Table 1.

Various centralized problems and proposed, decentralized solutions

Problem diagnoses	Proposed solutions
Big Tech and government surveillance	Non-correlatable identifiers
“Big”, identity data silos	“Little”, distributed identity wallets
Digital identity theft and credential fraud	Machine-readable verifiable credentials
Hacked certificate authorities (centralized PKI)	DLT and KERI (decentralized PKI)
ID vendor lock-in and “walled gardens”	Open, interoperable, digital ID standards
Complicated password management	Password-free, PKI-based authentication
Specialized hardware for PKI-based authentication	User-friendly wallet apps on common devices
“Data creep” and excessive demands for attributes	Selective disclosure and consent management
Constant reliance on online identity providers	Offline, bi-lateral communication