Self-Sovereign Identity : Decentralized Digital Identity and Verifiable Credentials

In Self-Sovereign Identity: Decentralized digital identity and verifiable credentials, you’ll learn how SSI empowers us to receive digitally-signed credentials, store them in private wallets, and securely prove our online identities.

Summary
In a world of changing privacy regulations, identity theft, and online anonymity, identity is a precious and complex concept. Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is a set of technologies that move control of digital identity from third party “identity providers” directly to individuals, and it promises to be one of the most important trends for the coming decades. Now in Self-Sovereign Identity, privacy and personal data experts Drummond Reed and Alex Preukschat lay out a roadmap for a future of personal sovereignty powered by the Blockchain and cryptography. Cutting through the technical jargon with dozens of practical use cases from experts across all major industries, it presents a clear and compelling argument for why SSI is a paradigm shift, and shows how you can be ready to be prepared for it.

About the technology
Trust on the internet is at an all-time low. Large corporations and institutions control our personal data because we’ve never had a simple, safe, strong way to prove who we are online. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) changes all that.

About the book
In Self-Sovereign Identity: Decentralized digital identity and verifiable credentials, you’ll learn how SSI empowers us to receive digitally-signed credentials, store them in private wallets, and securely prove our online identities. It combines a clear, jargon-free introduction to this blockchain-inspired paradigm shift with interesting essays written by its leading practitioners. Whether for property transfer, ebanking, frictionless travel, or personalized services, the SSI model for digital trust will reshape our collective future.

What's inside
The architecture of SSI software and services
The technical, legal, and governance concepts behind SSI
How SSI affects global business industry-by-industry
Emerging standards for SSI

About the reader
For technology and business readers. No prior SSI, cryptography, or blockchain experience required.

About the authors
Drummond Reed is the Chief Trust Officer at Evernym, a technology leader in SSI. Alex Preukschat is the co-founder of SSIMeetup.org and AlianzaBlockchain.org.

Table of Contents

PART 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO SSI
1 Why the internet is missing an identity layer—and why SSI can finally provide one
2 The basic building blocks of SSI
3 Example scenarios showing how SSI works
4 SSI Scorecard: Major features and benefits of SSI
PART 2: SSI TECHNOLOGY
5 SSI architecture: The big picture
6 Basic cryptography techniques for SSI
7 Verifiable credentials
8 Decentralized identifiers
9 Digital wallets and digital agents
10 Decentralized key management
11 SSI governance frameworks
PART 3: DECENTRALIZATION AS A MODEL FOR LIFE
12 How open source software helps you control your self-sovereign identity
13 Cypherpunks: The origin of decentralization
14 Decentralized identity for a peaceful society
15 Belief systems as drivers for technology choices in decentralization
16 The origins of the SSI community
17 Identity is money
PART 4: HOW SSI WILL CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS
18 Explaining the value of SSI to business
19 The Internet of Things opportunity
20 Animal care and guardianship just became crystal clear
21 Open democracy, voting, and SSI
22 Healthcare supply chain powered by SSI
23 Canada: Enabling self-sovereign identity
24 From eIDAS to SSI in the European Union

Alex Preukschat is Global Head of Strategic Blockchain Projects with Evernym. Alex has been active in the Bitcoin space since 2013 and leads SSIMeetup.org, a global SSI community to share knowledge in the identity space. He is a co-founder of Blockchain España and Alianza Blockchain Iberoamérica, and author of multiple reports and books about Blockchain and identity.

Drummond Reed has spent over two decades in Internet identity, security, privacy, and trust frameworks. He is the Chief Trust Officer at Evernym, and co-author of the Respect Trust Framework, which was honored with the Privacy Award at the 2011 European Identity Conference. Drummond is a Trustee and Secretary of the Sovrin Foundation, where he serves as chair of the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group, and has served as co-chair of the OASIS XDI Technical Committee since 2004.