https://ssimeetup.org/self-sovereign-identity-why-we-here-christopher-allen-webinar-51/ Internet cryptography and Self-sovereign identity (SSI) pioneer Christopher Allen talks about essential insights and reflections around historical, technological and ethical aspects of Self-Sovereign Identity at the 51st SSIMeetup.org webinar in collaboration with Rebooting the Web of Trust (RWOT) and Alianza Blockchain Iberoamérica as part of the events that took place at RWOT in Buenos Aires (Argentina). Christopher is an entrepreneur and technologist who specializes in collaboration, security, and trust. As a pioneer in internet cryptography, he’s initiated cross-industry collaborations and co-created industry standards that influence the entire internet. Christopher’s focus on internet trust began as the founder of Consensus Development where he co-authored the IETF TLS internet-draft that is now at the heart of all secure commerce on the World Wide Web. Christopher is co-chair of the W3C Credentials CG working on standards for decentralized identity. Christopher has also been a digital civil liberties and human-rights privacy advisor, was part of the team that led the first UN summit on Digital Identity & Human Rights, and was the producer of a half-dozen iPhone and iPad games, and of Infinite PDF, a non-linear media app.

1. Self-Sovereign Identity
Ideology & Architecture
Christopher Allen — Decentralized Identity & Blockchain Architect,
Co-Chair W3C Credentials Community Group
CC BY-SA 4.0

2. 1. Empower global SSI communities
2. Open to everyone interested in SSI
3. All content is shared with CC BY SA
Alex Preukschat @SSIMeetup @AlexPreukschat
Coordinating Node SSIMeetup.org
SSIMeetup objectives
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

3. 3
Christopher Allen | Executive Director | Blockchain Commons
▪ Co-Chair W3C Credentials CG
▪ Co-Inventor & Architect of
Decentralized Identifiers
▪ Author Design Principles of
Self-Sovereign Identity
▪ Co-Author SSL/TLS
▪ Former Principal Architect, Blockstream
▪ Former CTO Certicom
▪ Former CEO Consensus Development
▪ Former Faculty Pinchot.edu
Email: ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com
Twitter: @ChristopherA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ChristopherA/
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

4. Ideology Architecture
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

5. 5
is both:
● an to reclaim human dignity & authority in
the digital world, and
● an emerging of technology designed
to enable that movement. SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

6. Ideology
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

7. Basis of Self-Sovereign Identity
Self-Sovereign Identity is based on the
principles of the Enlightenment, and the
UN Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
7CC BY-SA 4.0

8. Control of Relationships & Interactions
Self-Sovereign Identity begins with the
basic premise that you should control
your own identity in regards to your
relationships & interactions with other
people, organizations and things.
8CC BY-SA 4.0

9. Inherent Dignity
We all have inherent dignity independent
of our birth place, lineage, or labels,
simply because we are human.
9CC BY-SA 4.0

10. Digital Identity Today
Identity platforms are administered by centralized authorities
• governments
• corporations
• software platform providers:
Each has a vested interest in managing people both on & offline
because they desire to:
• Enforce a social contract (citizenship, employment, trade, services)
• Lock out other authorities from changing or profiting from those
social contracts.
10CC BY-SA 4.0

11. Why Not Centralized Authorities?
Our relationships with authorities are changing:
• We are more & more part of global civil society. We are increasingly
part of networks, not hierarchies
• Borders & nature of social contract are changing — trans-national
federations (EU), nation states, regional states (Wyoming, Scotland,
Swiss Cantons), indigenous/tribal/ethnic (First Nations, Kurd)
city-states/megalopolii (London, SF Bay Area, BoshWash)
• Corporations & employment cross borders too
All of these parties are re-negotiating the nature of their sovereignty.
11CC BY-SA 4.0

12. The Re-negotiation of Sovereignty
Authorities ignore the voice of ordinary
people in these negotiations, yet the
relative risks to individuals are greater.
Thus Self-Sovereignty gives individuals a
voice as we renegotiate what it means to
be human in the digital world.
12CC BY-SA 4.0

