Yesterday, the W3C authorized Decentralized Identifiers as a brand new net commonplace. Here is what it means for digital freedom.
Yesterday was a significant milestone within the evolution of the Net. The World Vast Net Consortium (W3C) introduced it was overruling the objections of Apple, Google, and Mozilla and approving W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) 1.0 as a W3C Advice.
Usually described as the basic constructing block of decentralized id, DIDs are new cryptographically verifiable identifiers that allow peer-to-peer connection between any two events with out requiring a central registrar or middleman. This creates a personal and safe channel between these two events the place information and communication might be exchanged, with out the chance of any third-parties with the ability to see or correlate that exercise. Notably, yesterday’s choice makes the DID the primary identifier authorized as a W3C commonplace because the URL.
This milestone is particularly significant for Avast and our prospects as a result of it’ll tear down the partitions of the “castles of cryptography” and make the riches of digitally signed and encrypted information obtainable to everybody in all places.
Sure, that could be a metaphor, however with actual which means. For instance, with DIDs:
- Each one in every of us will have the ability to have a digital pockets that’s unbiased of our units and may securely and privately share simply the info we have to accomplish a selected digital transaction — akin to a telehealth appointment — and nothing extra.
- We will kind lifetime personal connections with one another — for varsity, work, sports activities, neighbors — that don’t rely upon any middleman platform or social community or machine producer. These connections will belong on to us and won’t be topic to any third-party phrases of service.
- We will have confidential communications with anybody — outdoors the attain of the surveillance financial system — utilizing open commonplace protocols that don’t require us to all use the identical app, service, or web site.
In brief, DIDs are actually the keys to digital freedom — the power for each folks and corporations to manage their very own information and relationships and use their digital property with any platform or vendor of their alternative.
That is typically described because the transition from Web2 to Web3 — and which may be true —however the actuality is deeper than any advertising buzzword. Just like the transition from feudalism to democracy during the last a number of centuries, it’s a shift in energy. The identical approach the Web “set data free” by giving us the facility to attach any two units anyplace on this planet — peer-to-peer — DIDs will set us free to securely and privately transact between any two events anyplace on this planet — peer-to-peer — with out the necessity to all the time use an middleman platform.
This explains why Avast has invested so closely within the W3C DID specification — first by buying Evernym, which led the event of the very first model of the DID spec in 2016 (and whose principal cryptography architect Brent Zundel served as co-chair of the DID Working Group), after which by buying SecureKey, who sponsored id requirements skilled Justin Richer to make main contributions to DID paperwork and DID decision.
Collectively, the members of the Digital Belief Companies enterprise at Avast have authored dozens of papers, posts, webinars, and even books that designate what DIDs are, how they work, the place they can be utilized, and why they’re elementary to the way forward for decentralized digital belief infrastructure.
It feels acceptable that this W3C choice — one of many longest deliberations in W3C historical past — comes in the future earlier than Canada Day (one of many world leaders in digital id) and three days earlier than the U.S. Independence Day. Let the celebrations start!
