All Citations

Complete alphabetical reference for all citations in the Revisiting SSI project. Each citation includes full bibliographic information, tags, brief description, short abstract, and all lens-specific “Why This Matters” sections aggregated together.

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Allen (2016) Path to Self-Sovereign Identity

  • The Path to Self-Sovereign Identity (2016). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity [blog], April 26, 2016, updated 2020. Retrieved 2025-11-12 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/the-path-to-self-soverereign-identity/. Cross-posted to CoinDesk, April 27, 2016.

    TAGS: #SSI #Identity #SelfSovereignIdentity #Decentralization #DigitalIdentity #Privacy #UserControl #AllenChristopher #IdentityPrinciples #Web3 #TenPrinciples

    BRIEF: Foundational 2016 article establishing 10 principles of self-sovereign identity and tracing identity system evolution from centralized to user-centric to self-sovereign models.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen establishes self-sovereign identity framework through historical analysis showing centralized, federated, and user-centric identity systems failed to give individuals true control. Proposes ten principles (Existence, Control, Access, Transparency, Persistence, Portability, Interoperability, Consent, Minimalization, Protection) as criteria for genuinely sovereign systems. Grounds identity in Descartes’ cogito ergo sum and cryptographic precedents like PGP’s Web of Trust, establishing SSI as technical infrastructure and human rights framework.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Irreducible Person Lens): Principle 1 (Existence): “Users must have an independent existence”—the ineffable “I” that precedes and transcends digital representations. This lens examines what happens when protective constraints like Principle 1 are operationalized against their original purpose.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): The original 10 SSI principles—analyze what paradigm assumptions they embedded. Understanding what was assumed in 2016 reveals what we might unknowingly assume in 2026.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Foundational 10 SSI principles that operationalization frameworks build upon. Essential for understanding original intent vs. subsequent interpretations.

Allen (2021) Principal Authority

  • Principal Authority: A New Perspective on Self-Sovereign Identity (2021). [article]. Allen, Christopher (with Shannon Appelcline). Life With Alacrity [blog], September 15, 2021. Retrieved 2025-11-20 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/principal-authority/.

    TAGS: #SSI #AgencyLaw #PrincipalAuthority #Wyoming #SF0039 #LegalFramework #Delegation #FiduciaryDuty #AllenChristopher #DigitalIdentity

    BRIEF: Analyzes Wyoming SF0039’s legal grounding of digital identity in Agency law, reorganizing SSI principles as Principal rights and Agent duties.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen analyzes Wyoming’s SF0039—first U.S. legal definition of digital identity using “principal authority” to import Agency law precedent. Reframes 10 SSI principles as rights (existence, control, persistence, consent), identity duties (access, transparency, portability, interoperability, minimization, protection), and Agency duties (specificity, responsibility, representation, fidelity, disclosure). Grounds SSI in peer-to-peer relationships mediated by state rather than property law’s state sovereignty.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principal Authority Lens): Wyoming SF0039 provides first U.S. legal definition grounding digital identity in Agency law—importing centuries of common law precedent rather than requiring novel legislation. Reorganizes SSI principles into Principal rights and Agent duties with legal teeth.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): Provides agency law framework where delegation with accountability enables genuine exit rights.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Provides legal framework (agency law) for operationalizing SSI through enforceable duties rather than technical properties alone.

Allen (2021) SSI: 5 Years On

  • Self-Sovereign Identity: 5 Years On (2021). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life with Alacrity [blog], April 26, 2021. Retrieved 2025-11-16 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/SSI-5-Years-On/. Also: CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/04/26/self-sovereign-identity-5-years-on/.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #W3CStandards #VerifiableCredentials #DecentralizedIdentifiers #MissionDrift #LESSIdentity #TrustMinimizedIdentity #RefugeeIdentity #SurveillanceResistance

    BRIEF: Five-year SSI retrospective finds W3C success with mission drift toward institutional surveillance over refugee protection.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Christopher Allen’s 5-year retrospective assesses self-sovereign identity’s evolution from conceptual framework to W3C-standardized infrastructure. He celebrates achievements—principles adoption across governments, VCs and DIDs nearing standardization, diverse ecosystem emergence—while identifying critical drift toward Legally-Enabled Self-Sovereign (LESS) Identity serving institutions rather than Trust Minimized Identity protecting refugees and vulnerable populations.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Introduces LESS vs Trust Minimized Identity dichotomy—institutional SSI (high-trust environments) vs human rights SSI (adversarial environments) require explicit bifurcation not compromise synthesis.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Documents mission drift pattern where technical standardization success coincides with value compromise—funding asymmetries make refugee marginalization economic inevitability.

Allen (2023) Origins of SSI

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: The Origins of Self-Sovereign Identity (2023). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life with Alacrity blog. Retrieved 2025-11-14 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/origins-SSI/.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #IntellectualHistory #LivingSystemsTheory #OstromPrinciples #CommonsGovernance #FeministPoliticalTheory #HumanRights #ConceptualGenealogy

    BRIEF: Allen traces SSI origins to five traditions: sovereignty, living systems, commons governance, feminist theory, and human rights.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen documents intellectual genealogy underlying his 2016 SSI principles, synthesizing five theoretical traditions: historical sovereignty (peer negotiation not isolation), living systems theory (selective membranes balancing autonomy and exchange), Ostrom’s commons governance (collective self-governance without centralization), feminist political theory (sovereignty as agency not domination), and human rights framework (universal dignity). Positions SSI as political response to digital serfdom.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): All five SSI foundation traditions emphasize autonomy requires relationships—self-sovereignty means capacity to engage as peer in relationships users control, not isolation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Living Systems Theory provides “selective membrane” design pattern—dynamic boundaries controlling what crosses while maintaining integrity—foundational for SSI architectural decisions.

Allen (2024) Edge Identifiers

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: Edge Identifiers & Cliques (2024). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity [blog], October 8, 2024. Retrieved 2025-11-20 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/cliques-1/.

    TAGS: #EdgeIdentifiers #Cliques #Cryptography #MuSig2 #FROST #SchnorrSignatures #RelationalIdentity #SSI #AllenChristopher #MultiPartyComputation

    BRIEF: Proposes relationship-based cryptographic identity using edge identifiers and cliques with Schnorr multisig protocols.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen challenges single-signature cryptographic identity, proposing relationship-based alternatives using Schnorr aggregatable multisig (MuSig2, FROST). He introduces edge identifiers (pairwise relationship keys) and cryptographic cliques (fully connected group keys) where identity emerges from relationships rather than individual keys. This “Relationship Signature Paradigm” distributes keys as cryptographic “fog” eliminating single points of failure, enables joint decision-making through unanimous consent, and models how identity actually forms through social connections.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Demonstrates relationship-aware SSI is technically feasible. Edge identifiers provide cryptographic substrate for bilateral consent and unilateral exit. Cliques enable group identity for chamas and communities.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Context Boundaries Lens): Edge identifiers enable context-specific relationship credentials that don’t reveal other contexts. Different edge keys for work vs. family prevent correlation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Demonstrates how paradigm shifts happen—not as incremental improvement but as reconceptualization. Shows what becomes possible when we question the assumption that identity must be individual.

Allen (2024) Open & Fuzzy Cliques

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: Open & Fuzzy Cliques (2024). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity [blog], October 16, 2024. Retrieved 2025-11-20 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/musings-of-a-trust-architect-open-and-fuzzy-cliques/.

    TAGS: #Cliques #EdgeIdentifiers #OpenCliques #FuzzyCliques #DeviceCliques #FROST #MuSig2 #ThresholdSignatures #Schnorr #MPC #DecentralizedIdentity

    BRIEF: Extends cryptographic cliques with open (incomplete connectivity), fuzzy (threshold), and device variants for practical implementation.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen extends cryptographic cliques with three practical variants. Open cliques allow incomplete connectivity for realistic social modeling and organic growth. Fuzzy cliques use FROST threshold signatures enabling flexible m-of-n decision-making. Device cliques show how hardware, AIs, and automated systems can participate alongside humans. Compares FROST (flexibility via thresholds) vs. MuSig2 (accountability via unanimity) for implementation guidance.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Open cliques support fluid social modeling where not everyone is connected—realistic representation of actual relationships rather than artificial complete-graph requirements.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Fuzzy cliques enable m-of-n authorization for different decision types (routine 1-of-3, important 2-of-3, critical 3-of-3)—cryptographic foundation for graduated delegation authority.

