What is self-sovereign identity (SSI)?

SSI is a concept for the decentralised, secure management of verifiable credentials: issuers issue VCs with claims about subjects or objects, holders store them decentrally (for example on a phone) and present them to verifiers.

SSI separates issuance and presentation in space and time, so a holder can present a credential without the issuer being involved (unlike attribute or identity providers), which improves privacy. Holders decide which credentials or parts to present, optionally as a verifiable presentation.

Go deeper:

• Self-sovereign identity (Wikipedia) — the vision, its principles and the technology stack.