13. Path to Self-Sovereign Identity
13
http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2016/04/the-path-to-self-soverereign-identity.html
CC BY-SA 4.0

14. SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

15. 10 Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity
15
• Existence: Users have an independent
existence — they are never wholly
digital
• Control: Users must control their
identities, privacy or celebrity as they
prefer
• Access: Users must have access to
their own data — no gatekeepers,
nothing hidden
• Transparency: Systems and algorithms
must be open and transparent
• Persistence: Identities must be
long-lived — for as long as the user
wishes
● Portability: Information and services
about identity must be transportable
by the user
● Interoperability: Identities should be as
widely usable as possible; e.g. cross
borders
● Consent: Users must freely agree to
how their identity information will be
used
● Minimization: Disclosure of claims
about an identity must be as few as
possible
● Protection: The rights of individual users
must be protected against the
powerful
CC BY-SA 4.0

16. SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

17. 10 Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity
17
• Existence: Users have an independent
existence — they are never wholly
digital
• Control: Users must control their
identities, privacy or celebrity as they
prefer
• Access: Users must have access to
their own data — no gatekeepers,
nothing hidden
• Transparency: Systems and algorithms
must be open and transparent
• Persistence: Identities must be
long-lived — for as long as the user
wishes
● Portability: Information and services
about identity must be transportable
by the user
● Interoperability: Identities should be as
widely usable as possible; e.g. cross
borders
● Consent: Users must freely agree to
how their identity information will be
used
● Minimization: Disclosure of claims
about an identity must be as few as
possible
● Protection: The rights of individual users
must be protected against the
powerful
CC BY-SA 4.0

18. First Principle: Existence
The first principle of Self-Sovereign identity
is that as human beings we exist
independent our digital representations.
Our physical existence is our most fundamental fact,
and the control over our self is our most fundamental
freedom, our “Unalienable Right".
This should also be true in the digital world.
18CC BY-SA 4.0

19. Human Dignity
Human dignity demands that individuals
be treated with respect no matter which
system they interact with, whether
face-to-face or digitally online.
Without that, we become nothing but data in the
machine — entries in a ledger to be managed,
problems to be solved, digital serfs. We are not.
19CC BY-SA 4.0

20. SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

21. 10 Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity
21
• Existence: Users have an independent
existence — they are never wholly
digital
• Control: Users must control their
identities, privacy or celebrity as they
prefer
• Access: Users must have access to
their own data — no gatekeepers,
nothing hidden
• Transparency: Systems and algorithms
must be open and transparent
• Persistence: Identities must be
long-lived — for as long as the user
wishes
● Portability: Information and services
about identity must be transportable
by the user
● Interoperability: Identities should be as
widely usable as possible; e.g. cross
borders
● Consent: Users must freely agree to
how their identity information will be
used
● Minimization: Disclosure of claims
about an identity must be as few as
possible
● Protection: The rights of individual users
must be protected against the
powerful
CC BY-SA 4.0

22. Second Principle: Control
The second principle of Self-Sovereign
Identity is that people must control their
identities, privacy or celebrity as they prefer.
You are the ultimate moral authority on your identity.
You should always be able to refer to it, update it, or
even hide it.
22CC BY-SA 4.0

23. Source of Moral Authority
As our digital representations become more and
more how we engage in society, a free society
demands that we be given a voice in deciding how
those representations are created and used.
Not because we own that data, but because
individual human beings are the ONLY valid source
for that moral authority.
23CC BY-SA 4.0

24. Control of Self
We should have the same control over our
digital selves as we do over our physical
selves.
24CC BY-SA 4.0

25. Not Perfect Control
This not perfect control. It's not
complete. But it is us.
As children we learn the appropriate
boundaries of that control. As adults, we
are expected to understand them.
25CC BY-SA 4.0

26. Limits on
Self-Sovereignty
Self-Sovereignty doesn’t
mean that you are in
complete control. But it does
define the borders within
which you can make
decisions and outside of
which you negotiate with
others as peers, not as a
petitioner.
26
“Your right to swing your arms
ends just where the other man’s
nose begins.”—Unknown, Yale Book of Quotations
CC BY-SA 4.0

