Sovrin Network for Decentralized Digital Identity: Analysing a Self-Sovereign Identity System Based on Distributed Ledger Technology

Digital identity is the key to the evolving digital society and economy. Since the inception of digital identity, numerous Identity Management (IDM) systems have been developed to manage digital identity depending on the requirements of the individual and that of organisations. This evolution of IDM systems has provided an incremental process leading to the granting of control of identity ownership and personal data to its user, thus producing an IDM which is more user-centric with enhanced security and privacy. A recently promising IDM known as Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) has the potential to provide this sovereignty to the identity owner. The Sovrin Network is an emerging SSI service utility enabling self-sovereign identity for all, therefore, its assessment has to be carefully considered with reference to its architecture, working, functionality, strengths and limitations. This paper presents an analysis of the Sovrin Network based on aforementioned features. Firstly, it presents the architecture and components of the Sovrin Network. Secondly, it illustrates the working of the Sovrin Network and performs a detailed analysis of its various functionalities and metrics. Finally, based on the detailed analysis, it presents the strengths and limitations of the Sovrin Network.

I. Introduction

Digital identity is the gateway to the digital world for a person, organization, or device. It is a set of attributes used to identify a particular person, organization, or device in the digital world. Since the inception of digital identity, numerous Identity Management (IDM) systems have been proposed to manage digital identity depending on the requirements of the individual and that of organisations [1],[2]. This gradual evolution of various IDM systems incrementally tended towards granting the control of the ownership of the identity and personal data to its user, making it more user-centric with enhanced security and privacy [3]. The recently emerging Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) model of IDM has the potential to provide this sovereignty to the identity owner [4]. Self-sovereign identity is a sovereign, enduring and portable digital identity for any person, organization, or device that does not depend on any centralized authority (i.e., it is a decentralized identity) and can never be taken away [5].