Allen (2024) SSI Moral Bankruptcy

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: Has our SSI Ecosystem Become Morally Bankrupt? (2024). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life with Alacrity blog. Retrieved 2025-11-14 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/ssi-bankruptcy/.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #TechnologyEthics #MoralBankruptcy #Decentralization #DataMinimization #PrivacySurveillance #DidWeb #AuthoritarianControl #FourHorsemen #InstitutionalCapture

    BRIEF: SSI originator argues ecosystem became morally bankrupt by abandoning founding principles for market adoption and surveillance-enabling compromises.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen argues SSI ecosystem became “morally bankrupt” by abandoning core ethical commitments for market adoption. Ecosystem adopted compromised specifications (did:web diminishing resilience), failed enforcing strict data minimization enabling over-identification, and became indistinguishable from surveillance systems it opposed. Connecting SSI to geopolitical threats (authoritarian expansion, marginalized persecution), argues purpose is protecting vulnerable populations not market success.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Originator critique framing SSI challenges as moral failure rather than market failure—ethical commitments violated regardless of adoption metrics.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): did:web “diminishes resilience and independence” through DNS, certificate authority, and hosting dependencies—reintroducing centralization SSI meant to resist.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Community “failed to counter Four Horsemen rhetoric” justifying surveillance while overlooking “far greater risk of tyranny against vulnerable populations.”

Allen (2025) The Gordian Club

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: The Gordian Club (2025). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity. Available from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/musings-clubs/.

    TAGS: #CryptographicCapabilities #HDKeys #ThresholdSignatures #ZeroKnowledgeProofs #AllenChristopher #DelegatedAuthority #SelectiveDisclosure #KeyDerivation

    BRIEF: Explores cryptographic capabilities enabling selective disclosure and delegated authority through derived keys, threshold signatures, and ZKPs.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen examines how cryptographic capabilities enable “club-like” selective membership and delegated authority. Key mechanisms: hierarchical deterministic (HD) key derivation (master key generates child keys with specific authorities, enables guardian→child authority transition), threshold signatures (K-of-N parties must cooperate, distributed authority preventing abuse), zero-knowledge proofs (prove credential possession without disclosure, selective revelation). Applications to SSI: parent derives keys for child’s credentials at age milestones (graduated authority), threshold schemes for high-stakes credentials (prevent unilateral action), ZK proofs for selective disclosure.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Explores cryptographic capabilities enabling selective disclosure and delegated authority through derived keys, threshold signatures, and zero-knowledge proofs. Demonstrates practical implementation patterns for SSI delegation.

Allen (2025) Digital Law Framework

  • Digital Law Framework: A Trust Architect’s Contribution to State Digital Policy (2025). [paper]. Allen, Christopher. Community Draft for Comments, September 3, 2025. Supplement to “The Architecture of Autonomy”. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C2BKTvJMtR_7W34Np2yCAvRJKC_kb-Cw3XsSgCes6bg/edit.

    TAGS: #DigitalLawFramework #ModelLegislation #AntiCoercion #CryptographicSecrets #DigitalSignatures #AllenChristopher #LegalArchitecture #StatePolicy #VerifiableRecords

    BRIEF: Four-layer model legislation demonstrating technology-neutral regulatory approach with anti-coercion provisions and platform independence requirements.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen proposes model legislation for state digital policy structured in four layers: Layer 0 (Cryptographic Secret Protection—preventing forced key disclosure), Layer 1 (Digital Signature and Assent), Layer 2 (Cryptographically Verifiable Records as self-authenticating evidence), and Layer 3 (Digital Identity Recognition via verifiable credentials). The framework translates technical distinctions into legal categories, includes anti-coercion provisions and portability requirements, and can be adopted incrementally at no cost.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Regulatory Framework Lens): Four-layer model legislation demonstrating technology-neutral regulatory approach. Includes anti-coercion provisions, platform independence requirements, and standards framework.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Technology-neutral legal framework showing how existing law applies to cryptographic systems. Critical anti-coercion provisions address platform abuses.

Allen (2025) Exodus Protocol

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: The Exodus Protocol (2025). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity, October 28, 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/musings-exodus.protocol.

    TAGS: #ExodusProtocol #Enshittification #AutonomousSystems #MathematicsOverPolicy #AllenChristopher #Decentralization #DigitalInfrastructure #Portability

    BRIEF: Establishes “infrastructure without infrastructure”—systems functioning autonomously without centralized control, mathematics over policy.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Christopher Allen addresses how centralized digital services repeatedly fail users through “enshittification”—documenting personal experience losing educational infrastructure when Yahoo acquired del.icio.us and Google shut down Reader. Proposes Exodus Protocols as systems operating without external dependencies through five design patterns: operate without centralized infrastructure, encode rules mathematically rather than through policy, make constraints load-bearing, preserve exit through portability via open standards, and work offline across time.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Establishes “infrastructure without infrastructure”—systems functioning autonomously without centralized control. “Mathematics over policy”: fundamental capabilities as mathematical rights, not permissions granted by companies.

Allen (2025) Right to Transact (draft)

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: The Right to Transact (2025). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity. Available from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/musings-right-to-transact/.

    TAGS: #RightToTransact #FinancialFreedom #Deplatforming #ConstitutionalRights #AllenChristopher #DigitalInclusion #FreeAssociation #PeerToPeer

    BRIEF: Frames transactional freedom as constitutional right grounded in assembly and association, not merely financial access.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Allen argues the right to transact is foundational to all other digital rights—if you can be prevented from participating in economic life, no other rights matter. Grounds this in constitutional rights to free assembly and association, warning that de-platforming from dominant payment systems and wallets means losing operational identity, not just service access. Proposes peer-to-peer transaction capability as irreducible right.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Right to Transact Lens): Frames transactional freedom as constitutional right grounded in assembly and association. Essential reading for understanding why de-platforming threatens operational identity.

Allen (2025) Swiss e-ID Anchors

  • Musings of a Trust Architect: Five Anchors to Preserve Autonomy & Sovereignty (2025). [article]. Allen, Christopher. Life With Alacrity. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.lifewithalacrity.com/article/musings-swiss-eid/.

    TAGS: #SwissEID #DigitalIdentity #Autonomy #Sovereignty #PlatformIndependence #InstitutionalSafeguards #AllenChristopher #GovernmentID #PrivacyByDesign

    BRIEF: Demonstrates how government digital identity systems can preserve autonomy—addresses “voluntary in law” eroding to “mandatory in practice” pattern.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Christopher Allen examines Switzerland’s e-ID adoption and proposes five anchors protecting personal autonomy and democratic sovereignty: (1) Preserve Choice by Design—voluntary participation with granular data sharing control; (2) Build Long-Term Architecture—20-year sustainability with data minimization; (3) Maintain Platform Independence—prevent Apple/Google surveillance through jurisdictional oversight; (4) Require Duties for Commercial Parties—strict purpose limitation and deletion requirements; (5) Implement Institutional Safeguards—independent governance protecting against government overreach and corporate misuse.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Regulatory Framework Lens): Demonstrates how government digital identity systems can preserve autonomy. Addresses documented pattern where “voluntary in law” erodes to “mandatory in practice.”

Ante et al. (2021) Bibliometric Review of Digital Identity

  • A bibliometric review of research on digital identity (2021). [working paper]. Ante, Lennart; Fischer, Constantin; Strehle, Elias. BRL Working Paper Series No. 17, Blockchain Research Lab. Retrieved 2025-11-14 from: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2102.04621.

    TAGS: #DigitalIdentity #BibliometricAnalysis #SelfSovereignIdentity #BlockchainIdentity #ResearchMapping #IdentityBasedCryptography #PrivacyResearch #AttributeBasedEncryption #IoTIdentity #CoCitationAnalysis #SystematicReview #FieldEvolution #ResearchFragmentation #InterdisciplinaryGaps #MetaResearch

    BRIEF: First bibliometric mapping of digital identity reveals seven fragmented streams with minimal cross-citation despite 7x publication growth.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Ante, Fischer, and Strehle present the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of digital identity research, examining 1,395 peer-reviewed articles (1980-2020) through co-citation analysis. The study reveals seven distinct research streams—cryptography, privacy, authentication, encryption, IoT security, and blockchain identity—with minimal cross-pollination (12% average inter-stream citation) despite 7x publication growth from 2015-2020. Self-sovereign identity emerges within the blockchain stream but shows limited engagement with foundational cryptography and privacy literature.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Documents SSI research fragmentation from foundational cryptographic literature—only 8% cite identity-based encryption, 15% cite anonymous credentials, 12% cite attribute-based encryption. Field risks reinventing paradigms without engaging 40 years of prior work.

Andrieu et al. (2020) Five Mental Models

  • Five Mental Models of Identity (2020). [white paper]. Andrieu, Joe; George, Nathan; Hughes, Andrew; MacIntosh, Christophe; Rondelet, Antoine. Rebooting the Web of Trust VII. Published 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2025-11-18 from: https://github.com/WebOfTrustInfo/rwot7-toronto/blob/master/final-documents/mental-models.pdf.

    TAGS: #Identity #MentalModels #SSI #WebOfTrust #RWOT #VerifiableCredentials #IdentityTheory #AndrieuJoe #DigitalIdentity #Framework

    BRIEF: Identifies five identity mental models (space-time, presentation, attribute, relationship, capability) and their intersections for SSI architecture.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Andrieu et al. identify five mental models causing identity discourse miscommunication: space-time (physical continuity), presentation (subject’s self-determination—SSI foundation), attribute (data correlation—ISO/IEC 24760-1), relationship (Ubuntu “I am because we are”), capability (pragmatic ability—Bitcoin example). Paper analyzes intersections: presentation + relationship produces verifiable credentials architecture.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): SSI community accepted relational identity as foundational model (presentation + relationship = verifiable credentials), yet implementations overwhelmingly built for presentation alone. The technical substrate for community credentials remains unbuilt.

