Yeah I am bearish on the web3 identity space because it’s chain infected. They are attacking the right problems but IMO not deploying the right solution. Just allow self-signed identity not backed by a chain.
If DIDs are just a self-signed document format/spec for what the fields look like and how to handle/process one and how to attach signed assertions then great! That's all we need. I thought the idea was you'd publish your identity to a chain and the chain would "ratify" it or something. That part seems unnecessary.
How does putting your ID on a chain or even having an identity provider vouch for it change anything? By your logic being a human is meaningless because anybody can do it.
Self-signed identity means you own a private key. Being a human means you own a body. You can call yourself whatever you want in meatspace. People deal with it. You can sign whatever statements you want in cyberspace. If you need to verify that someone has passed a driving test, then yes you need an authority to issue a certificate (or whatever better tech you choose) saying this private key met these requirements.
There's no inherent problem with the identity being self-signed if you just need a user-id.
Identity cannot be self-signed. "Self signed identity" as you call it is just a pseudonym. Anyone who has access to your private key can post with your "identity" and there is no way for checking fraudolent usage. If you see two instances of an account signing something with the same private key you cannot say that those two actions belong to the same person. You can only say that those two actions were performed by some entity which knows the private key. It could be the righful owner, it could be a hacker, it could be a bot.
On the other hand, a real ID check makes sure with a high degree of certainty that the person is actually the same one who performed other actions (was born, purchased a home, has money, etc.)
I can use a pseudonym in real life. Nobody is "hard checking" my identity 99% of the time. Not even the government. They don't care if someone else does my taxes. It's up to me to share details about my identity with my tax accountant as I see fit. About the only institutions that actually care are banks because they don't want to give my money to someone else and airports because they don't want 9/11.
So yes, you can have self-signed identity. And you can use it 99% of the time. If you need government-level identity verification, you can build that, do the hard check, and link to a self-signed identity by issuing a certificate for a reasonable amount of time until a re-check is desired. Your drivers license is exactly that in physical form. I'm not saying we shouldn't have a digital DMV that issues digital drivers licenses. I'm saying you don't need that as the foundation of your identity system. Identity is self-sovereign by nature. Don't fight it.
