What is Self-Sovereign Identity?
Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is a model for managing digital identities in which an individual or business has sole ownership of their data and the ability to control it. SSI enables people to interact in the digital world with the same degree of freedom and trust as in the offline world.
Everyone has a unique set of identifying information. This information could include birth date, citizenship, university degrees, or business licenses. In the physical world, these are represented as ID cards and certificates that you, the identity holder, keep in your wallet or a safe place, such as a safe deposit box, and share when you use them to prove your identity.
SSI provides everyone with the same freedoms and personal autonomy online by offering a secure, trustworthy system for identity management. With SSI, the power to control personal data resides with you, the individual, and not an administrative third party that grants or tracks access to these credentials.
The SSI identity system enables you to authenticate your own identity using credentials you have been issued or information you can verify directly, which is stored in a digital wallet.
“A digital wallet, in the context of self-sovereign identity, is a software application and encrypted database that stores credentials, keys, and other private information necessary for self-sovereign identity.”
Just like a leather wallet stores a variety of important physical cards, an SSI digital wallet stores your verifiable credentials, making it easy for you to share them with others in a secure, private way. As the name implies, a digital wallet is digital and can exist locally (ie, on your mobile device or desktop) or in the cloud.
You no longer have to give up control of personal information to dozens of databases or third-party entities each time you want to access any type of service, with the risk of your identity being compromised or stolen by hackers. This is called “self-sovereign identity” because each user is now in control of their own identity. Users can control their information and relationships. A person’s digital existence is now independent of any organization, and no one can take their identity away. But how could a self-sovereign identity be as trustworthy as the physical ID Card that your government issues to you?
The self-sovereign identity is issued and attested by the issuer. If the verifier needs proof of your identity, you have to provide proof based on the attested identity. This makes self-sovereign identity trustworthy and immutable.
The important thing in SSI is that, instead of a stamp on the plastic card, the credential is cryptographically signed by the issuer, enabling anyone to verify who issued it. This makes verification much easier than in the physical world.
How Does Self-Sovereign Identity Work?
Self-sovereign identities use asymmetric cryptography, so understanding how this works requires a basic understanding of how cryptography is used.
Asymmetric key cryptography is a process that generates a pair of cryptographic keys: a public key and a private key. The public key is accessible to anyone, while the private key is secret and can be viewed only by the user. When you want to prove ownership, you can share your public key without needing to disclose or share your private key. This way, you can prove that self-sovereign identity belongs to you by proving the ownership of the public key.
Let’s take an example: You have an app on your mobile phone, a “identity wallet” where identity data is stored. Your identity wallet contains a self-generated identification number derived from a public key and a corresponding private key (similar to a password, used to create digital signatures). This key pair differs from a username and password because it is created randomly. The private key is also a very large number, making it difficult to memorize. Instead, it is stored in a secure enclave, similar to a phone. If the user loses access to the private key associated with their digital identifier, they create a new key pair and update the global public registry. This key management is a vital feature of self-sovereign identity.
You don’t have to rely on other identity providers that may sell and monetize your data. No one is aware of this identification number. No one issued it to you. You created it yourself. It is self-sovereign. The laws of random large numbers and uniqueness ensure that no one else in the world will generate the same identification number as you.
After that, you can use this identification number, along with your identity claims, and get proof from relevant authorities. Authorities would provide digital certificates that prove a claim, such as that you are 21 years old, you can drive a car, etc. You can use it for your identity information.
Benefits of Using Self-Sovereign Identity
The essential feature of self-sovereign identity is that the process is more efficient. In this process, you (identity owner) are able to choose which piece of information you want to share. It is also more secure and prevents common attacks on personal data.
Let’s take an example, suppose you go to a bar. Nowadays, it is required to show a government-issued identification (such as a passport or driving license) to enter a bar. This identity will prove that you are 21 or older because your date of birth is indicated. However, that identity reveals much more personal data than is required to enter the bar. The bouncer doesn’t need to see your name, address, date of birth, or any other information; they only require you to be over 21 years old. When using SSI, you have more control over your data. If you need to prove that you are over 21, you don’t need to share your date of birth or other personal data; you just need a statement that verifies you are over 21, signed by the relevant authority. This is possible through zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs).
Best of all, the information you share is instantly verifiable, so you can receive access to services smoothly, just like you do in the real world when you use your physical identity.
Sharing this kind of verified data is safer for both the identity provider and the recipient. The provider doesn’t need to overshare any personally identifiable data, and the recipient doesn’t need to store unnecessarily sensitive data. This maintains data privacy, and if the recipient gets hacked, they are only storing that the recipients are “Over 21”, not dates of birth, address, or other personal data.
Rainfall and Self-Sovereign Identity
In this digital age, tremendous value can be unlocked from your data. We know the big tech companies are generating significant revenues from selling your data.
Rainfall adheres to the principles of data self-sovereignty, unlocking the economic value of your data while preserving your data privacy and agency. The Rainfall system only accesses user permission data and contextualizes and aggregates this data to derive Real-time Social Insights (RSIs). Rainfall uses advanced on-device AI and encryption to protect your data, ensuring it never leaves your device.
Most people have unknowingly accepted cookie, privacy, and data-sharing agreements without reading them when they sign up or use an app or website. This is when the personal data gets compromised without any monetary gain.
Final Thoughts
Data breaches have become increasingly common in the new Digital Age, yet many corporations are not taking action to protect personal data. With self-sovereign identity, you will be able to store all your data and will not need any passwords to log in to websites. You can easily share information about yourself with others without sharing the actual data. Additionally, you will be freed from the lengthy process of printing, scanning, and sending documents to others. We can all support the development of a self-sovereign identity system that enables data control and protects our privacy.
