The ethical dilemma posed by Decentralized Identity

And how to solve it, in theory and in practice

Identity systems have traditionally been hierarchical directories. In organizations, central administrators define the rights that each user (or group of users) has on the system. And so, they need to know who the user is.

One the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog

That’s a big problem to solve, famously cartooned by Steiner in 1993: “on the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”