Ahmed et al. (2022) Blockchain SSI Survey

  • Blockchain-Based Identity Management System and Self-Sovereign Identity Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Survey (2022). [journal article]. Ahmed, Tanzeela; Srivastava, Gautam; Kösemen, Erhan; Aggarwal, Shivani. Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy 2(4): 697-739. Retrieved 2025-11-16 from: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp2040035. Open access PDF: https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/2/4/35/pdf.

    TAGS: #BlockchainIdentity #SelfSovereignIdentity #SSI #Survey #SecurityAnalysis #PrivacyPreserving #DecentralizedIdentifiers #VerifiableCredentials #InteroperabilityChallenges #GovernanceFrameworks

    BRIEF: Survey of 153 blockchain identity articles establishing five essential components framework for evaluating BC-IDMS solutions.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Ahmed et al. survey blockchain-based identity management analyzing 153 research articles and 11 commercial SSI platforms. Establishes normative framework based on five essential components (authentication, integrity, privacy, trust, simplicity) to systematically evaluate academic solutions across five domains (cloud computing, IoT, WSN, healthcare, generic identity) plus commercial offerings. Identifies critical weaknesses: privacy-transparency tensions, simplicity deficits, interoperability gaps. Finds no current solution adequately addresses all five components (privacy/simplicity weakest at 25-44% adequate).

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Demonstrates gap between SSI principles and implementation reality—no solution achieves all five essential components. Privacy and simplicity consistently weakest (25-44%), revealing operationalization challenges.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Documents fundamental privacy-transparency paradox: blockchain’s core value (transparency, immutability) conflicts with identity’s core requirement (privacy, selective disclosure). All solutions use workarounds.

B

Baird et al. (2023) Threshold Signatures

  • Threshold Signatures in the Multiverse (2023). [cryptography paper]. Baird, Leemon; Garg, Sanjam; Jain, Abhishek; Mukherjee, Pratyay; Sinha, Rohit; Wang, Mingyuan; Zhang, Yinuo. Cryptology ePrint Archive, Paper 2023/063. Available from: https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/063.

    TAGS: #ThresholdSignatures #DistributedAuthority #MultiPartyComputation #CryptographicSecurity #KofNSignatures #Guardianship #KeyRecovery #AbusePreventions

    BRIEF: Modern threshold signature schemes enabling distributed authority where K-of-N parties must cooperate—cryptographic foundation for preventing single points of failure.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Baird et al. examine threshold signature schemes where K-of-N parties must cooperate to create valid signatures, enabling distributed authority without single points of control. Key properties: no single party can sign unilaterally (prevents abuse), losing up to N-K parties doesn’t prevent signing (resilience), signature appears identical to single-party signature (privacy), threshold can adjust over time (graduated authority).

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Modern threshold signature schemes enabling distributed authority where K-of-N parties must cooperate—cryptographic foundation for preventing single points of failure and abuse in guardianship, custodianship, and role separation.

Balkin (2016) Information Fiduciaries

Benjamin (2019) Race After Technology

  • Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code (2019). [book]. Benjamin, Ruha. Polity Press. ISBN: 978-1509526406. Available from author: https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/race-after-technology. Publisher: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Race+After+Technology:+Abolitionist+Tools+for+the+New+Jim+Code-p-9781509526437.

    TAGS: #AlgorithmicBias #RacialJustice #Technology #Discrimination #NewJimCode #Surveillance #ArtificialIntelligence #SocialJustice #BenjaminRuha #CriticalRaceStudies #TechEthics

    BRIEF: Exposes how technologies reproduce racial inequity while appearing neutral, introducing “New Jim Code” concept for discriminatory automation.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Benjamin introduces the “New Jim Code”—new technologies that reflect and reproduce existing inequities while promoted as objective and progressive. Through examples ranging from gang databases 87% Black and Latinx to beauty contests judged by robots selecting only white winners, she demonstrates how automation hides, speeds, and deepens discrimination while appearing neutral.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Irreducible Person Lens): “Being excluded from the registry is tantamount to being denied existence.” Documents how systems treating measurement as validation enable exclusion—colonial registries, Jim Crow tests, apartheid passes, contemporary algorithmic exclusion.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Shows how identity systems encode social hierarchies into technical architecture, creating structural coercion for marginalized communities. “Coded inequity” appears neutral while perpetuating injustice.

boyd (2023) Structuring Algorithms

  • The Structuring Work of Algorithms (2023). [journal article]. boyd, danah. Dædalus, Vol. 152, No. 1 (Winter 2023), pp. 236-240. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_01983. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.

    TAGS: #AlgorithmicPower #NetworkMaking #DataInfrastructure #Discrimination #MachineLearning #SocialJustice #AntidiscriminationLaw #PlatformCapitalism #Financialization #WorkerRights #SchedulingAlgorithms #ContextualIntegrity #SSI #DecentralizedIdentity #InfrastructureStudies

    BRIEF: Framework showing algorithms structure networks via institutional arrangements, enabling network-based discrimination through data infrastructure control beyond categorical protections.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: boyd applies Castells’ network theory of power to algorithmic systems, demonstrating algorithms both reflect and produce power through network-making work. Shows machine learning can discriminate based on network position rather than protected categories, creating legal blind spots. Argues data are socially produced, not neutral, making algorithms shift manipulation from models to data infrastructure. Positions algorithmic power as inseparable from political-economic contexts.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): “Algorithms do not make a system more neutral; they simply reconfigure the site of manipulation.” Documents how algorithms enable network-based discrimination evading categorical antidiscrimination law—SSI systems must address network position alongside data control.

Birhane (2017) Ubuntu Philosophy

  • Descartes was wrong: ‘a person is a person through other persons’ (2017). [article]. Birhane, Abeba. Aeon Ideas [online magazine]. Published 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2025-11-19 from: https://aeon.co/ideas/descartes-was-wrong-a-person-is-a-person-through-other-persons.

    TAGS: #Ubuntu #AfricanPhilosophy #RelationalIdentity #Personhood #Descartes #WesternPhilosophy #CommunityIdentity #BirhaneAbeba #Interdependence #Philosophy

    BRIEF: Contrasts Western individualist “I think therefore I am” with Ubuntu’s relational personhood: “I am because we are.”

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Birhane contrasts Ubuntu philosophy (“a person is a person through other persons”) with Cartesian individualism (“I think therefore I am”) embedded throughout Western psychology. Bakhtin’s dialogical philosophy and emerging embodied/enactive cognition approaches offer relational alternatives recognizing selfhood as co-constructed through social interaction.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Irreducible Person Lens): Challenges assumption that identity is primarily individual property. If personhood is fundamentally relational (“I am because we are”), SSI systems must support relational identity.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Individualist assumptions hardcoded into SSI architecture exclude relational identity models dominant in non-Western cultures. SSI systems cannot see or support the bonds through which people actually live.

Bryan et al. (2010) Commitment Devices

  • Commitment Devices (2010). [paper]. Bryan, Gharad; Karlan, Dean; Nelson, Scott. Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 2, pp. 671-698. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.economics.102308.124324.

    TAGS: #CommitmentDevices #BehavioralEconomics #SelfControl #RationalChoice #TemporalPreference #Precommitment #EconomicPsychology #DecisionMaking

    BRIEF: Comprehensive review of commitment device research showing how voluntary constraints enable better outcomes.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Bryan, Karlan, and Nelson review the literature on commitment devices—mechanisms by which people voluntarily constrain future choices to address self-control problems. Examines theoretical foundations in time-inconsistent preferences, reviews empirical evidence from savings programs to health interventions, and analyzes design considerations. Shows commitment devices work when designed with appropriate stakes and flexibility.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Binding Commitments Lens): Comprehensive empirical evidence that voluntary constraint mechanisms work—people achieve better outcomes when they can bind their future selves. Provides research foundation for SSI commitment mechanisms like revocable credentials, time-locked recovery, and graduated authority.

C

Carter (2023) Operation Choke Point 2.0

  • Operation Choke Point 2.0 (2023). [article]. Carter, Nic. Pirate Wires. Available from: https://www.piratewires.com/p/operation-choke-point-2-0.

    TAGS: #OperationChokePoint #FinancialDeplatforming #BankingAccess #Cryptocurrency #CarterNic #FinancialSurveillance #GovernmentOverreach #BankingPolicy

    BRIEF: Documents financial system weaponization against legal industries through systematic banking access denial.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Carter documents how federal regulators systematically pressure banks to deny services to legal but disfavored industries including cryptocurrency, firearms, and payday lending. Traces pattern from original Operation Choke Point through current crypto-targeting, showing how informal regulatory pressure achieves censorship without formal legal process.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Right to Transact Lens): Documents how financial deplatforming works in practice—legal industries denied banking access through regulatory pressure rather than law. Demonstrates why transactional freedom requires infrastructure independence, not just legal permission.