27. Take Care: Identity is Not Property
“Human rights — in stark contrast to property rights — are
universal, indivisible, and inalienable. They attach to each of
us individually as humans, cannot be divided into sticks in a
bundle, and cannot be surrendered, transferred, or sold…
The property law paradigm for data ownership loses sight of
these intrinsic rights that may attach to our data. Just
because something is property-like, does not mean that it is — or
that it should be — subject to property law.”
— Elizabeth M. Renieris (@hackylawer)
27CC BY-SA 4.0

28. Not “Own”, but “Control”
Thus when we speak about digital identity & personal
information, we shouldn’t use the words “own” or
“ownership”. Instead we speak of the individual's right to
control their digital identity as we do our physical selves.
Largely the Self-Sovereign Identity developer & technology
community is avoiding the term “own” and other
property-related words.
28
CC BY-SA 4.0

29. SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

30. A Caution…
“These principles attempt to ensure the user control
that’s at the heart of self-sovereign identity. However,
they also recognize that identity can be a
double-edged sword — usable for both beneficial
and maleficent purposes.”
— Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
30CC BY-SA 4.0

31. Balancing Transparence & Privacy
“We desire to balance the need for fairness,
accountability and support of the commons in civil
society against the need to prevent human rights abuses
and the right to be able to freely associate.
When these needs conflict, we err to preserve the
freedom and rights of the individual over the needs of
the group. Put another way, we believe in accountability
for the powerful, and privacy for everyone else.” —
Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
31CC BY-SA 4.0

32. Architecture
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

33. Where do we begin?
33SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International

34. Credentials
34
Credentials are evidence of authority, status, rights, entitlement
to privileges, or the like, usually written in some formal form.
CC BY-SA 4.0

35. Credentials
35
A credential typically consist of:
● information related to the subject of the credential (e.g.,
photo, name, and identification number),
● information related to the issuer (e.g., city government,
national agency, or certification body),
● evidence related to how the credential was derived,
● information related to usage, such as biometrics or
expiration dates
CC BY-SA 4.0

36. Digital Credential
36
A digital credential can represent all of the same information
that a physical credential represents, but adds:
● Tamper-proof and therefore more trustworthy
● Holders can generate presentations with multiple credentials
● Both credentials and presentations can be rapidly
transmitted, making them more convenient than their
physical counterparts when establishing trust at a distance.
CC BY-SA 4.0

37. Digital Credential Ecosystem
37
Issuer
(Website)
Government, Employer, etc.
Verifier
(Website)
Company, Bank, etc.
Holder
(Digital Wallet /
Personal Data Store)
Citizen, Employee, etc.
Issue
Credentials
Send
Presentation
CC BY-SA 4.0

38. Problems with Digital Credentials
38
● Inappropriate use or over-use of identifiers → e.g. SSN
● Limitations of names & passwords
● Personal data & reputation locked by bigcorp.com
● Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is collected & sold
● Credentials and PII are easily stolen en-mass → Yahoo,
Expedia, …
● Share password with spouse or assistant → ambient authority
● Service later shuts down → you are a digital refugee
CC BY-SA 4.0

39. Many Identities, Many Contexts
39
Another problem is that you have many identities, each with
different contexts:
● Family (spouse’s family, ex’s family, blended families)
● Friends from different eras of your life (high school, college,
early or different career)
● Different communities (church, culture, ethnic, lifestyle,
neighborhood, special interests, hobbies/avocations)
● Institutions (employment, school, residency, citizenship)
CC BY-SA 4.0

40. Too many Contexts
40
Each of these contexts has an identifier
● Family (name, relationship “aunt”)
● Friends from different eras of your life (nickname,
relationship “roommate”, Instagram account…)
● Different communities (usernames, email addresses… )
● Institutions (employee ID, SSN, driver’s license, passport…)
CC BY-SA 4.0

