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Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

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Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#91
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the list of methods; and yes, there is very much a land grab going on right now. No, there's nothing stopping you making your own methods. But will anyone actually use it?

So if I’m building a service that lets somebody login with a DID, and I’m using a DID library to verify your authN then that library needs a different code block for every one of those methods?? LOL. What could possibly go wrong? Or less sarcastically, how could this possibly be expected to work?

"that library needs a different code block for every one of those methods"

Yes, and that is trusted code - even with isolation, an compromise of that method's resolution code would result in malicious parties being able to impersonate anyone else using that method.

There are use cases where you don't want correlation, in which case the decentralized identifier might exist only for you to log into a single web site. At that point, it might be easier to use a method like did:key or did:jwk which encode all of their information into the URL itself, and forego the ability to rotate or revoke keys.

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#92
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if I’m building a service that lets somebody login with a DID, and I’m using a DID library to verify your authN then that library needs a different code block for every one of those methods?? LOL. What could possibly go wrong? Or less sarcastically, how could this possibly be expected to work?

Yeah DID is a dumpster fire. It's a consulting company's dream spec. Anything is possible but almost nothing is required. It smells a bit like SAML all over again, wherein they try to satisfy every stakeholder and end up satisfying none.

To be fair, SAML was a victory at the time - in that they could even get the parties involved to agree to come to the table and write specs and agree to implement them.

IMHO, such consensus work improved in quality for a while after the WS-* dumpster fire was put out by JSON.

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#93
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah DID is a dumpster fire. It's a consulting company's dream spec. Anything is possible but almost nothing is required. It smells a bit like SAML all over again, wherein they try to satisfy every stakeholder and end up satisfying none.

To be fair, SAML was a victory at the time - in that they could even get the parties involved to agree to come to the table and write specs and agree to implement them. IMHO, such consensus work improved in quality for a while after the WS-* dumpster fire was put out by JSON.

Oh 100% SAML over WS-*. At least SAML can be made to work across vendors. I've never seen anything WS work outside of MSFT products.

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#94

Can someone explain how they are actually implemented? How/where can I create a new DID?

Look into sidetree protocol, I've seen a lot of people building on top of it. Link: https://identity.foundation/sidetree/spec/

Is there a place to register a new did method? What does sidetree have to do with W3C sidetree spec?

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#95
post #19

Can someone explain how they are actually implemented? How/where can I create a new DID?

DIDs support multiple storage mechanisms. Each storage mechanism defines how to create, read, write/update, and delete DIDs. Here's a list of the already implemented and published mechanisms: https://w3c.github.io/did-spec-registries/#did-methods . They range from no storage (e.g. did:key, you derive the DID from a public key but can't change/update anything about that DID) to stored on a webserver (e.g. did:web) to…

Where does one submit an method implementation?

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#96
"Whatsmore, DIDs have the unique property of enabling the controller to verify ownership of the DID using cryptography."

Content-based identifiers (CIDS) for IPFS also verify content with cryptography, so not unique. CIDS are also decentralized. However, the following looks promising:

* 4) DID metadata can be discovered (resolvable)."

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#97
post #48
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both Google and Mozilla objected to this standard because the "method" is left undefined. W3C overruled them. https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/01/w3c_overrules_objecti...

The outcomes of decentralization sound good until you realize it means you’re either running your own server, or using a blockchain and need to protect a private key somehow. But normal humans want nothing to do with either of those responsibilities and always rely on a centralized service. If this ID standard included a way to use a centrally-controlled email address (the defacto ID standard today that works just fi…

Yes, but the universal ability to create authentic sources of data means people will use what is convenient but always have the option to go to the base layer without permission should they dislike their service.

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#98
post #11

I was initially pretty hyped when I read the abstract for DIDs, bookmarked the spec and read it later. The "spec" is a bunch of buzzwords and vague generic "concepts". The DIDs themselves mean basically nothing, it's the "methods" that actually must have their own specification and actually "do something". Another feeling you can quickly get from DIDs is that they're blockchain centric. The entire concept is "jack of…

You must not be familiar with PKI or the meaning of decentralized if the reliance on blockchain networks is a surprise to you.

Re: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 Becomes a W3C Recommendation

#100
Which did method supports rotation?

  did:key Not Supported
  did:web ???
Do only Proof-of-work methods (e.g. blockchains) support rotation?

  did:ion
Are there no did method based on keybase like tech?

https://www.w3.org/TR/2022/REC-did-core-20220719/#verificati...

  9.7 Verification Method Rotation
  Not all DID methods support verification method rotation.
https://github.com/w3c-ccg/did-method-key/blob/f511ed730f7d2...

  The did:key Method v0.7
  5.1 Key Rotation Not Supported
  This section is non-normative.
https://github.com/w3c-ccg/did-method-web/blob/1b4225ffd9be0...

  ???
https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-new-work/2021Sep...

   * Proof-of-work methods (e.g. blockchains) are harmful for sustainability
  (s12y).
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