UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9: “Providing every last person on the planet with a legal identity by 2030.”
We cannot decentralize many interesting systems without also decentralizing the identity systems upon which they rely. We're finally in a position to create truly decentralized systems for digital identity.- - - - -
Self-sovereign identity is the next step beyond user-centric identity and that means it begins at the same place: the user must be central to the administration of identity. That requires not just the interoperability of a user’s identity across multiple locations, with the user’s consent, but also true user control of that digital identity, creating user autonomy. To accomplish this, a self-sovereign identity must be transportable; it can’t be locked down to one site or locale.
Identity and Access Management (IAM), also called identity management, refers to the IT security discipline, framework, and solutions for managing digital identities. Identity management encompasses the provisioning and de-provisioning of identities, securing and authentication of identities, and the authorization to access resources and/or perform certain actions. While a person (user) has only one singular digital identity, they may have many different accounts representing them. Each account can have different access controls, both per resource and per context.