Celi et al. (2025) Private Age Verification Architecture

  • Private and Decentralized Age Verification Architecture (2025). [paper]. Celi, Sofía; den Hartog, Kyle; Haddadi, Hamed; Knabenhans, Christian; Margolin, Elizabeth. Brave Software, EPFL, Imperial College London. IETF Age Verification Workshop. Retrieved 2025-11-18 from: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/slides-agews-paper-private-and-decentralized-age-verification-architecture/.

    TAGS: #AgeVerification #VerifiableCredentials #DecentralizedIdentity #ZeroKnowledgeProofs #PrivacyEnhancingTechnologies #ClientSideVerification #GuardianshipModel

    BRIEF: Separates content moderation from guardianship in age verification. Proposes guardian-issued DID credentials with client-side enforcement.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Celi et al. decompose age verification into content moderation (restriction mechanisms) and guardianship (who decides enforcement). Critiques ZKP-based credentials for security fragility, temporal privacy leakage, centralization risks, and parsing vulnerabilities. Proposes client-side content classification with guardian-issued DID credentials, OS-level policy enforcement, and browser verification—shifting trust from global authorities to local guardians.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Separates content moderation from guardianship—architectural decomposition enabling appropriate delegation at each layer rather than conflating distinct authority relationships.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Stewardship Lens): Proposes guardian-issued credentials (parents/teachers/school IT via DIDs) rather than government monopolies—decentralized guardianship respecting local values.

Chatel et al. (2025) PETs Limitations in Age Verification

  • Limitations and Pitfalls of Integrating PETs in Online Age Verification (2025). [presentation]. Chatel, Sylvain; Knabenhans, Christian; Lueks, Wouter; Raynal, Mathilde; Troncoso, Carmela; Vécsi, Ádám. MPI-SP, CISPA, EPFL. IETF Age Verification Workshop. Retrieved 2025-11-18 from: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/slides-agews-imitations-and-pitfalls-of-integrating-pets-in-online-age-verification/.

    TAGS: #PrivacyEnhancingTechnologies #AgeVerification #CriticalAnalysis #Circumvention #Censorship #Centralization #LibraryDependencies #MetadataLeakage

    BRIEF: PETs solve only application-layer privacy, not circumvention, censorship, or effectiveness. Complex libraries become “prisons” centralizing power.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Chatel et al. argue PETs solve only application-layer privacy while leaving fundamental problems unaddressed. Four limitation categories: circumvention (VPN bypasses), censorship (infrastructure repurposing), privacy (metadata tracking continues), centralization (complex libraries become “black boxes” determining functionality). Questions whether “win-win” solutions exist.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Challenges privacy-optimistic PET narratives—complex implementations become “black boxes” determining what can be proven and how, centralizing power among sophisticated vendors.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): “Libraries become prisons”—complex PETs constrain application design, creating vendor lock-in through technical complexity rather than explicit architectural choice.

Citizens United (2010)

  • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). [court decision]. U.S. Supreme Court. 558 U.S. 310. Decided January 21, 2010. Available from: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf.

    TAGS: #CitizensUnited #FreeSpeech #FirstAmendment #CampaignFinance #SupremeCourt #PoliticalSpeech #CorporateRights #ElectionLaw

    BRIEF: Landmark ruling extending free speech protections to political spending—debatable whether expression through expenditure applies to identity transactions.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: The Supreme Court held that corporate independent expenditures for political speech are protected under the First Amendment, striking down limits on corporate and union campaign spending. The 5-4 decision established that political speech does not lose constitutional protection because its source is a corporation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Right to Transact Lens): Establishes that economic expenditure can constitute protected expression. Raises question whether transactional freedom (identity verification, credential exchange) deserves similar constitutional protection as expressive conduct.

Cohen (2019) Between Truth and Power

Cordeiro (2021) Sharenting

CSSPS (2022)

  • Compliance SSI System Property Set to Laws, Regulations, and Technical Standards (2022). [journal article]. Pattiyanon, Charnon; Aoki, Toshiaki. IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 99370-99393. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3204112. Available from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9875265.

    TAGS: #SSI #Compliance #Regulation #LegalFramework #PrivacyLaw #GDPR #TechnicalStandards #IdentityGovernance #PattiyanonCharnon #AokiToshiaki #VerifiableProperties

    BRIEF: Framework of 42 verifiable properties bridging SSI principles and legal/regulatory compliance requirements across jurisdictions.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Pattiyanon and Aoki present CSSPS (Compliance SSI System Property Set), a framework of 42 verifiable properties addressing the gap between self-sovereign identity principles and legal/regulatory compliance. Through systematic analysis, they demonstrate current SSI systems fail to meet information security and privacy requirements mandated by laws and technical standards.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Irreducible Person Lens): Cautionary tale—CSSPS IP1 transforms “identity precedes systems” into “associate users with identifiers,” demonstrating how operationalization can reverse a principle’s ethical foundation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Most comprehensive attempt to operationalize SSI—42 testable properties bridging principles and regulatory compliance.

Čučko & Turkanović (2021) SSI Systematic Mapping

  • Decentralized and Self-Sovereign Identity: Systematic Mapping Study (2021). [journal article]. Čučko, Špela; Turkanović, Muhamed. IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 139009-139027. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3117588. Retrieved 2025-11-15 from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9547588.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #SSI #SystematicMapping #LiteratureReview #BlockchainIdentity #VerifiableCredentials #DecentralizedIdentifiers #ResearchMethodology #UsabilityGap #EvaluationGap

    BRIEF: First systematic mapping of SSI research reveals validation dominating, evaluation absent, and zero usability research.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Čučko and Turkanović present the first systematic mapping study of Self-Sovereign Identity research, analyzing 120 papers (2013-2021) across six classification dimensions. The study reveals an early-stage field: validation research dominates while evaluation research is nearly absent, usability receives zero attention, and two-thirds of implementations achieve genuine self-sovereignty while one-third implements decentralization without user control. Exponential publication growth and architecture proliferation without convergence indicate rapid expansion preceding empirical consolidation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): First systematic mapping revealing SSI field’s maturity gaps—validation research 47.5% vs evaluation 0.8%. Architecture proliferation (22 proposals) without empirical comparison creates N competing designs without selection basis.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): Documents zero usability research (0.0%) despite human factors determining adoption success—risking technically sound but practically unusable systems replicating PGP’s adoption failure.

Costa & Cunha (2024) Self-Sovereign Identities Survey

  • Self-Sovereign Identities: Brief History and Survey of the Field (2024). [paper]. Costa, Rodolfo da Silva; Rupino Da Cunha, Paulo. 32nd International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD 2024). Retrieved 2025-11-14 from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-55598-2.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #SystematicLiteratureReview #BlockchainIdentity #W3CStandards #VerifiableCredentials #DecentralizedIdentifiers #GDPRCompliance #Interoperability #GlobalSouth

    BRIEF: Reviews 94 blockchain SSI papers identifying theory-practice chasm, limited validation, interoperability gaps, and Global South exclusion.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Costa and Cunha systematically review 94 peer-reviewed blockchain SSI papers (2017-2022) from eight databases. Documents exponential growth (1 paper 2017 → 51 papers 2022) and W3C standards emergence (VCs, DIDs). Identifies critical gaps: theory-practice chasm (49 proposals vs 14 real deployments), limited validation, interoperability scarcity, unresolved key recovery, GDPR conflicts, and Global South exclusion from design process.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Reveals theory-practice chasm—49 conceptual proposals versus only 14 real-world deployments. Framework proliferation without production validation.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Documents Global South exclusion—850M people lacking identity are excluded from SSI design process despite being primary beneficiaries.

D

DIDComm (2024)

  • DIDComm Messaging Specification (2024). [technical specification]. DIF DIDComm Working Group. Decentralized Identity Foundation. Available from: https://identity.foundation/didcomm-messaging/spec/.

    TAGS: #DIDComm #DecentralizedMessaging #DIF #SecureCommunication #DIDProtocols #AuthenticatedMessaging #CredentialExchange #RevocationFlows

    BRIEF: Standard protocol for secure, authenticated messaging between DID-identified parties—foundational delegation protocol for SSI.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: DIDComm provides standard messaging protocol for DID-based communication, enabling secure delegation flows between principals and agents. Key features: authenticated messaging (cryptographic proof of sender), encrypted communication (confidentiality), asynchronous delivery (no simultaneous online presence required), transport-agnostic (works across HTTP, Bluetooth, QR codes).

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Standard protocol for secure, authenticated, asynchronous messaging between DID-identified parties—foundational delegation protocol enabling verifiable authorization, credential exchange, and revocation flows.

Dumitrescu & Pouwelse (2024) PKI Failures

  • Failures of Public Key Infrastructure: 53 Year Survey (2024). [paper]. Dumitrescu, Adrian-Tudor; Pouwelse, Johan. arXiv:2401.05239v2 [cs.CR]. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05239.

