As SSI has evolved since 2016 as a new approach to internet identity and decentralized digital trust, leaders in the SSI movement have published foundational essays examining critical aspects of this new paradigm—and the larger questions of digital, legal, organization, social, and cultural identity on which it is based. Since these essays are already widely referenced on the web, we offer this appendix as a guide to those that we have found particularly useful in the writing of this book. We apologize in advance for any others we may have left out—please contact us on the Manning Forum (https://livebook.manning.com/book/self-sovereign-identity/discussion) to nominate others.
“The Domains of Identity”
http://identitywoman.net/domains-of-identity
Written by the co-founder of the Internet Identity Workshop, this summary of the 16 distinct “domains” of identity was so clear and compelling that it later became the basis for a book on the topic. It is highly recommended as the place to start on any deeper exploration of digital identity in all its forms—simply because it clears up so many misconceptions just by framing the problem space properly. It is a wonderful complement to Kaliya’s 2010 essay “The Identity Spectrum,” which explains why identity is a spectrum and identifies six distinct “points” on this spectrum.
“New Hope for Digital Identity”
https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/new-hope-digital-identity
This was written in late 2017 by Doc Searls, co-founder of the Internet Identity Workshop (and author of this book’s foreword). It is one of the first essays to articulate why the infrastructure that was just beginning to be known as “self-sovereign identity” needed to be built into the heart of the internet—because the very future of how the internet works for individuals was at stake.
“The Architecture of Identity Systems”
https://www.windley.com/archives/2020/09/the_architecture_of_identity_systems.shtml
Along with Kaliya and Doc, Phil is the third co-founder of the Internet Identity Workshop and author in 2005 of one of the first comprehensive books on digital identity. This essay is one of dozens that Phil has written about SSI on his blog during his tenure as the founding chairperson of the Sovrin Foundation. What makes it stand out is the comprehensive picture it paints of SSI architectures and how they can provide the internet’s missing identity layer, finally giving us a way to enjoy life-like identity in our digital lives.
“Three Dimensions of Identity”
https://medium.com/evernym/three-dimensions-of-identity-bc06ae4aec1c
This is another essay that goes to the very heart of the complexity of digital identity. It was written by two of the original creators of the open source codebase that became the basis for the Sovrin ledger (and that was contributed to the Linux Foundation to become the Hyperledger Indy ledger project). It explores the naive assertions that many have about what identity actually means: Is it authentication? Accounts and credentials? Personal data and metadata? Jason and Daniel argue that each of these perspectives simplifies too much. Identity manifests in several dimensions, and identity solutions (including SSI) must model all of these dimensions to be complete.
“Meta-Platforms and Cooperative Network-of-Network Effects”
https://medium.com/selfrule/meta-platforms-and-cooperative-network-of-networks-effects-6e61eb1 5c586
The author of chapter 10 on decentralized key management, Sam is also the inventor of Key Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI). In this groundbreaking essay (the equivalent of a full-length academic treatise), he lays out a very compelling argument that the network effects of meta-platforms—platforms of platforms—will always outperform individual platforms, much the way the internet outperformed (and eventually “ate”) smaller networks. This is especially important for an SSI meta-platform (what Phil Windley calls an “identity metasystem” in his essay) because it could “provide both enough value and power to the participants to forever break the cycle of centralization.”
“Verifiable Credentials Aren’t Credentials. They’re Containers.”
https://rufftimo.medium.com/verifiable-credentials-arent-credentials-they-re-con
tainers-fab5b3ae5c0
Timothy, co-founder of Evernym and now a principal at Digital Trust Ventures, was one of the most effective early evangelists of SSI. His essay “The Three Models of Digital Identity Relationships” is also cited in chapter 1 of this book. In this more recent essay, Timothy shares the insight that the term verifiable credentials is a misnomer. VCs are really containers—like shipping containers for data. He explains how VCs can contain other VCs, just like shipping containers contain other containers, and how the “seal” on a VC is like the seal on a shipping container—it verifies the integrity of the container but not the validity of the data payload inside. This is the first of a three-part series—we recommend all three.
“The Seven Deadly Sins of Customer Relationships”
Even as businesses everywhere race to collect more customer data, the relationship between brand and customer has become distant. Customer service has been replaced by faceless chatbots, privacy seems like a thing of the past, and our interactions feel disconnected across a growing number of touchpoints and systems. At the center of this divide are seven common but dangerous behaviors: the seven deadly sins of digital customer relationships. This series of essays from Jamie Smith, formerly lead consultant at personal data consultancy Ctrl-Shift in London, explores each of these behaviors and discusses how SSI can present an opportunity for businesses to not only offer better customer experiences but also rethink how they build trusted digital relationships from the ground up.