Digital identities; In general, it is the electronic form of personal data (from the ID card to the photo you upload to social media). You may not need to hide your photo on social media, but where you need to prove your ID card; You may need to hide your ID number, date of birth, and maybe sometimes your last name. This is where SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity) comes into play.
What is SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity)?
Self-sovereign identity is a digital id approach that gives individuals control of their digital identities. In this approach, people; they can obtain their identities or certificates by an institution using blockchain and store them in their cold wallets. On the other hand, the institution keeps the validity of the certificate and the proof of its own issue on the blockchain (But no personal information is kept on the blockchain). In the certificate, it adds information that enables access to this evidence by cryptographic operations. Thus, the individual can prove that the certificate belongs to him and that he received it from a real institution. After the certificate is issued, the institution does not need to keep any data of the user.
However, when the individual wants to prove his identity, he can only provide the necessary information without revealing his entire identity. It can even provide confirmation of age 18 by proving that the year of birth is older than 18 years, without giving the date of birth.
This is just one of the unlimited uses of the self-sovereign identity approach that we are talking about. With the increasing value of personal data day by day, privacy also comes to the fore. At this point, a more secure verification system than cold wallets used with blockchain technology cannot be considered.