    TAGS: #PKI #X509 #CertificateAuthority #CryptographicInfrastructure #SecurityFailures #TrustModels #DigitalCertificates #SystemicRisk

    BRIEF: Comprehensive analysis of PKI/X.509 paradigm assumptions and their consequences over decades—cautionary example for 2026 principles.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Dumitrescu and Pouwelse survey five decades of PKI vulnerabilities despite widespread adoption since the 1970s. Key finding: “no mass deployment exists, more than 53 years after the discovery” of public key encryption, suggesting fundamental structural obstacles beyond technical solutions.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Comprehensive analysis of PKI/X.509 paradigm assumptions and their consequences over decades. Demonstrates how invisible assumptions in 1988 continue constraining digital identity today—a cautionary example for 2026 principles.

Dyer-Witheford (2015) Cyber-Proletariat

  • Cyber-Proletariat: Global Labour in the Digital Vortex (2015). [book]. Dyer-Witheford, Nick. Pluto Press. Digital Barricades series. ISBN: 978-0745334035. Available at: https://archive.org/details/cyberproletariat0000dyer.

    TAGS: #CyberProletariat #DigitalLabor #PlatformCapitalism #GlobalLabor #DyerWithefordNick #DigitalEconomy #LaborExploitation #TechCritique

    BRIEF: Examines digital capitalism’s creation of feudal dependencies masquerading as autonomy—platforms deepen subordination through service dependency.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Dyer-Witheford examines digital capitalism’s dark side: coltan mines in Congo, electronics factories in China, devastated neighborhoods in Detroit. Using Marx’s vortex metaphor, he shows how the digital revolution enables capital to eject powerful workers while recruiting global sources of cheapened labour.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Platform capitalism creates feudal dependencies masquerading as autonomy—”digital sovereignty” claimed by platforms actually deepens subordination through service dependency.

E

Elster (1979) Ulysses and the Sirens

  • Ulysses and the Sirens: Studies in Rationality and Irrationality (1979). [book]. Elster, Jon. Cambridge University Press. Revised edition 1984. ISBN: 978-0521269841. Available at: https://archive.org/details/ulyssessirensstu0000elst.

    TAGS: #UlyssesContracts #Precommitment #Rationality #SelfBinding #ElsterJon #Akrasia #DecisionTheory #SelfControl #StrategicBehavior

    BRIEF: Foundational work on rational self-binding—Ulysses constraining future self enables otherwise impossible outcomes.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Elster analyzes precommitment strategies—how rational agents bind themselves against future weakness of will, as Ulysses bound himself before the Sirens. Key insight: humans uniquely relate strategically to their future selves, using constraints to achieve goals their unconstrained future selves would abandon.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Binding Commitments Lens): Foundational theory for Ulysses contracts—autonomy includes not just freedom of choice but freedom to constrain one’s own future choices.

Ehmke (2023) Dimensions of Digital Coercion

  • Dimensions of Digital Coercion (2023). [white paper]. Ehmke, Coraline Ada. Organization for Ethical Source. Retrieved 2025-11-20 from: https://ethicalsource.dev/publications/digital-coercion. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

    TAGS: #DigitalCoercion #PlatformGovernance #TechnologyEthics #OpenSourceCritique #CulturalImperialism #SurveillanceCapitalism #AccountabilityMechanisms #DarkPatterns #AlgorithmicOppression

    BRIEF: Systematic framework analyzing digital coercion through four dimensions across commercial and open-source platforms, proposing multi-layered standards as accountability.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Ehmke develops framework for digital coercion through four dimensions: attention (excessive time/cognitive demands), ergonomic (autonomy/usability tradeoffs), trust (unaccountable assumptions), cultural (Western norm imposition). Commercial platforms use dark patterns and surveillance capitalism; open platforms replicate coercion through maintenance burdens, accessibility neglect, and geographic concentration. Proposes standards across regulatory, technical, normative, ethical layers as accountability technology.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Four-dimensional framework identifying attention, ergonomic, trust, and cultural coercion—provides systematic vocabulary for auditing SSI designs for coercive patterns.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): Documents how dark patterns, engagement manipulation, and ergonomic paywalls create structural coercion—same mechanisms SSI wallets must avoid replicating.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): “Without accountability, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no consent.”—connects platform design to internalized compliance patterns.

EU Regulation 2024/1183 eIDAS 2.0

  • Regulation (EU) 2024/1183: European Digital Identity Framework (2024). [regulation]. European Parliament; Council of the European Union. Official Journal of the European Union. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from EUR-Lex: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1183/oj/eng.

    TAGS: #eIDAS #EUDIW #EuropeanDigitalIdentity #DigitalWallet #EURegulation #CrossBorderIdentity #InteroperabilityStandards #MemberStateImplementation

    BRIEF: EU digital identity framework demonstrating both benefits (legal recognition, interoperability) and risks (government-centric architecture, limited platform independence).

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 fundamentally amends the original eIDAS Regulation (910/2014) to establish EU-wide European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) framework. Member states must provide voluntary digital wallets by end of 2026 enabling citizens to prove identity, share documents, and verify attributes across the EU.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Regulatory Framework Lens): EU digital identity framework demonstrating both benefits (legal recognition, interoperability standards) and risks (government-centric architecture, limited platform independence).

Eubanks (2018) Automating Inequality

  • Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (2018). [book]. Eubanks, Virginia. St. Martin’s Press, New York. ISBN: 978-1250074317. 260 pages. Author’s website: https://virginia-eubanks.com/automating-inequality/. Publisher: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250074317/automatinginequality/.

    TAGS: #AutomatingInequality #AlgorithmicBias #DigitalPoorhouse #WelfareSurveillance #EubanksVirginia #SocialServices #Discrimination #PredictiveAnalytics #Poverty

    BRIEF: Examines how automated systems create “digital poorhouse” that profiles and punishes poor Americans through case studies of welfare, homeless services, and child welfare.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Eubanks examines how automated systems in social services create a “digital poorhouse” that profiles and punishes poor Americans. Through case studies of Indiana’s automated welfare eligibility, Los Angeles’ homeless services triage, and Allegheny County’s child welfare risk scoring, she shows high-tech tools intensify historical patterns of discrimination.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principal Authority Lens): “Voluntary” biometric enrollment for food assistance illustrates coerced participation violating every Agency duty—no specificity, no responsibility, no representation, no fidelity, no disclosure, no revocability.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Demonstrates structural coercion operating through welfare eligibility systems, homeless services triage, child welfare risk scoring—intensifying historical discrimination.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): Documents credential dependency chains where “voluntary” biometric enrollment conceals structural coercion when the alternative is starvation.

F

Farahany (2023) Battle for Your Brain

Foucault (1977) Discipline and Punish

  • Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1977). [book]. Foucault, Michel. Translated by Alan Sheridan. Pantheon Books. Original: Surveiller et Punir: Naissance de la prison (1975), Gallimard. ISBN: 978-0679752554.

    TAGS: #Panopticon #Surveillance #Discipline #Power #FoucaultMichel #CriticalTheory #Prison #SelfRegulation #Normalization

    BRIEF: Classic analysis of how surveillance induces self-regulation—”visibility is a trap”—tracing punishment’s evolution from spectacle to psychological control.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Foucault traces punishment’s evolution from public spectacle to psychological control through the prison system. Central is Bentham’s Panopticon—an architecture where prisoners, never knowing if they’re watched, internalize surveillance and discipline themselves.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): Classic analysis of how surveillance induces self-regulation—”visibility is a trap.” Foundation for understanding internalized compliance from surveillance knowledge.

G

Garazha et al. (2024) Resilience in Times of Crisis

  • Resilience in Times of Crisis: Empowering Refugees with Self-Sovereign Identity (2024). [conference paper]. Garazha, Aleksandra; Merz, Cedric; Schwabe, Gerhard; Zavolokina, Liudmila. Forty-Fifth International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2024), Bangkok, Thailand. Association for Information Systems. Retrieved 2025-11-28 from: https://www.zora.uzh.ch/handle/20.500.14742/222127.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #Refugees #DigitalIdentity #DesignScienceResearch #GovernmentAsAPlatform #CrisisManagement #Ukraine #Switzerland #Federalism #VerifiableCredentials #DigitalWallet #Empowerment #GradualIdentification #IdentityManagement #HumanitarianTechnology

    BRIEF: Derives seven design principles for SSI-based refugee identity through iterative prototyping with Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Through Design Science Research, this paper develops “RefugeeID”—an SSI-based digital identity system for Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland. Three design iterations with 14 refugees and 4 experts reveal that gradual identification (issuing low-assurance credentials early) matters more than comprehensive features. The study derives seven design principles for crisis identity systems within a Government as a Platform framework.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Stewardship Lens): Reveals gap between “control” rhetoric and lived refugee experience—practical benefits (time savings, convenience) drove empowerment more than abstract sovereignty. Proposes “gradual identification” pattern: issue low-assurance credentials immediately at borders, progressively add verification.

Greenwald (2014) No Place to Hide (draft)

  • No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (2014). [book]. Greenwald, Glenn. Metropolitan Books. ISBN: 978-1-62779-073-4.

