Self-Sovereign Identity and Open Source Software
Richard Esplin�Product Manager Evernym�Hyperledger Indy project and the Sovrin identity Network
November 12, 2018
SSIMeetup objectives
Alex Preukschat @SSIMeetup @AlexPreukschat
Coordinating Node SSIMeetup.org
SSIMeetup.org
What is Self Sovereign Identity?
SSIMeetup.org
Carriers of Identity
Digital Identity
Also Known As
User-Centric Identity
User-Controlled Identity
User-Owned Identity
Bring Your Own Identity
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A Brief History of Open Source
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Sharing Early Software
The money is in the hardware, so why bother protecting software?
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Unix Culture
Software isn’t our business.
Unix is academic.
Sharing gets things done.
Homebrew
Hobbyist exploring the limits of computing.
Bill Gates:�Sharing software is theft.
Free Software
Free as in Freedom. (Free as in Speech.)
Sharing is a moral duty.
Proprietary software keeps users divided and helpless.
Proprietary software does not allow users to have control of their computing.
Copyleft: hack copyright to enforce sharing.
Open Source
Open source is better engineering.
With many eyes, all bugs are shallow.
Scratch your own itch.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Collaboration is fun.
Open Culture
Art and media
Legal access
Scientific data access
Scientific hardware
Bio-hacking
Maker movement
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Principles of FLOSS
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Free Software
Open Source Software
Libre Software
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The Four Freedoms
0. Run the program for any purpose.
1. Study how the program works.
2. Redistribute the program.
3. Improve the program, and redistribute the improvements.
Open Source Definition
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Commercial Open Source
Provides customers with:
And has a reputation for:
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Three Types of Licenses
Bruce Perens, 2009�https://www.datamation.com/osrc/article.php/3803101/Bruce-Perens-How-Many-Open-Source-Licenses-Do-You-Need.htm
Three Types of Licenses
1. Gift:
Maximize adoption, standards, and collaboration.
Usually community governed.
Apache, CC0, BSD, MIT,�Public Domain, Artistic
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Three Types of Licenses
2. Sharing with Rules:
Share-alike, including derivatives.
Respect the user, while allowing the copyright holder a privileged position (a competitive advantage).
Often vendor driven.
GPL, AGPL, CC-SA
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Three Types of Licenses
3. In-Between:
Share-alike changes to the received work, but not to derivatives.
Respect the user, retain product control, but allow adoption in a wide set of derivatives.
LGPL, MPL
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Good Reads
Open Source and SSI
SSIMeetup.org
Ten Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity
Christopher Allen, 2016�http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2016/04/the-path-to-self-soverereign-identity.html
A Brief Story
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses a proprietary SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses a proprietary SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
$$
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses a proprietary SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
$$$$$$
X
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses an open SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses an open SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
$$
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses an open SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
$$$$$$
SSIMeetup.org
Alice uses an open SSI solution . . .
Alice
Bob
Soul-less Mega-corp
$$$$$$
Carol
$$
SSIMeetup.org
More Than Code
SSIMeetup.org
Creating Trust
Moral Pressure
Reputational Pressure
Institutional Pressure
Security Systems
Bruce Schneier, 2012�Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive
The BLT
Business
Legal
Technical
Sovrin Trust Framework
Evernym’s Design Requirements
A reliable self-sovereign solution:
Self-Sovereign Identity and Open Source Software
Richard Esplin�Product Manager Evernym�Hyperledger Indy project and the Sovrin identity Network
November 12, 2018