41. Identifiers connect to us to Contexts
41
You
Institutions
Work
Friends
CC BY-SA 4.0

42. Contexts connect to Contexts
42
You
Institutions
Work
Friends
Society
CC BY-SA 4.0

43. Intermediaries Wedge In
43
You
Society
CC BY-SA 4.0

44. Unmanagable Contexts
44
You
Society
CC BY-SA 4.0

45. The Root of the Digital Credential Problem
45
●
● <IDENTIFIER>
○ license: I1234562
○ hair: BLK
○ name: ALEXANDER JOSEPH
○ address: 2570 24th STREET …
○ date of birth: 08/31/1977
○ issued by: California DMV
○ digital signature: MIIB7ZueKqp...
CC BY-SA 4.0

46. The Identifier Problem
46
To date, every identifier you use online does not belong to you; it belongs to
someone else.
● URLs are leased to you by your DNS provider, who leases them from
from the gTLD, who leases them from ICANN.
● Phone numbers are loaned to you (and often ported away)
● Government-issued identifiers often misused commercially
● Management of identifiers is hard, and is being outsourced
This results in problems related to cost, data portability, data privacy, and
data security
CC BY-SA 4.0

47. Digital Identifiers Today
47
Centralized Name System
(Identifiers are leased to individuals, usually from Issuer or Identity Provider)
Issuer
(Website)
Government, Employer, etc.
Verifier
(Website)
Company, Bank, etc.
Holder
(Digital Wallet /
Personal Data Store)
Citizen, Employee, etc.
Issue
Credentials
Send
Presentation
CC BY-SA 4.0

48. What is Missing?
48
The ability to…
● create many identifiers for any person, organization, or thing
● that are portable
● do not depend on a centralized authority
● are protected by cryptography
● and enable privacy and data portability.
CC BY-SA 4.0

49. Solution: Decentralized Identifier (DID)
49
• A new type of URL that is:
– globally unique,
– highly available,
– cryptographically verifiable
– with no central authority.
X
did:btcr:xyv2-xzyq-qqm5-tyke
CC BY-SA 4.0

50. Decentralized Identifiers
50
Decentralized Identifiers
(Identifiers are owned by issuers, subject, holders, verifiers)
Blockchains / DHTs
(Decentralized Ledger)
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Sovrin, Veres One, etc.
Issuer
(Website)
Government, Employer, etc.
Verifier
(Website)
Company, Bank, etc.
Holder
(Digital Wallet /
Personal Data Store)
Citizen, Employee, etc.
Issue
Credentials
Present
Credentials
CC BY-SA 4.0

51. What does a DID look like?
51
did:example:123456789abcdefghijk
Scheme
DID Method
DID Method Specific String
Example:
did:btcr:xyv2-xzyq-qqm5-tyke
CC BY-SA 4.0

52. Decentralized Identifiers
52
Also…
● for individuals, organizations, things (phones, IoT).
● registered in blockchain or other decentralized network
(ledger-agnostic)
● created and managed via wallet applications
CC BY-SA 4.0

53. Some DID/VC Implementations To Date
53
Method DID prefix
Bitcoin Reference did:btcr:
Blockstack did:stack:
ERC725 did:erc725:
Ethereum uPort did:uport:
IPFS did:ipfs:
IPDB did:ipdb:
Sovrin did:sov:
Veres One did:v1:
more registered at https://w3c-ccg.github.io/did-method-registry/

54. Anatomy of a Verifiable Credential
54
Verifiable Credential
Issuer Signature (anti-counterfeit)
Verification Process (biometric)
Decentralized Identifier
Credential Metadata
Claims

55. Some Organizations Committed to DID/VCs
55https://w3c-ccg.github.io/did-method-registry/

56. 56
Source: DHS Science and Technology Directorate's Testimony
before the US House of Representatives, May 8, 2018
● Cross borders
● Improve Supply Chain
Management
● Combat Counterfeit Goods
Increasing Government Support
CC BY-SA 4.0