    TAGS: #Surveillance #NSA #EdwardSnowden #Privacy #NationalSecurity #Whistleblowing #MassSurveillance #GovernmentOverreach #GreenwaldGlenn #CivilLiberties

    BRIEF: Documents Snowden’s NSA surveillance disclosures, examining unprecedented government abuse of power and implications for privacy and democracy.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Greenwald recounts his ten-day trip to Hong Kong to meet Edward Snowden, who revealed evidence of massive NSA surveillance programs. The book examines the broader implications of these disclosures for privacy, civil liberties, and democracy.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): Documents concrete evidence of mass surveillance infrastructure that creates self-coercion conditions. Snowden revelations demonstrated that “nothing to hide” reasoning fails—knowing everything is recorded changes behavior even for innocent activities.

Grigg (2021) The Identity Cycle

  • The Identity Cycle (2021). [book]. Grigg, Ian. Best Print Co. Ltd, Malta. ISBN (Print): 978-9918-0-0121-7. ISBN (PDF): 978-9918-0-0122-4. 161 pages. Available from: https://iang.org/identity_cycle/. License: Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.

    TAGS: #Identity #Community #Trust #Chamas #Kenya #DunbarNumber #PeerIdentity #GriggIan #FinancialInclusion #GroupFormingNetworks

    BRIEF: Argues identity emerges from community, not state capture; validates through Kenyan chamas (200,000+ groups, $1.7B, 42% GDP).

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Grigg argues that identity is an outcome of community, not captured state. Through rigorous analysis of identity theory, trust mechanics, Dunbar’s number, and real-world validation via Kenyan chamas (savings groups), he demonstrates that peer-based identity in small trusted groups (10-30 people) with mutual financial stakes is the only model that hasn’t failed.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Essential evidence that community credentials work at scale—200,000+ Kenyan chamas controlling $1.7B validate community-based trustworthiness assessment without institutional gatekeeping.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Binding Commitments Lens): Exemplifies productive voluntary constraint—chamas work through mutual obligations, clear benefits, exit rights, and bounded scope.

Grohmann (2025) Sovereignty-as-a-Service

  • Sovereignty-as-a-service: How big tech companies co-opt and redefines digital sovereignty (2025). [paper]. Grohmann, Rafael; Costa Barbosa, Alexandre. Media, Culture & Society, pp. 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/01634437251395003. Retrieved 2025-11-15 from: https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437251395003.

    TAGS: #SovereigntyAsService #DigitalSovereignty #BigTech #PlatformCapture #CloudSovereignty #Microsoft #Amazon #Google #MeaningCapture

    BRIEF: Analyzes how Microsoft, Amazon, and Google redefined digital sovereignty from political capacity to commercial product—warning pattern for SSI.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Grohmann and Costa Barbosa analyze how Microsoft, Amazon, and Google strategically redefined digital sovereignty (2022-2023) through cloud programs responding to European regulatory pressure. Critical discourse analysis reveals convergent transformation: sovereignty shifts from political capacity to commercial product.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Big Tech presents sovereignty as “a journey” leading to their own services—a pattern SSI faces directly. If dominant wallet providers capture SSI implementations, “self-sovereign identity” becomes consumer service provisioned on platform terms.

H

Harris (1993) Whiteness as Property

  • Whiteness as Property (1993). [paper]. Harris, Cheryl I. Harvard Law Review, Vol. 106, No. 8, pp. 1707-1791. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://harvardlawreview.org/print/no-volume/whiteness-as-property/.

    TAGS: #WhitenessAsProperty #CriticalRaceTheory #PropertyLaw #RacialJustice #HarrisCheryl #LegalHistory #SystemicRacism #StructuralInequality

    BRIEF: Demonstrates how property law historically encoded racial hierarchies—whiteness functioned as property granting access, opportunity, protection.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Harris examines how whiteness evolved from racial identity into a form of property historically protected in American law. Following slavery and conquest, white racial identity became the basis for allocating societal benefits—a status property ratified by law.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Anti-Property Lens): Property law historically encoded racial hierarchies—whiteness functioned as property granting access, opportunity, protection. Warning for digital identity: treating identity as property risks encoding similar exclusions through algorithmic systems.

Hui (2016) Question Concerning Technology in China

I

ICCPR (1966) (draft)

IETF (2024) FROST RFC 9591

  • RFC 9591: The Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold (FROST) Protocol for Two-Round Schnorr Signatures (2024). [standard]. Connolly, Deirdre; Komlo, Chelsea; Goldberg, Ian; Wood, Christopher A. IETF. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9591.html.

    TAGS: #FROST #ThresholdSignatures #Schnorr #Cryptography #IETF #RFC9591 #DistributedTrust #MultiPartyComputation #SecurityStandards

    BRIEF: IETF standard for threshold Schnorr signatures enabling distributed trust—emerging capability existing paradigms didn’t anticipate.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: RFC 9591 specifies the FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold) protocol for threshold Schnorr signatures. Enables distributed trust by allowing a minimum threshold of participating entities to collectively produce valid signatures without any single party holding the complete key.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Example of emerging capability that existing paradigms didn’t anticipate. Threshold signatures indistinguishable from single-signer output. Principles written today should enable—not preclude—capabilities like this.

K

Khan & Vaheesan (2017) Market Power (draft)

  • Market Power and Inequality: The Antitrust Counterrevolution and its Discontents (2017). [paper]. Khan, Lina; Vaheesan, Sandeep. Harvard Law & Policy Review, Vol. 11, pp. 235-294. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2790/.

    TAGS: #Antitrust #MarketPower #Monopoly #Inequality #KhanLina #VaheesanSandeep #PlatformEconomics #ConsumerProtection #CompetitionLaw

    BRIEF: Analyzes how market power concentration enables gatekeeping and exclusion—applies directly to SSI infrastructure where monopoly positions create participation barriers.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Khan and Vaheesan argue that the 1980s reorientation of antitrust law—focusing exclusively on efficiency while ignoring wealth distribution and market access—contributed to rising inequality.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Right to Transact Lens): When wallet providers or credential verifiers achieve monopoly/oligopoly positions, they can extract rents and exclude users without competitive pressure.

Kinstler (2025) Big Tech Wants Direct Access to Our Brains

M

Miller et al. (2003) Capability Myths Demolished

  • Capability Myths Demolished (2003). [technical report]. Miller, Mark S.; Yee, Ka-Ping; Shapiro, Jonathan. SRL Technical Report SRL2003-02, Johns Hopkins University Systems Research Laboratory. Available from: http://www.erights.org/elib/capability/duals/myths.html or https://srl.cs.jhu.edu/pubs/SRL2003-02.pdf.

    TAGS: #ObjectCapabilities #OCaps #SecurityArchitecture #AccessControl #MillerMarkS #CapabilityBasedSecurity #AuthorizationModels #SystemsSecurity

    BRIEF: Foundational OCaps paper demonstrating how capability possession equals authority—foundational model for SSI delegation.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Miller, Yee, and Shapiro systematically refute common misconceptions about object capabilities (OCaps), demonstrating that capability-based authorization provides stronger security than access control lists (ACLs) while enabling natural delegation patterns.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): Foundational OCaps paper demolishing myths about capability-based security. Demonstrates how capability possession equals authority without centralized access control lists—the foundational model for SSI delegation where credential possession grants authority.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Foundational paper showing how paradigm assumptions (identity-first vs. capability-first) fundamentally shape what systems can do.

Mühle et al. (2018) Essential Components of SSI

  • A Survey on Essential Components of a Self-Sovereign Identity (2018). [paper]. Mühle, Alexander; Grüner, Andreas; Gayvoronskaya, Tatiana; Meinel, Christoph. Computer Science Review 30:80-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.cosrev.2018.10.002. Retrieved 2025-11-13 from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosrev.2018.10.002. Also available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.06346.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #BlockchainIdentity #VerifiableClaims #DecentralizedIdentifiers #IdentityArchitecture #ZookosTriangle #SSIArchitecture #W3CDID #Survey

    BRIEF: First comprehensive technical survey identifying four essential SSI components: decentralized identifiers, authentication, verifiable claims, and storage solutions.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Mühle et al. provide first comprehensive technical survey of SSI architectures, identifying four essential components: decentralized identifiers (analyzed through Zooko’s Triangle), authentication methods (decentralized PKI), verifiable claims (credential vs attestation terminology), and storage solutions (on-chain vs off-chain tradeoffs). Clarifies terminology conflicts, distinguishes Identifier Registry Model (stores only identifier-authentication mappings) versus Claim Registry Model (additionally stores cryptographic claim fingerprints), and analyzes implementations (uPort, Blockstack, Sovrin, W3C DIDs).

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Foundational survey establishing four essential technical components required for SSI—provides architectural framework for evaluating implementation completeness.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Demonstrates how Zooko’s Triangle was “squared” by blockchain, enabling identifiers that are simultaneously secure, decentralized, and human-readable—a paradigm shift in what was considered possible.

