SSI: Truly Own Your Digital Identity

For over three decades now, billions of Internet users around the world accessed the internet by logging into online accounts owned by central gatekeepers. Every time you "Login with Google" or "Sign in with Facebook," you aren't just saving time; but you are actually handing over the keys to your digital identity to the corporations. It might be mandatory for citizens to carry an official identity owned by their government, but in the digital realm, should you really trust a private global corporation to monitor and track everything that you do online?

As digital life increasingly becomes more integrated into our real world lives, you should thus place more care into your data privacy. Every time you post or share details about yourself online, a company is harvesting your details for data monetization purposes. Your data that is stored in servers of companies could also be hacked, thus exposing personal details about yourself into the black market where hackers and scammers operate.

This is where Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) has emerged with a mission to end this long running era of digital feudalism. SSI is a decentralized identity model where you (not a corporation or a government) own and control your digital persona. It’s like having a physical wallet full of IDs, diplomas, and memberships, but in a cryptographically secure, digital form that you can present anywhere on the web without a middleman watching.

SSI Could Be Your Digital Internet Passport

The SSI concept is not an entirely new concept and has been decades in the making. Christopher Allen, a veteran developer believes that SSI began in the early 90s when Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) mentioned the idea of “Web of Trust,” which is the first hint of what could become a Self-Sovereign Identity. PGP is a security program used to decrypt and encrypt email and authenticate email messages through digital signatures and file encryption.

Evin McMullen, the CEO of and Co-Founder of Billions Network believes that your identity is a valuable asset and in Web3, you can make use of your identity to make an income just like how you need your identity or citizenship to make a living. For example, in recent years, remote work has become more commonplace and you can now make a living from home even if you do not reside in the city where your employer is based. Henceforth, remote working is likely to be a rising trend in the future, thus making possessing an authentic digital identity very important.

A secure digital identity is foreseen to be essential for modern day living and may not even be optional. For example, the UK government is planning to enforce a mandatory digital ID that would function as proof of a valid work permit, which even citizens need to sign up for.

So, let's take a look at some key factors driving the shift toward SSI in the Web3 era:

1. Selective Disclosure (Privacy by Design):
   Traditionally, if a bar needs to know if you are 21, you show them a license that also reveals your home address and full birthdate. With SSI and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), you can provide a digital "proof" that you are over 21 without revealing a single other piece of data.
2. Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs):
   Unlike an email address or a username owned by a provider, a DID is a globally unique identifier that lives on a blockchain. It belongs solely to you and cannot be deleted or "de-platformed" by any central authority.
3. Verifiable Credentials (VCs):
   These are the digital equivalents of your personal documents. For example, a university can issue a degree as a VC to combat fake degrees replicated by criminals. When you apply for a job, you present the VC, so the employer doesn't need to call the school to verify the authenticity of your qualification. They can just simply verify the cryptographic signature on the blockchain. A blockchain that is theoretically tamper-proof is an effective weapon against fraudulent activities.
4. Elimination of the "Honeypot" Risk:
   By moving away from massive, centralized databases of user passwords and social security numbers, SSI removes the "honeypots" that attract hackers. Your data is stored locally in your encrypted wallet, not on a server that pretty much eventually will be breached.
5. Interoperable "One-Click" Everything: In Web3, your SSI wallet becomes your universal login. Whether you are entering a Metaverse concert, taking a DeFi loan or voting in a DAO, your identity moves seamlessly with you across platforms. This technology is foreseen to be truly revolutionary and may end decades of the "forgot password" era forever.

Web3 Onboarding You Can Try Now

Since we are on the topic of identity, have you thought about signing up for Ethereum Name Service (ENS) or Solana Name Service (SNS)? My registered ENS name for instance is sparkster.eth.

These Web3 name services are like a simplified version of the SSI concept and they are quite popular for building a Web3 identity. Once your Web3 name is registered, you can then link it to supported Web3 wallets and crypto exchanges. Find out more what ENS can do for you.

You can now register your Web3 name with ENS or SNS as long as you hold the required amount of ETH or SOL in your wallet. If you need to, read my other posts on stablecoin or DeFi for some guidance on how to load crypto funds into your Web3 wallet.

If you can't decide between ENS and SNS, perhaps this article would help: ''ENS vs SNS: A Comprehensive Comparison of Ethereum and Solana Name Services'.

You may also try Quadrata which functions like a Web3 Passport. Businesses and consumers onboard onto Quadrata by attaching their wallets to an identity passport. The Quadrata Passport is issued as a non-transferrable NFT. DApps integrated with Quadrata can check passport attributes to verify:

• Identity verification for individuals
• KYB (Know Your Business) for businesses
• AML (Anti Money Laundering) screening
• Wallet screening
• Sybil resistant DID
• Country Verification
• Age Verification
• US Accreditation Check

SSI can be regarded to be the "missing link" for a truly decentralized society. The system proves that we can have trust in the digital realm without an authority or middleman overseeing every interaction. As we move further into a more decentralized digital era, perhaps we will no longer need to question the authenticity of online profiles or even trust a bank to keep our money safe.