Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)
A model in which individuals own and control their own digital credentials directly, holding them in a wallet and presenting them without a central provider's permission. Popularized by Christopher Allen's 2016 principles; the guiding philosophy behind decentralized identity.
SSI is the philosophical position underneath the technology, and the deployments that are actually shipping have quietly relaxed it: government wallets are state-issued, recovery mechanisms need a custodian, and revocation needs an authority. That is not a failure so much as a correction. The durable ideas are holder-mediated presentation and the removal of the issuer from every transaction.
See also: what is self-sovereign identity, decentralized identifier, issuer, holder, verifier, decentralized identity vendors
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