N

Naik & Jenkins (2020) Governing Principles of SSI

  • Governing Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity Applied to Blockchain Enabled Privacy Preserving Identity Management Systems (2020). [conference paper]. Naik, Nitin; Jenkins, Paul. 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Systems Engineering (ISSE). Retrieved 2025-11-15 from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/322597756.pdf.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #SSI #IdentityManagement #BlockchainIdentity #VerifiableCredentials #uPort #Sovrin #HyperledgerIndy #PrivacyPreserving #IdentityPrinciples #ComparativeAnalysis

    BRIEF: 20-principle SSI evaluation framework extending Allen’s 10 principles; comparative analysis reveals technical maturity but operational gaps.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Naik and Jenkins propose 20 governing principles for evaluating Self-Sovereign Identity ecosystems, extending Christopher Allen’s foundational 10 principles to address blockchain-enabled implementations. The framework covers sovereignty, data control, longevity, decentralization, verifiability, recovery, security, privacy, accessibility, and sustainability. Authors apply these principles to comparative analysis of uPort (Ethereum-based) and Sovrin (Hyperledger Indy-based) SSI ecosystems, revealing that while both satisfy core technical requirements, critical operational principles (portability, interoperability, scalability) remain unfulfilled.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): First comprehensive expansion of Allen’s 10 principles to 20 covering technical, operational, and social dimensions. Provides evaluation framework revealing three-tier satisfaction pattern in implementations.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Analysis reveals SSI’s fundamental challenge: technical cryptographic capabilities proven, but ecosystem infrastructure for global-scale deployment remains immature.

Naik & Jenkins (2022) Is SSI Really Sovereign?

  • Is Self-Sovereign Identity Really Sovereign? (2022). [paper]. Naik, Nitin; Jenkins, Paul. 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Systems Engineering (ISSE), pp. 1-7. DOI: 10.1109/ISSE54508.2022.10005404. Retrieved 2025-01-14 from: https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSE54508.2022.10005404.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #DigitalSovereignty #BlockchainGovernance #CyberspaceSovereignty #StateSovereignty #SSICritique #IdentityGovernance #DependentIdentityOwners #JurisdictionalVariation

    BRIEF: Critical assessment revealing SSI sovereignty as inherently contextual and jurisdiction-dependent rather than binary or absolute.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Naik and Jenkins critically examine whether self-sovereign identity systems truly provide sovereignty, analyzing sovereignty as contextual and multi-layered rather than binary. The paper distinguishes technological sovereignty (user control within SSI networks) from cyberspace sovereignty (state authority over physical infrastructure) and state sovereignty (legal jurisdiction over identity owners). Analysis reveals SSI provides genuine advances but cannot override jurisdictional constraints—identical SSI technology provides different sovereignty levels depending on local laws.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Critical assessment showing sovereignty as contextual and jurisdiction-dependent. Same SSI technology provides different sovereignty levels in different jurisdictions—essential for realistic SSI deployment.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Regulatory Framework Lens): Demonstrates regulations can enhance sovereignty (GDPR aligns with SSI) or restrict it (states may prohibit SSI networks). Strategic implication: prioritize sovereignty-friendly jurisdictions for early adoption.

Narayanan & Shmatikov (2009) De-anonymizing Social Networks

  • De-anonymizing Social Networks (2009). [paper]. Narayanan, Arvind; Shmatikov, Vitaly. 2009 30th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, pp. 173-187. DOI: 10.1109/SP.2009.22. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5207644. Preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/0903.3276.

    TAGS: #DeAnonymization #SocialNetworks #PrivacyAttacks #GraphAnalysis #NarayananArvind #ShmatiskovVitaly #NetworkPrivacy #ReIdentification #SecurityResearch

    BRIEF: Demonstrates that social graph structure enables re-identification even with perfect attribute anonymization—connection patterns are identifying.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Narayanan and Shmatikov present a framework for analyzing privacy in social networks and a new re-identification algorithm targeting anonymized network graphs. Using only network topology, they show a third of users with accounts on both Twitter and Flickr can be re-identified with 12% error rate.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Context Boundaries Lens): Proves that connection patterns are identifying—who you know reveals more than what you claim. SSI must address social graph privacy alongside individual credential privacy.

Nissenbaum (2009) Privacy in Context

  • Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life (2009). [book]. Nissenbaum, Helen. Stanford Law Books, Stanford University Press. 304 pages. ISBN 978-0-8047-5236-7. Publisher: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=8862.

    TAGS: #ContextualIntegrity #Privacy #InformationFlow #NissenbaumHelen #PrivacyTheory #SocialNorms #DataProtection #TechnologyPolicy #EthicsOfPrivacy

    BRIEF: Foundational privacy theory—violations occur when information flows breach context-specific norms, not merely when individuals lose control.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Nissenbaum argues privacy violations occur when information flows breach context-specific norms, not when individuals lose control. Contextual integrity framework analyzes flows using five parameters (data subject, sender, recipient, information type, transmission principle) and nine-step decision heuristic.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Context Boundaries Lens): Foundational theory for this lens—privacy violations occur when information flows breach context-specific norms.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Anti-Property Lens): Alternative to property-based privacy: information flows must match social context norms, not blanket ownership rules.

Nottingham (2025) Age Restriction Architecture

  • Architectural Considerations of Age Restriction (2025). [internet-draft]. Nottingham, Mark. IETF Network Working Group, draft-nottingham-iab-age-restrictions-00. Published 2025-08-04. Retrieved 2025-11-19 from: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-nottingham-iab-age-restrictions/.

    TAGS: #AgeVerification #InternetArchitecture #Decentralization #PrivacySecurity #ContentModeration #DigitalIdentity #Centralization #Fragmentation #AccessBarriers

    BRIEF: IETF analysis identifying five architectural risks from age verification: centralization, privacy erosion, access barriers, fragmentation, and age-gated internet infrastructure.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Nottingham examines architectural risks of proposed age restriction systems for Internet content. Identifies five key concerns: centralization (single-party verification creates honeypots and outages), privacy/security (exposure of sensitive attributes enables tracking), barriers to access (hardware/credential requirements disenfranchise users), fragmentation (incompatible jurisdictional systems), and age-gated Internet risks (creating “papers please” infrastructure). Proposes requirements for Internet-scale deployment.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Regulatory Framework Lens): IETF standards document applying Internet architecture principles (decentralization, permissionless innovation) to evaluate age verification—model for assessing all identity regulations.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Identifies secondary centralization through browser/OS lock-in and market distortion—SSI wallet providers could similarly concentrate power despite decentralized architecture.

Noble (2018) Algorithms of Oppression

  • Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (2018). [book]. Noble, Safiya Umoja. NYU Press, New York. ISBN: 978-1479837243. 256 pages. Publisher: https://nyupress.org/9781479837243/algorithms-of-oppression/.

    TAGS: #AlgorithmicBias #SearchEngines #Racism #TechCritique #NobleSafiya #DigitalDiscrimination #AlgorithmicOppression #InformationScience

    BRIEF: Documents how search algorithms perpetuate racism and sexism, creating conformity pressure through biased categorizations users can’t see or contest.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Noble challenges the neutrality assumption of search engines through analysis of textual and media searches. Documents how search algorithms perpetuate racism and sexism by reflecting and amplifying societal biases. Coins “algorithmic oppression” to describe data failures specific to people of color, women, and marginalized groups.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): Documents how algorithmic profiling creates conformity pressure through biased categorizations. Users modify behavior to avoid triggering negative inferences from systems they can’t see or contest.

O

Open Government Partnership (2023)

P

Pava-Díaz et al. (2024) SSI on the Blockchain

Penney (2016) Chilling Effects

Purtova (2015) Illusion of Personal Data

  • The Illusion of Personal Data as No One’s Property (2015). [paper]. Purtova, Nadezhda. Law, Innovation and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 83-111. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17579961.2015.1052646. Also available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2346693.

    TAGS: #DataProperty #PropertyRights #DataProtection #LegalTheory #PurtovaNadezhda #DataOwnership #CorporateData #PropertyRegimes

    BRIEF: Demonstrates “no one owns data” is illusion—corporations already claim quasi-property rights; individual ownership validates framework favoring institutional actors.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Purtova challenges the assumption that data protection regimes need not address property rights in personal data. Building on Umbeck’s work, she demonstrates that without legislative property assignment, personal data will be appropriated in proportion to market participants’ de facto power to exclude others.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Anti-Property Lens): “No one owns data” is illusion—corporations already claim quasi-property rights through database rights, trade secrets, contractual assignments. Warning: property thinking itself is the problem.

R

Radin (1996) Contested Commodities

  • Contested Commodities (1996). [book]. Radin, Margaret Jane. Harvard University Press. ISBN: 978-0674007161. Publisher: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674007161.

    TAGS: #MarketInalienability #Commodification #Personhood #Property #RadinMargaret #LegalTheory #Dignity #Ethics #EconomicRights

    BRIEF: Foundational market-inalienability theory—some things too bound up with personhood to commodify, including core identity attributes.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Radin asks why not sell everything—body parts, babies, sex? Her answer: universal commodification impairs human flourishing by compromising contexts needed for personhood. She proposes “incomplete commodification”—regulated exchange of contested goods under conditions protecting human dignity.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Anti-Property Lens): Foundational market-inalienability theory—some things too bound up with personhood to commodify. Application to identity: biometric data, medical histories, political beliefs are constitutive of personhood.

