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Decentralized Identifiers

A W3C Working Group Proposal

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What is a Decentralized Identifier?

A new type of URL that is:

  • globally unique,
  • highly available,
  • cryptographically verifiable, with
  • no central authority.

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What does a DID look like?

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did:example:123456789abcdefghijk

Scheme

DID Method

DID Method Specific String

did:v1:nym:BcNkgGmGEpCGSJSMPB4BvWvwVM6YeTR52BSWcZTbzU23

Example:

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DIDs Resolve to DID Documents

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{� "@context": "https://w3id.org/veres-one/v1",� "id": "did:v1:nym:DwkYwcoyUXHNkpj3whn4DgXB4fcg9gj95vKxYN2apkZD",� "authentication": [{� "type": "Ed25519SignatureAuthentication2018",� "publicKey": [{� "id": "did:v1:test:nym:DwkYwcoyUXHNkpj3whn4DgXB4fcg9gj95vKxYN2apkZD#authn-key-1",� "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2018",� "controller": "did:v1:nym:DwkYwcoyUXHNkpj3whn4DgXB4fcg9gj95vKxYN2apkZD",� "publicKeyBase58": "DwkYwcoyUXHNkpj3whn4DgXB4fcg9gj95vKxYN2apkZD"� }]� }],� "service": [{� "type": "ExampleMessagingService2018",� "serviceEndpoint": ”https://example.com/services/messages”� }],� … more DID-specific information here …

}

1. Authentication Mechanisms

3. Service Discovery

2. Public Key Material

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We use DIDs in Verifiable Credentials

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did:x:123

did:x:789

Professor

knows

Pat

Sam

name

ageOver

name

jobTitle

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Anatomy of a Verifiable Credential

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  • <DID>
    • license: I1234562
    • hair: BLK
    • name: ALEXANDER JOSEPH
    • address: 2570 24th STREET …
    • date of birth: 08/31/1977
    • issued by: California DMV
    • digital signature: MIIB7ZueKqp...

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Web Identifiers Today

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Domain Name System

(Identifiers are leased to individuals)

Issuer

(Website)

Government, Employer, etc.

Verifier

(Website)

Company, Bank, etc.

Holder

(Digital Wallet /

Personal Data Store)

Citizen, Employee, etc.

Issue Credentials

Present

Credentials

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Decentralized Identifiers

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Decentralized Identifiers

(Identifiers are owned by individuals)

Blockchains / DHTs

(Decentralized Ledger)

Veres One, Sovrin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

Issuer

(Website)

Government, Employer, etc.

Verifier

(Website)

Company, Bank, etc.

Holder

(Digital Wallet /

Personal Data Store)

Citizen, Employee, etc.

Issue Credentials

Present

Credentials

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Large Supporting Organizations

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REDACTED

W3C Member Confidential

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All Supporting Organizations

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REDACTED

W3C Member Confidential

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Who is behind the DID work?

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W3C Credentials Community Group

Rebooting the Web of Trust

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The Internet Identity Workshop

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Should W3C create a DID Working Group?

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W3C DID WG Proposal - Survey Results

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Next Steps

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W3C TPAC

(Oct 2018)

DID WG Charter Vote

(Jan 2019)

W3C DID WG

(Feb 2019)

W3C Strong Auth and Identity Workshop

(Dec 10th-11th, 2018 - Redmond, WA)

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Questions?

https://tinyurl.com/did-wg-proposal

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Contact

Manu Sporny

msporny@digitalbazaar.com

W3C Credentials CG

https://w3c-ccg.github.io/

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