57. 57
Increasing Government Support
CC BY-SA 4.0

58. LESS Identity & Trustless Identity
Two Major Tracks:
LESS Identity
“Legally-Enabled Self-Sovereign”
Identity*
Key characteristics:
● Minimum Disclosure
● Full Control
● Necessary Proofs
● Legally-Enabled
58
Trustless Identity
Or more properly “Trust
Minimized” Identity
Key characteristics:
● Anonymity
● Web of Trust
● Censorship Resistance
● Defend Human Rights vs. Powerful
Actors (nation states, multi-national
corps, mafias, etc.)
* Originally coined by Tim Bouma (@trbouma) https://medium.com/@trbouma/less-identity-65f65d87f56b
CC BY-SA 4.0

59. LESS Identity
“I want my identity to be digital, good and better, but in
the end, I want my identity to be less than the real me.”
— Tim Bouma (@trbouma)
“LESS Identity is for higher trust environments with
real-world identity verification, trust frameworks, privacy
with accountability and government acceptance”
— Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
59
CC BY-SA 4.0

60. Trustless Identity
“1.1 billion people have no legal identity, including tens
of millions of stateless refugees.”
— The World Bank
“And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the
most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most
extreme form of liberty.”
— Plato, from the “The Republic” Book VIII
60
CC BY-SA 4.0

61. LESS Identity & Trustless Identity
Two Major Tracks:
LESS Identity
“Legally-Enabled Self-Sovereign”
Identity*
Key characteristics:
● Minimum Disclosure
● Full Control
● Necessary Proofs
● Legally-Enabled
61
Trustless Identity
Or more properly “Trust
Minimized” Identity
Key characteristics:
● Anonymity
● Web of Trust
● Censorship Resistance
● Defend Human Rights vs. Powerful
Actors (nation states, multi-national
corps, mafias, etc.)
* Originally coined by Tim Bouma (@trbouma) https://medium.com/@trbouma/less-identity-65f65d87f56b
CC BY-SA 4.0

62. LESS Identity
“I want my identity to be digital, good and better, but in
the end, I want my identity to be less than the real me.”
— Tim Bouma (@trbouma)
“LESS Identity is for higher trust environments with
real-world identity verification, trust frameworks, privacy
with accountability and government acceptance”
— Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
62
CC BY-SA 4.0

63. Trustless Identity
“Identity is local, insecure, and labor-intensive…
Identity-based access will exclude at least a third of
world's future adults”
— Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4)
“1.1 billion people have no legal identity, including tens
of millions of stateless refugees.”
— The World Bank
63
CC BY-SA 4.0

64. Trustless Identity
“And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the
most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most
extreme form of liberty.”
— Plato, from the “The Republic” Book VIII
“Identity can be a double-edged sword — usable for both
beneficial and maleficent purposes.”
— Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
64
CC BY-SA 4.0

65. Trustless Identity
“We desire to balance the need for fairness,
accountability and support of the commons in civil
society against the need to prevent human rights abuses
and the right to be able to freely associate.
When these needs conflict, we err to preserve the
freedom and rights of the individual over the needs of the
group. Put another way, we believe in accountability for
the powerful, and privacy for everyone else.”
— Christopher Allen (@ChristopherA)
65
CC BY-SA 4.0

66. Why do I care about Self-Sovereign Identity?
Sunday was the 75th
anniversary of the Liberation
of Auschwitz.
I attended a moving ceremony
last week in Amsterdam,
where the Netherlands Prime
Minister apologized.
66
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51258081
CC BY-SA 4.0

67. An Apology
“When authority became a
threat, our government agencies
failed as guardians of law and
security.
…Now that the last survivors are
still among us, I apologize today
on behalf of the government for
government action then.”
— Mark Rutte (@minpres), Netherlands Prime
Minister on 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of
Auschwitz
67
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/toespraken/2020/01/26/toespraak-van-minister-president-mark-rutte-bij-de-nationale-auschwitzherdenking-amsterdam
CC BY-SA 4.0

