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What is Decentralized Identity?

Decentralized identity — also known as Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) — gives individuals control over their digital identity without relying on a central authority. Instead of an organization storing and managing your identity data, you hold your own credentials in a digital wallet and share them on your terms.

How it differs from traditional identity

Section titled “How it differs from traditional identity”

In traditional systems, a verifier (e.g., a hotel checking your ID) contacts the issuer (e.g., a government database) to confirm your identity. This creates a central point of control and a privacy risk — the issuer knows every time your credential is used.

With decentralized identity, the flow changes:

  1. An issuer creates a cryptographically signed credential and gives it to you
  2. You store it in your wallet
  3. When a verifier needs to check your credential, you present it directly — the verifier checks the cryptographic signatures against a registry of public keys, without ever contacting the issuer

The issuer never knows when or where you use the credential.

Key benefits

Section titled “Key benefits”
  • Privacy: Share only what’s needed. Prove you’re over 18 without revealing your birthdate.
  • Security: No central database to breach. Credentials are cryptographically signed and tamper-evident.
  • User control: You decide what to share, when, and with whom.
  • Interoperability: Built on open standards (W3C, OpenID) that work across platforms and borders.
  • Compliance: Aligns with eIDAS 2.0, GDPR, and emerging global digital identity regulations.

Learn more

Section titled “Learn more”