Daniel Buchner
Leading Decentralized Identity at Microsoft
Why Decentralized Identity?
Today, more than ever, it is evident that your digital identity is not your own. From Equifax to Facebook, the abuses of identity data are too numerous to count. We need a system of identity that puts users first, one they own and control.
Your identity is a composition of everything you do, say, think, feel, and experience, and it should answer to no one but you.
Identity must be open, shared, and interoperable
- User-owned, user-controlled
- Censorship and tamper resistant
- Build on open source technology
- Developed via shared standards
- Reference implementations
What is the Decentralized Identity Foundation?
DIF is a non-profit organization of like-minded individuals, companies, and groups who are working to create a decentralized identity ecosystem that serves people, organizations, apps, and devices.
Four Working Groups
- Identifiers, Names, and Discovery
- Storage and Compute
- Attestations and Reputation
- Integrations and Use Cases
Five Key Technologies
- Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs)
- Universal Resolver (DID lookup)
- Identity Hubs (datastores)
- Verifiable Credentials (proofs)
- Time & State Proofs (Chainpoint)
Why blockchains, for identity?
To beat a public blockchain at rooting decentralized IDs, just find something that does this better:
A decentralized, immutable, global ledger of user-created, user-owned unique IDs that is censorship/tamper evasive, and runs on distributed self-funded infrastructure that no central actor owns or controls.
Join DIF - help build the future of identity