68. What Went Wrong?
Remember, more Jews died as
a percentage of population in
the Netherlands than in
Germany, France and other
countries.
Part of this is because the
Nazis took over civil
administration.
They had the data!
68
“Netherlands, Belgium and France…
The percentage of Jews of the total
population did not differ very much
and was low in all three countries:
0.75% of the French and Belgian
population, and 1.5% of the Dutch
population. …
Three quarters of the Dutch Jews
were murdered…
both in terms of percentages and in
absolute numbers”
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest-number-jewish-victims-western-europe/
CC BY-SA 4.0

69. How did this happen?
In 1932 JL Letz become the head
of the “National Inspectorate of
Population Registers” in the Dutch
civil service.
In the 1930s much of the world
was in the grip of The Great
Depression. The efficiency of the
Dutch civil service ensured all
citizens had access to basic
services, and was among the best
in Europe.
69
http://www.persoonsbewijzen.nl/passie/sites/index.php?mid=226952&kid=4302
CC BY-SA 4.0

70. It worked!
Lentz was given the task of promoting
more unity in the population registers
of the municipalities
By 1936, he help establish a decree
that every resident in the Netherlands
must have a personal identity card in
the civil archives, and that these
cards must all be controlled from a
single office in each region.
Lentz won a Royal Award for this.
70
http://www.persoonsbewijzen.nl/passie/sites/index.php?mid=226952&kid=4302
CC BY-SA 4.0

71. The Civil Archives
These centralized civil archives were
one of the first targets captured by the
Nazis, and were considered a valuable
asset.
Almost immediately after capitulation,
Lentz was asked by the Nazi’s to create
difficult to forge National Identity Card.
Lentz literally wrote the book on personal
identity and “proof of inclusion in the
population ledger” in 1940.
71
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_bombing_of_the_Amsterdam_civil_registry_office
CC BY-SA 4.0

72. Forgery by the Resistance
“Resistance members soon started to forge
identification cards at a large scale…
However, forged documents could be easily
detected because they could be compared
against the records in the civil registries…
Some civil servants were willing to falsify
records in the civil registry so that they
would match up with forged identification
cards. Nevertheless, the civil registries
remained a potent weapon in the hands of
the Nazis to identify…the population who
were Jewish”
— Wikipedia on “Bombing of the Amsterdam Civil Registry”
72
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_bombing_of_the_Amsterdam_civil_registry_office
1942 Biometric Facial Authentication
CC BY-SA 4.0

73. Archives Become Target of the Resistance
Despite the efforts by the Resistance to
create forgeries, these archives were
used by the Nazis to check forged
identity cards using “proof of inclusion
in the registry”, in particular those with
the J on them against the civil records.
The Dutch resistance tried destroy the
civil archives on 28 March 1943.
Unfortunately only 15% of the records
were destroyed.
73
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_bombing_of_the_Amsterdam_civil_registry_office
After the Bombing
CC BY-SA 4.0

74. Meanwhile in France
Like in the Netherlands, the French
“Vichy” government also assisted in
Nazi deportation of Jews and other
“undesirables”.
However, in 1942, the Vichy government
refused to continue to arrest Jews on a
large scale and send them for
deportation. The Nazi’s did not control
the civil archives as they did in the
Netherlands.
74
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_France
CC BY-SA 4.0

75. 75%
104,000
Deaths
Jewish Deaths
75
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest-number-jewish-victims-western-europe/
Netherlands
23%
74,000
Deaths
CC BY-SA 4.0
France

76. A living history
After last week’s Holocaust Memorial, I
had lunch with a child of two survivors of
Auschwitz, who was also very moved by
the the event and the Prime Minister’s
apology.
His mother had been rounded up using
this data in a razzia after protests &
strikes by sympathetic Dutch citizens.
His father fled and was hidden by the
resistance in Utrecht but was ultimately
betrayed, probably by Naziusing civil data
as an early social network analysis.
76
CC BY-SA 4.0

77. Lessons for Today
Despite the trust in government
today, we never know what may
happen tomorrow.
Centralized architectures and
immutable proofs can be used for
both good and evil.
77
Archives are now the Amsterdam Zoo Cafe
CC BY-SA 4.0

