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Web 3 reputation

The internet is changing. The era of Web 2, dominated by big tech, social media, streaming, and subscription-based service models, is quickly fading away and giving rise to Web 3. Ownership and control of user data in Web 2 rests firmly in the hands of centralized tech companies.

By contrast, Web 3 allows individuals to seamlessly transfer their data and assets over multiple platforms privately, securely, and transparently. Most importantly, it doesnt expose an individuals information and metadata to commoditization unless the individual wishes to provide it, leaving them with complete control. While this self-sovereign approach to individual ownership and control will apply to most forms of personal information, such as financial and medical history, it will also be incredibly pertinent to our future digital reputations.

A New Type of Identification

Digital reputations can be curated but are often anchored directly to the social media platform, group, or community upon which they were created. Furthermore, an individuals social media persona and following are not directly portable from one platform to another and can easily be revoked at the discretion of the company running the platform. However, In Web 3, individuals will avoid such issues through direct ownership of a single digital identity that goes wherever they go, both online and in the real world.

Similarly, individuals will retain control over visibility and access to their personal information stored within their digital identity otherwise known as Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). This personal data can also be provided via homomorphic encryption or to Secure Enclave processing environments, which reap the benefits of contributing the data without disclosing any private user information. If medical information does need to be shared with a healthcare provider, for example, it can be selectively disclosed or ideally provided as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). Permission can even be time-based so that the data is removed once a predetermined expiry point is reached.

Conventional reputation could even involve an individual's credit history or credit score. Credit history can be proven by the individual in the form of verifiable credentials or receipts held by the individual proving their transaction history and eliminating the need to store it centrally with a third party.

Another more current area in which digital identity and portable reputation could prove the most useful is within Decentralized Autonomous Organizations or DAOs. DAOs allow for cooperation between members in a way that has no central authority. There are a variety of different ways in which DAOs can be structured, but they increasingly require trust.

Having a merit-based reputation is essential in this case. With blockchain-based verified digital identity, it is possible to remain anonymous, but have cryptographic proof of a specific humans verified, merit-based credentials, even without revealing any of their secure personal information. The digital identity can act as a reputation scorecard, which can be updated in real-time, proving what they have contributed or other relevant reputation data.

What Digital Identities Could Look Like, And Offer

So, what would a system such as this look like?

User metadata and consumer spending information, in the form of verifiable credentials and receipts, can be blind signed for the owner and encrypted within a digital identity and then provided across networks and platforms. Financial transaction data, account balances, digital assets, permissions and social network interactions would all be applicable. The data shared or requested could be customized to specific apps, and all data cryptographically secured so that no third party could access them without permission.

Perhaps most importantly, this digital identity could use an individuals biometric data, such as face, fingerprints, or similar. These biometric credentials can be supported with storage of the individual's biometric template in a self-sovereign manner, allowing only the user to access and control them. This would make it impossible for anyone besides the actual owner of the identity to utilize the credentials.

This could then act as a form of universal Verifiable Credentials (VCs) that would be acceptable for any platform to confirm who someone is but wouldnt give access to any information that an individual elected to restrict. As an individual demonstrates experience, earns certifications, or expands their credentials, this digital identity would instantly reflect that, evolving an online reputation.

In fact, the potential for this type of system goes way beyond just the internet. There is also a vast case for Digital IDs in more traditional offline settings. Most likely, through smartphone integration of a supporting ID wallet, individuals could access workplaces, entertainment venues, festivals, and events with verifiable credentials or NFT tokenized access. This will make security at such locations tighter, as only approved persons will be able to gain entry.

Giving Power Back to the Individual

The benefits of digital ID to user security are many and will have major implications for combating scams, fraud and money laundering. However, perhaps the biggest boon for the adoption of digital ID adoption is their function in the empowerment of individuals. Centralized Web 2 businesses have had full access and control over user data for too long; Web 3 will change this.

Some have shared concerns about placing such responsibility in the hands of users. At worst, they can lose access to the digital identity; however, even in this instance, the ID would still be secure and unusable by others, Moreover, users could simply create another digital identity as they are the only ones in control of the assets required to recreate it, such as photo IDs and biometrics, which others could not substantiate.

In addition to protection from data mining, digital IDs will also protect people from scammers, hackers and other malicious activity. Data leaks, identity theft, and malware attacks that all too often cause havoc for Web 2 users will be all but eradicated. Even age verification requests can be actioned without having to reveal a persons age, as the individuals verified credentials are seamlessly tied to their digital ID through zero-knowledge proofs.

SSIDs and their integration with Web 3 are sure to dramatically impact how we all interact both online and in our day-to-day lives. A persons reputation will become a form of currency because, unlike most of human history, it wont be able to be falsified or obscured. This marks the end of the age when big tech companies govern our information and the beginning of an era where individual control over personal data is the standard and making a verified self-sovereign digital identity as the gateway to the internet.

About the author:

Alastair Johnson is Founder and CEO of Nuggets, an award-winning decentralized, self-sovereign identity and payment platform. Its the only platform of its kind that truly brings together payments and digital identity, utilizing self-sovereign data principles.

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Digital Identities Will Change The Nature Of Online Reputation - Forbes