"Defining Identity" The Decentralized Self (1/5) Ingo Rube, Founder KILT Protocol

The term “identity” is thrown around quite often in both the web 2 and Web3 spaces. But what IS identity? What defines centralized identity vs. decentralized? Charlie Shrem and KILT Protocol dive into the nuances of identity and the unknown risks the mass population is currently facing.

Identifier + credentials = identity

In the physical world, your identity starts with your face or fingerprint. These are identifiers that are given to you at birth. Later, credentials are given to you by universities and governments (diploma, driver’s license, passport). Your identity grows by adding more and more credentials to your identifier.

For thousands of years, this model worked perfectly. You were in control of your credentials, with your license in your pocket and your passport in the drawer. This model was highly scalable, privacy preserving, relatively secure, and cost effective.

Then digital monopolies turned this model upside down.

They took control of our identities, storing our information in corporate databases and building their business on top of our personal information. Now we need to prove our identity for nearly every service on the internet, from getting access to apps to paying bills, but we’re no longer in control of our own data.