78. An opinion
I believe that this living history from survivors of WWII is why Dutch
citizens & Netherlands government are so supportive of the
human-rights privacy aspects of GDPR, and I believe part of the
reason why Self-Sovereign Identity is on the agenda here before
many other countries.
But Remembrance is still needed — it has been 75 years since the
Holocaust. The passing of the old generations and ‘fake news’ are
fading these memories.
78
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/world/europe/beyond-anne-frank-the-dutch-tell-their-full-holocaust-story.html
CC BY-SA 4.0

79. How can we be heroes?
“Where are the false
identification cards and fake
baptismal certificates in a world
of immutable records? How can
honest to goodness hero fake
an ID in a world where IDs can’t
be faked?”
— Thomas J Rush (@quickblocks)
79
https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/27/meet-the-man-who-saved-62000-people-during-the-holocaust/
Carl Lutz forged documents saving 62,000 Jews
CC BY-SA 4.0

80. Still a need for Trustless Solutions
Nationalism, tribalism and xenophobia are on the rise across the world.
● In Russia (Putin) Brazil (Bolsonaro), Great Britain (Johnson), Poland
(Kaczynski), Turkey (Erdogan), the USA (Trump), and more.
● Normalization of xenophobia encourages violation of human rights
● Academics, critics, journalists, Muslims, and transgender people
have all been targeted.
● Facial recognition is becoming adopted worldwide
● New dangers require new ways to protect human rights
80
CC BY-SA 4.0

81. But we need both!
The Netherlands today is a “high-trust” society. The citizens trust the
government, and the government trusts the citizens. This is good!
We want this! But this is not true everywhere.
And LESS Identity is where the money is — Self-Sovereign Identity
has deep “trustless” roots, but almost all the major advancements in
the last two years have been in projects for commerce and are to be
recognized as legal by governments.
But as standards emerge, don’t lock out the “trustless” solutions —
they serve different needs not served by LESS Identity.
81
CC BY-SA 4.0

82. An Identity Community Foremembrance
I would like to see on the next 27 March that the
self-sovereign and larger identity community have a
moment of silence. A Forward Remembrance, a
Foremberance.
To remember sculptor Gerrit van der Veen who forged
80,000 Jewish civil records, and author and painter
Willem Arondeus and 11 others who were found guilty of
attempting to destroy the civil archives and thus were
executed by the Nazis.
To salute all those who died to protect the defenceless in
WWII, who eased suffering in genocides past, and fought
discrimination and totalitarianism.
82
CC BY-SA 4.0

83. An Identity Community Foremembrance
To foremember about those today at the front.
The protesters in Hong Kong, those trying to
discover details about the Xinjiang “re-education”
concentration camps in western China, the
government of Gambia taking Burmese Aung San
Suu Kyi to court here in the The Hague to demand
protection for the Rohingya, to those protecting
immigrant children on the US Mexico border or
protecting us against Cambridge Analytica-like
attacks this years elections, and to all those
protecting minority communities such as gays,
transexuals, and more.
And to salute all those defending the vulnerable.
83
CC BY-SA 4.0

84. 27th of March - Sunset in Amsterdam (CET)
Identity Community
#Foremembrance
Friday, March 27th
Sunset:
19:06 CEST
1:06 pm EDT
10:06 am PDT
01:06 am March 28 in Taipei & Hong Kong
84
CC BY-SA 4.0
https://twitter.com/ChristopherA/status/1225123316916260864

85. 85
Christopher Allen | Executive Director | Blockchain Commons
▪ Co-Chair W3C Credentials CG
▪ Co-Inventor & Architect of
Decentralized Identifiers
▪ Author Design Principles of
Self-Sovereign Identity
▪ Co-Author SSL/TLS
▪ Former Principal Architect, Blockstream
▪ Former CTO Certicom
▪ Former CEO Consensus Development
▪ Former Faculty Pinchot.edu
Email: ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com
Twitter: @ChristopherA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ChristopherA/
SSIMeetup.orgssimeetup.org · CC BY-SA 4.0 International