Dock

In Web2, we use email addresses and phone numbers. In Web3, we will use Crypto Wallets and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs). Here&#39;s what you need to know: Simply put, Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) are your identifying address on the blockchain and the backbone of Decentralized Identity technology.<a href="https://certs.dock.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Create your first DID on the Dock blockchain - for free</a>But... what&#39;s the utility of a DID?<h2 id="header-0">DIDs can cryptographically sign a digital document or credential</h2>DIDs contain cryptographic keys. Cryptographic keys keep secrets safe by scrambling messages into a secret code that only someone with the right key can unscramble. Something encoded with the Private Key can only be decoded with the corresponding Public Key, and something encoded with the Public Key can only be decoded with the corresponding Private Key.Lets say your University wants to issue you a digital <a href="https://www.dock.io/post/verifiable-credentials" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Verifiable Credential</a> of your diploma. They use their DID&#39;s Private Key to sign the document and put the Public Key on the blockchain.Now anyone can check the blockchain to verify if that University really issued the diploma and if it&#39;s authentic or if it was tampered.<img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/srd-optimized-uploads/91bd9f827bd54ff5b01ce87add3a21db.png" />But it&#39;s not just organizations that have DIDs. People have DIDs too. As many as they want! Why?<a href="https://certs.dock.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Create your first DID on the Dock blockchain - for free</a><h2 id="header-1">DIDs prevent data tracking and correlation</h2>Your social media profiles can be used to track your online behaviour and serve you with ads. Even your crypto wallet address can be used to track your transaction history.DIDs are all about privacy.You can create a DID for each of your different online interactions to prevent others from tracking you. For example:<ul><li>DID 1: Online gaming sites</li><li>DID 2: For educational and training credentials such as a university degree</li><li>DID 3: To hold different types of IDs like state IDs and driver’s license</li></ul><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/srd-optimized-uploads/3446d185051242eeadbbf39e0c98b3dc.png" /><h2 id="header-2"></h2><h2 id="header-3">DIDs are yours</h2>No one can take them from you.Other online identifiers - like an email address or a social media profile - are owned by the companies that created them. DIDs are yours and independent of any organization. You create them. You manage them and their keys.<a href="https://certs.dock.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Create your first DID on the Dock blockchain - for free</a><h2 id="header-4"></h2><h2 id="header-5">The problem with centralized identity</h2><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/srd-optimized-uploads/60cb4475661f46c98d3df0b30da1cf9c.png" /><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/decentralized-identity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Decentralized Identity</a> is the third model of identity management.In the first one - Centralized or Siloed Identity - users had to create login credentials for every service they interacted with, which created user experience and security problems.In the second model - Federated Identity - users can login using intermediary ID providers (think Login with Facebook/Google). This model created a better user experience but reduced privacy by allowing companies to track your online behaviour.We&#39;re now entering the age of Decentralized Identity:<ul><li>You create and own your identifiers. No one can take them from you.</li><li>Identifiers are decentralized and stored on the blockchain.</li><li>They contain no personal or wallet information (your personal data is stored in your digital identity wallet on your phone).</li><li>They prevent tracking and data correlation.</li></ul><h2 id="header-6">DIDs enable instant credential verification</h2><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/srd-optimized-uploads/f8fa4fafb3654fb594f0f7ad70b79d98.png" />When an organization uses a <a href="https://dock.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Verifiable Credentials platform</a> like Dock&#39;s, they&#39;ll immediately create their first Decentralized Identifier.That DID&#39;s Private Key will sign the digital documents they issue to turn them into fraud-proof Verifiable Credentials.The DID&#39;s Public Key goes on the Dock blockchain.People will store the documents in a digital identity wallet on their phones, like the Dock Wallet.A verifier - like a Company wanting to verify a person&#39;s University Diploma - can request the Verifiable Credential from a Dock Wallet or the web through a QR Code.Using Dock&#39;s platform or wallet, the Company will instantly verify the document&#39;s authenticity by automatically checking the public key on the blockchain.<h2 id="header-7">DIDs are an official W3C Web Standard</h2>The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international organization that creates standards for the World Wide Web and has a goal to create technical standards as well as guidelines for web technologies around the world. They defined the URL and Verifiable Credentials as standards, among others.W3C established Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 which describes the technological details and standards that organizations creating DID solutions can follow. W3C describes DIDs as being “A new type of identifier that enables verifiable, decentralized digital identity.” <h3 id="br-learn-more"> Learn More</h3><ul><li><a href="https://dock.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Dock</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/self-sovereign-identity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Self-Sovereign Identity</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/decentralized-identity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Decentralized Identity</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/verifiable-credentials" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Verifiable Credentials</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/blockchain-identity-management" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Blockchain Identity Management</a></li><li><a href="https://www.dock.io/post/what-are-digital-credentials" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">What are Digital Credentials?</a></li></ul>

The next big thing in Web3: Decentralized Identifiers

Table of Contents

Dock

Other articles published on Feb 28, 2023

EasyFi partners with KyberSwap for Electric

Nifty News: Yuga Labs jumps on Ordinals hype, Dookey Dash key sells for 1,000 ETH and more…

Trustless IBC Use Case Series: DeFi

MyAlgo Users Urged to Withdraw as Cause of $9.2M Hack Remains Unknown

MultiversX Labs Introduces the xPortal Super App to Bring Web3 and Metaverse to Everyone

An Introduction to Synthetix Network

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!