Digital Identity in The Absence of Authorities: A New Socio-Technical Approach

TL;DR

This paper explores a shift from centralized authority-controlled digital identities to decentralized, user-centric models based on social trust, aiming to enhance privacy and user control in digital ecosystems.

Contribution

It introduces a socio-technical framework for decentralized digital identity, emphasizing social trust over authority, and discusses its potential societal impacts and implementation roadmap.

Findings

Decentralized identity provisioning is feasible with recent advances in trust and federation.

Social trust can replace authority in establishing digital identities.

Distributed identity models can improve privacy and user control.

Abstract

On the Internet large service providers tend to control the digital identities of users. These defacto identity authorities wield significant power over users, compelling them to comply with non-negotiable terms, before access to services is granted. In doing so, users expose themselves to privacy risks, manipulation and exploitation via direct marketing. Against this backdrop, the emerging areas of Digital Ecosystems and user-centric identity emphasise decentralised environments with independent self-determining entities that control their own data and identity. We show that recent advances in user-centric identity, federated identity and trust have prepared the ground for decentralised identity provisioning. We show how social trust, rather than blind deference to authorities, can provide a basis for identity, where risks can be weighed and compared rather than merely accepted. Fundamentally, we are considering the move from authority-centric centralised identity provisioning to user-centric distributed identity provisioning. Finally, we highlight the potential impacts of distributed identity provisioning in the Information Society and give a brief roadmap for its general implementation and adoption.