Decentralized Digital Identity
Redefining Digital Identity in the New Era
In the early days, in a world not too far from our own, digital identity was a concept yet to be realized. People across the globe live their lives with little thought about their online presence or the need for a secure and unified identity across digital platforms. However, as technology advances and the internet becomes an integral part of our daily lives, the concept of digital identity begins to evolve.
In the early days of the internet, people across the globe used simple usernames and passwords to access various online services. There was little concern for privacy or security, and people freely shared personal information online. I can call this a time of innocence or little information, but it is the stepping stone for future challenges.
As the internet grew and social media platforms emerged, people began creating more detailed profiles across the globe, like real names, profile pictures, and personal interests and addresses shared openly. Digital identity becomes intertwined with one’s social life, and the concept of managing an online persona has gained importance. At the same time, cybercrime, theft, and misuse of information also increase. The simplistic username and password system proved vulnerable to hackers and malicious actors. High-profile data breaches exposed millions of users’ private information, which led the industry to think of better identity solutions.
The next step is to bolster security. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) emerged as a popular solution. In this, the people must provide an additional piece of information or use a secondary trusted device to log in. Biometric authentication gained attraction along with MFA, allowing people to use their fingerprints, facial recognition, eye scanners, etc.
A concern over data privacy and centralized control increased, and a new concept arrived called Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and this concept is still in the evaluation stage. The SSI will give individuals full control over their digital identity, storing personal information securely on their devices or decentralized systems in the blockchain. This solution provides users with a data custodian, only sharing necessary information with trusted parties. The blockchain plays a significant role in shaping the evolution of digital identity with decentralized identity (DID), which allows for more secure and privacy-focused identification methods. You do not need to rely solely on centralized authorities for verification.
Along with DID, digital wallets became a prominent feature in the evolution of digital identity. These wallets store personal identification data, making them essential to an individual’s online identity. One such example of a digital wallet is India’s DigiLocker. You can store all your personal details, like Driving licenses, Certificates, insurance etc., in DigiLocker. The DigiLocker uses the Aadhar (digital Id) to verify the identity of the individuals.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a significant role in identity verification processes. AI algorithms enabled robust and accurate identity checks using facial recognition, voice analysis, and behavioural biometrics, making it more challenging for hackers to steal identity verification.
For global unique identification, an establishment is setting up a global digital identity network with a decentralized infrastructure. This allowed for seamless identification across borders, facilitating international travel, commerce and communication.
With the evolution of these technologies, digital identity has become seamlessly integrated into the everyday life of normal personnel, giving people the confidence to access services on the internet.
How Digital Identity Impacts the Individual
In a world defined by online interactions, let’s consider an example: the life of a person named Nikki was inextricably tied to her digital identity. This isn’t the social media profiles she updated or the photos she shared, but a broader spectrum of digital footprints she left behind every time she connected to the virtual world.
From the moment Nikki started her first email account, her digital identity began taking shape; as she grew older, she opened social media like Meta, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, made online purchases like Amazon Flipkart, and did transactions with Net Banking, online insurance, and remote work opportunities that necessitated verifying her identity. Each interaction enriched her digital profile, building an image of Nikki’s identity in the online sphere.
With a strong digital identity, Nikki enjoyed personalized products based on past purchases, curated playlists in Spotify, etc., personalized healthcare, and connected patient information across hospitals. With digital identity, the organizations or banking systems analyze the behaviour, and with digital identity, it is easy for an organization to provide service faster.
On the downside, Nikki’s digital identity has privacy concerns and possible identity theft if her credentials are not strong enough, and most importantly, the social media posts, written in the heat of teenage emotion, remained accessible to anyone following her. For this, the new age SSI/Distributed Digital Identity helps her with the concerns of privacy storing guardian on identity theft.