Self-Sovereign Identity: An Examination of the Pragmatics Behind Idealistic Digital Identity Management

Self-Sovereign Identity: An Examination of the Pragmatics Behind Idealistic Digital Identity Management | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Self-Sovereign Identity: An Examination of the Pragmatics Behind Idealistic Digital Identity Management Denver Naicker, Mackaylan Moodley This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Amidst the evolution of the digital identity landscape, this research investigates the necessity and distinctiveness of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) as compared to preceding identity models. Propelled by escalating privacy concerns pose a contentious challenge of reconciling unique identification with information concealment, the paper underscores the urgency to decentralise user data from monopolistic social media enterprises. This decentralisation is aimed at maintaining an online presence without jeopardising real-world identities, thereby offering the advantages of previous systems without intrusive tracking. Drawing parallels with the adage, "data is the new oil," the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for reformed access management, particularly in South Africa. Existing measures, such as pre-entry forms, while essential for health and safety, infringe upon personal data privacy. The exploration into developing an SSI solution, while promising, illuminated its infancy. Interoperability challenges abound, requiring universal acceptance of standardised credential templates. Despite the touted benefits of SSI, the present business model's reliance on personal data for operations and advertising hinders its widespread adoption. The research suggests that rather than merely integrating enhanced security adapters, a fundamental shift in the business model is recommended. Engaging with tools to instantiate SSI solutions revealed gaps in documentation and support, compounded by ambiguous architectural protocols. While the move towards open-source models is commendable, the ease-of-use of higher-level abstracted, reusable technical components by third-party tools and libraries provide an easier work around for some of these challenging steps for setup and implementation. In summation, the research provides context to the journey of utilising SSI tools, advocating for simpler and clearer technical documentation, aligning directly to the principles and philosophies of SSI ensuring trust, and transparency in the digital identity sphere. Self-Sovereign Identity public building access Hyperledger Aries Hyperledger Indy Trinsic QR code verification Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3406616","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":238229833,"identity":"2124bd2a-b817-4ffa-a12d-af79b81fa2bc","order_by":0,"name":"Denver Naicker","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5ElEQVRIie3PPQrCMBTA8SeFdCl0TXHwCq+LKBR7lUChLoIeQXFw6QEUvYWrQ0pBlx4gIgiloItD3Lpp/JhEQt0c8s/6frw8AJPpDwspA64euPYYgNUh/upNvITXJHh8jKlpFLXmnyQqeJUHQ9iXpSw20HLBLqSWHGJMExF3J8u4TdkJ/MUYIqonDDOQGVrNAQHGgaE6TU/2Z6nIDYmXW/JFGtNKS8RFbREcHeoAfRGLaLf488soTfIIqfO4hVN/MSWkoyMh7a9lte1huMvKa8WDlmvPSqEjn6kvWb/Mm0wmk+lrdyB0UXhdXW1zAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Council for Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Denver","middleName":"","lastName":"Naicker","suffix":""},{"id":238229834,"identity":"365a698d-5f72-4c61-9166-a0a88e00be6f","order_by":1,"name":"Mackaylan Moodley","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Council for Scientific and Industrial Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mackaylan","middleName":"","lastName":"Moodley","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-10-03 05:59:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":45884425,"identity":"dec79bc2-80e0-4017-b41b-4b03e0159594","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-11-05 11:22:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1859419,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SelfSovereignIdentityAnExaminationofthePragmaticsBehindIdealisticDigitalIdentityManagement.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3406616/v1_covered_8465dc47-8fd5-4f29-892a-6eefcd1e537f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Self-Sovereign Identity: An Examination of the Pragmatics Behind Idealistic Digital Identity Management","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Self-Sovereign Identity, public building access, Hyperledger Aries, Hyperledger Indy, Trinsic, QR code verification","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Amidst the evolution of the digital identity landscape, this research investigates the necessity and distinctiveness of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) as compared to preceding identity models. Propelled by escalating privacy concerns pose a contentious challenge of reconciling unique identification with information concealment, the paper underscores the urgency to decentralise user data from monopolistic social media enterprises. This decentralisation is aimed at maintaining an online presence without jeopardising real-world identities, thereby offering the advantages of previous systems without intrusive tracking. Drawing parallels with the adage, \"data is the new oil,\" the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for reformed access management, particularly in South Africa. Existing measures, such as pre-entry forms, while essential for health and safety, infringe upon personal data privacy. The exploration into developing an SSI solution, while promising, illuminated its infancy. Interoperability challenges abound, requiring universal acceptance of standardised credential templates. Despite the touted benefits of SSI, the present business model's reliance on personal data for operations and advertising hinders its widespread adoption. The research suggests that rather than merely integrating enhanced security adapters, a fundamental shift in the business model is recommended. Engaging with tools to instantiate SSI solutions revealed gaps in documentation and support, compounded by ambiguous architectural protocols. While the move towards open-source models is commendable, the ease-of-use of higher-level abstracted, reusable technical components by third-party tools and libraries provide an easier work around for some of these challenging steps for setup and implementation. In summation, the research provides context to the journey of utilising SSI tools, advocating for simpler and clearer technical documentation, aligning directly to the principles and philosophies of SSI ensuring trust, and transparency in the digital identity sphere.","manuscriptTitle":"Self-Sovereign Identity: An Examination of the Pragmatics Behind Idealistic Digital Identity Management","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-10-10 12:05:44","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406616/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f8ed61d7-a985-4400-9000-406f301e0b12","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 10th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-11-05T11:14:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2023-10-10 12:05:44","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3406616","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3406616","identity":"rs-3406616","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"WrCJVZZCHTDjtuVLN7oU0","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}