With the increase of our digital footprints, we are asked to verify our identity on many different items, from bank accounts, medical care or schooling enrolment. Even digital drugs networks ask us for them. These kinds of identity verification procedures normally have to share a lot of private information with the institutions in charge, resulting not only in privacy concerns but also major headaches.
At the same time, the centralized system holds in terms of how and when to verify your identity.
Shift to User-Controlled Identity Verification
For traditional identity verification, third-party institutional players such as governments, banks, big business all collect and handle personal data. This centering creates a big target for hackers to pursue but it also forces individuals to trust their secrets to external entities.
SSI changes this picture by putting users in control of their own data.
Self-Sovereign Identity Key Elements
Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs): These are special identifiers that reside on the blockchain and allow users to possess a persistent, visible identity independently of a central authority.
Verifiable Credentials (VCs): These digital certificates certify claims about a person’s identity, such as their age or academic qualifications. They enable proof of such claims to be provided using VCs without needing to provide personal information directly to third parties.
Digital Wallets: Secure digital spaces where users can store their DIDs and VCs all in one place, making it convenient for them to show their credentials without fear of exposure.
How SSI Improves Online Verification
In an SSI system, the user remains in control of the verification process. When verifying their identity with a third party (such as applying for a job or opening a bank account), users present only the necessary credentials stored in their digital wallet. The verifier can then confirm the authenticity of the data using blockchain technology, without needing access to the individual’s full personal information.
This reduces the need for repeated data entry and ensures that users share only relevant details, offering better privacy and security.
The Advantages of SSI for Online Verification
- User Autonomy: With SSI, individuals have complete control over their data. They can choose what information to share and with whom, ensuring that their identity is not exploited or misused.
- Enhanced Privacy: By minimizing the amount of personal information shared, SSI reduces the potential for surveillance and unwanted profiling.
- Increased Security: Decentralized identity storage means there is no central database for hackers to target, providing an added layer of security compared to traditional identity management systems.
- Cost and Time Efficiency: No need to involve third parties in identity verification. Costs are reduced, and verification processes speeded up.
Real-World Applications of SSI
- Finance: In areas such as banking, SSI systems simplify the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process, allowing customers to verification credentials securely share verified identity without re-entry of personal details all the time.
- Healthcare: Using SSI code, patients can safely store and management of their medical records for sharing only the information with healthcare providers that is needed for their care and treatment.
- Education and Employment: By using data on your laptop instead of in a traditional cash system, educational institutions and businesses can instantly verify credentials such as diplomas, certificates, and work histories (without cost).
SSI offers an encouraging stance to rising worries about privacy and security. With internet fraud, identity theft, and privacy issues growing worse each day, the call for user-controlled and more secure verification systems makes itself heard loud and clear. SSI is therefore based on a new model where identities are neither centrally managed nor controlled. Instead, individuals themselves manage their own data and that of their counterparts in transactions with no one else involved.
In the future, online verification is up to the individual; with Self-Sovereign Identity, at last the ability to handle, control, and safeguard personal data should be returned where it belongs back in the hands of each user. Thank you for your interest in Bahaa Abdul Hadi blogs. For more information, please visit www.bahaaabdulhadi.com.
