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What is Self-Sovereign Identity?
What is Self-Sovereign Identity?
The challenges of Digital Identity in the new Web3 ecosystem
The challenges of Digital Identity in the new Web3 ecosystem
13 October 2023
.5 minutes
Alfredo Abad Arraz
Digital strategy
Nobody finds it strange to talk about registration with username and password when it comes to consuming services over the Internet, either in applications created for mobile devices or directly in web applications.
In these processes, we share information that identifies us in one way or another, so we could say, without fear of being wrong, that our identity in the digital world is multiple and that, in turn, can be complete, partial, inaccurate, or outright false.
For this reason, one of the great challenges when we try to identify ourselves on the Internet is to know who has access to our information and how our data is managed. Are we aware of how, when, and with whom we have shared data throughout our online life? Do we have real control over our digital identity(ies)?
Likewise, all online service providers have huge difficulties in verifying who is behind these identities and ensuring data quality. This causes the implementation of complex and costly verification systems that, in the majority of cases, end up harming the final user, passing on costs and hindering their user experience.
The concept of digital identity has been evolving from the "centralized" identities in which independent digital identities are created for each service accessed, to "federated" identities in which an intermediary facilitates the creation of new accounts and users through the identity already created in another service (e.g. Amazon, Google, or Facebook).
Up to the present day, where the appearance of technologies such as blockchain has allowed the creation of new information exchange models that ensure the veracity of data and self-management by users.
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What is Self-Sovereign Identity?
What is Self-Sovereign Identity?
Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) represents a very important change in how users exchange information with their environment, as they have absolute control over their identity and the data that makes it up.
With this new digital identification model, users can not only manage their own information, but decide how, when, and with whom they share it. In order to facilitate this entire data exchange, it is necessary to use applications, known as wallets, which securely store all the information and allow the exchange, ensuring the veracity of the data.
By favoring the secure and accurate exchange of information between wallets, the need to have a trusted third party or intermediary is removed, which represents great efficiencies over current processes.
Moreover, this new identification model eliminates the need for the third party entity to which a piece of data is presented to verify its veracity or validity by going to the source of the data; it is sufficient to check it in a decentralized registry such as blockchain networks.
Decentralization-based Self-Sovereign Identity will soon be a reality, and will offer the chance to improve our processes and services by making them increasingly more efficient. The change of digital identity model will represent a challenge for which, at Repsol, we are prepared."
CIO & CDO at Repsol
How Self-Sovereign Identity models work
How Self-Sovereign Identity models work
Self-Sovereign Identity Systems make use of Blockchain technology to share information in a secure and immutable manner between all participants in the network.
This information is organized through Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) to recognize individuals, organizations, and objects. DIDs and all their identity attributes form the cryptographic basis of the model, whose information, being replicated in all the nodes of the network, can be consulted without the need for a central administrative entity to verify, control, and manage these identifiers. Of course, this information is not public, it is encrypted and is only accessible between the nodes involved in an information exchange transaction.
The Self-Sovereign Identity model used by Repsol, is guided by the technical, functional, and regulatory standards that are being established in the European Commission through initiatives such as EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure). In this way, we ensure the compatability and interoperability of Repsol use cases with future regulated self-sovereign identity services.
Example of the operation of Self-Sovereign Identity Systems:
To explain in a simple way how to establish relationships of trust and independence by eliminating intermediaries, barriers, and inefficiencies, let's take an example.
- Any recognized entity, such as Repsol, may issue a verifiable piece of identity data or credential to a customer or supplier, for example, a training certificate, employee accreditation, or a renewable products customer label.
- The user or holder of that credential will have the possibility to store it in their wallet, where they will be able to consult its status in real time and present it to third parties (administration, suppliers, auditors, customers, etc.).
- These third parties will be able to, in turn, easily verify its authenticity by consulting the registry on the blockchain network.
The use of a Self-Sovereign Identity model opens up a range of possibilities in the exchange of information with Public Administrations, where progress is already being made in different projects, including at an international level, and a chance to use and expand the model in the private sector.
There are a multitude of use cases or applications with which we can improve and strengthen user verification processes, which will necessarily result in more efficient and less costly interactions.
The model, which applies to both physical persons (employees, customers, etc.) and legal persons (entities and organizations), has been designed as a model focused on the user experience that ensures interoperability with other networks and sectors, and represents a huge leap in terms of efficiency and security of identification processes.
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Self-Sovereign Identity projects at Repsol
Self-Sovereign Identity projects at Repsol
At Repsol, we are committed to contributing to the development of decentralized technologies through collaboration and networking. We are part of Alastria, one of the largest public-permissioned, multi-sector blockchain platforms in the world, from where we contribute to the promotion of standards such as self-sovereign identity with blockchain technology.
On an international level, we are founding partners of Blockchain for Energy, where we are co-developing a multitude of interconnected use cases through blockchain technology and, of course, through a backbone element of all of them: the self-sovereign identity.
The deployment and adoption of new, more secure, and efficient identification models is a chance to improve shared processes and use cases within and outside the energy sector, and we are already working on shared use cases with our suppliers in fields such as Procurement, Logistics, and Transportation.
In addition, we will transfer the value of the model to our customers by issuing renewable origin labels for our products or supplies, so that they can accredit good practices and responsibility in terms of sustainability.
