Re: [briar-devel] Sovrin & peer-to-peer DID spec

[Wojciech S. C. <oh...@fa...>]

On Mon, 6 May 2019 07:52:29 -0600
Duane Johnson <dua...@gm...> wrote:

> I've been following both the Sovrin & Briar projects for some time now and
> wanted to point out some affinity between the two that may be rich for
> exploration in the future.

> I think Briar & Sovrin have been tackling some of the same (very difficult)
> problems from different directions

Some - yes. Different directions - yes. And these must be different as the
ultimate goals are clashing: while Sovrin is about to give to sovereign
governments trusted technology of working 'digital-id' for populations
they govern, Briar aims at giving to the same populations means to
communicate in settings where non-repudiable digital identity may
endanger people. 

> may have some things to offer each other.

Certainly. The cryptology work, the schemas and threat models
analyzed within Sovrin realms are of use also to the Briar developers. 

> a "self-sovereign identity" legal framework and technology

There is no sovereignty for the users if any single entity or a set of
entities controls technology and/or infrastructure. There, in nascent
technologies laid out within Sovrin scientific community, there is provable
sovereignty guaranteed to the governments that will possibly buy to the
"Sovrin" technology. 

Briar's identity model is very good as it is now: you need to attest
someone's else identity by yourself. This model, unlike Sovrin's, gives
you independence: the higher form of the personal sovereignty.

Hope this helps,

> 
> Duane Johnson

PS. The more sophisticated the technology is, the more power is put into
entity(ies) that control it. In sense that mere being able to comprehend and
verify implementation is the control. Add to it some "legal framework" and
that control is close to be absolute. With huge potential to enslave people.


-- 
Wojciech S. Czarnecki
 << ^oo^ >> OHIR-RIPE