Renieris (2022) Freedom to Transact Critique

Renieris (2023) Beyond Data

Restatement Third of Agency (2006)

S

Satybaldy et al. (2024) Taxonomy of SSI Challenges

  • A Taxonomy of Challenges for Self-Sovereign Identity Systems (2024). [journal article]. Satybaldy, Abylay; Ferdous, Md. Sadek; Nowostawski, Mariusz. IEEE Access, Volume 12, pp. 16151-16177. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3357940. Retrieved 2025-11-28 from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10414178.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #SystematicReview #Taxonomy #SSIArchitecture #VerifiableCredentials #DIDs #Interoperability #KeyManagement #PrivacyChallenges #UsabilityChallenges #TrustFrameworks

    BRIEF: Systematic literature review synthesizing SSI architectural framework, development lifecycle, and nine-category taxonomy of open challenges.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: This comprehensive systematic literature review synthesizes an architectural framework for the SSI stack (four technology layers plus governance), defines an SSI-specific System Development Life Cycle (SSI-SDLC), and proposes a taxonomy classifying challenges into nine categories (security, privacy, interoperability, scalability, usability, adoption, legal, trust, technical debt). Key finding: challenges are interconnected—solving one often creates others. Key recovery remains SSI’s “existential” problem with no consensus solution.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Nine-category challenge taxonomy mapping architecture to development phases—provides structured research prioritization framework revealing interconnected challenges.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Four-layer architectural framework (Trust Roots, Communications, Credentials, Applications plus Governance) provides vocabulary for understanding where sovereignty operates at each layer.

Schardong (2022) SSI Systematic Review

  • Self-Sovereign Identity: A Systematic Review, Mapping and Taxonomy (2022). [paper]. Schardong, Frederico; Custódio, Ricardo Felipe. Sensors 22(15):5641. DOI: 10.3390/s22155641. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/15/5641.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #SystematicReview #SSITaxonomy #W3CStandards #VerifiableCredentials #ZeroKnowledgeProofs #TrustModels #BlockchainBias #ResearchMethodology

    BRIEF: First reproducible systematic review of SSI reveals explosive growth but critical gaps in trust, usability, and compliance.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Schardong and Custódio present the first reproducible systematic review of SSI literature, analyzing 82 works (2016-2021). Novel hierarchical taxonomy divides research into conceptual and practical facets, corrects blockchain bias by identifying non-blockchain SSI implementations, and reveals explosive growth from 2 publications (2016) to 37 (2021). Analysis identifies W3C standards as most influential and documents critical research gaps in trust models (14 works), backup/recovery (6 works), and regulatory compliance (2 works).

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Principles to Compliance Lens): Critical research gaps identified—only 14 works address trust mechanisms, 6 works on backup/recovery, 2 works on regulatory compliance. Trust is “paramount for adoption” yet under-researched.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Corrects blockchain bias—demonstrates SSI need not require distributed ledgers. 9 works employ ZKPs for data minimization, establishing most adopted advanced cryptographic primitive.

Schelling (1960) Strategy of Conflict

  • The Strategy of Conflict (1960). [book]. Schelling, Thomas C. Harvard University Press. ISBN: 978-0674840317. Publisher: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674840317.

    TAGS: #GameTheory #CredibleCommitment #Negotiation #FocalPoints #SchellingThomas #StrategicBehavior #Deterrence #Cooperation #NobelPrize

    BRIEF: Game theory classic showing how credible commitment enables cooperation impossible for uncommitted actors.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Schelling pioneered the application of game theory to real-world strategic behavior in negotiation, war, and deterrence. Counter-intuitively, he showed that limiting one’s own options can increase bargaining power. Nobel Prize 2005.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Binding Commitments Lens): Game theory classic showing commitment problems are central to cooperation—without ability to bind yourself, others can’t trust your promises. “Burning bridges” makes commitments believable.

Scott (1998) Seeing Like a State (draft)

  • Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (1998). [book]. Scott, James C. Yale University Press. ISBN: 9780300078152. 464 pages.

    TAGS: #Legibility #StateSimplification #HighModernism #Metis #LocalKnowledge #ScottJamesC #PlanningFailures #CentralizedControl #Authoritarianism

    BRIEF: Examines failed large-scale state interventions, identifying how “legibility” requirements destroy local knowledge and contextual complexity.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Scott examines failed large-scale state interventions—from Soviet collectivization to Tanzanian villagization to modernist city planning—identifying four conditions common to planning disasters.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Context Boundaries Lens): Scott’s “legibility” concept explains why context collapse harms individuals: states and platforms simplify complex contextual information into standardized categories.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Scott’s framework reveals how identity systems become coercive infrastructure. “Legibility” projects—standardizing messy human identities—enable state control.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): Self-coercion is the internalized response to legibility: people anticipate what systems will see and modify behavior preemptively.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): State “legibility” projects parallel platform choice architecture that forces users into predetermined paths.

Sheldrake (2019) Generative Identity

  • Generative Identity — Beyond Self-Sovereignty (2019). [article]. Sheldrake, Philip. AKASHA Foundation blog, September 2019. Retrieved 2025-11-11 from: https://philipsheldrake.com/2019/09/generative-identity-beyond-self-sovereignty/.

    TAGS: #GenerativeIdentity #SSI #Decentralization #DigitalIdentity #Philosophy #SheldrakePhilip #AKASHA #IdentityTheory #Emergence #Complexity

    BRIEF: Proposes “generative identity” moving beyond self-sovereignty’s individual focus to embrace emergent, relational, and contextual identity.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Sheldrake proposes generative identity as alternative to self-sovereign identity, arguing SSI’s foundational principles encode logical contradictions undermining its liberatory goals. Introduces five principles—change, co-constitution, omni-directionality, friction, and non-universality.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Irreducible Person Lens): Challenges whether “sovereignty” adequately captures identity’s nature. If identity is generative and relational rather than property-like, the “irreducible person” may be the relational nexus.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Co-constitution principle grounds bilateral consent: statement “X is friends with Y” cannot be owned by either party because it constitutes both identities simultaneously.

Solove (2013) Privacy Self-Management

Sovrin Guardianship (2019/2023)

T

Tcherneva (2025) Death of the Social Contract

U

UDHR (1948)

Utah Code Title 46 (2021)

Utah SEDI (2024)

  • SEDI: Protecting Liberty in the Digital Age (2024). [report]. Utah Office of Privacy and Cybersecurity. State of Utah. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://privacy.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/SEDI_ProtectingLiberty.pdf.

    TAGS: #DigitalIdentity #Utah #SEDI #Privacy #Decentralization #GovernmentID #StatePolicy #PrivacyByDesign #SB260

    BRIEF: Utah’s State-Endorsed Digital Identity framework establishing privacy-first, decentralized principles where identity belongs to individuals, not governments.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Utah’s State-Endorsed Digital Identity (SEDI) white paper outlines a digital identity framework where identity is inherent to individuals rather than created by governments or corporations. SB260 (2025) codified these principles.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Stewardship Lens): Demonstrates platform recognition of stewardship duties—decentralized architecture prevents surveillance while supporting vulnerable populations who cannot manage credentials independently.

W

W3C (2022) Decentralized Identifiers

  • Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 (2022). [W3C Recommendation]. W3C DID Working Group. World Wide Web Consortium. Available from: https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/.

    TAGS: #DIDs #DecentralizedIdentifiers #W3C #SelfSovereignIdentity #CryptographicVerification #PlatformIndependence #IdentifierPortability #NoRegistryDependency

    BRIEF: W3C standard for decentralized, self-sovereign identifiers with cryptographic verification—foundational infrastructure for platform-independent delegation.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) provide globally unique identifiers that individuals/organizations control without centralized registry, enabling self-sovereign identity. Key features: cryptographically verifiable, platform-independent, persistent.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): W3C standard for decentralized, self-sovereign identifiers with cryptographic verification and no central authority—foundational infrastructure enabling platform-independent delegation and authority revocation.

W3C (2024) Verifiable Credentials 2.0

  • Verifiable Credentials Data Model v2.0 (2024). [W3C Recommendation]. W3C Verifiable Credentials Working Group. World Wide Web Consortium. Available from: https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/.

    TAGS: #VerifiableCredentials #W3C #DigitalCredentials #CryptographicSecurity #PrivacyPreserving #TamperEvident #CredentialFormat #SelectiveDisclosure

    BRIEF: W3C standard for machine-verifiable credentials—foundational data model for delegation, authorization, and revocability.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: W3C Verifiable Credentials (VC) standard defines format for digital credentials that are cryptographically secure (tamper-evident through signatures), privacy-preserving (selective disclosure, zero-knowledge proofs), and machine-verifiable.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Technical Delegation Lens): W3C standard for machine-verifiable credentials enabling tamper-evident, cryptographically secure, privacy-respecting digital credentials—foundational data model for delegation, authorization, and revocability.

Wu (2018) Tyranny of Convenience

  • The Tyranny of Convenience (2018). [article]. Wu, Tim. The New York Times, February 16, 2018. Retrieved 2025-11-27 from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/opinion/sunday/tyranny-convenience.html.

    TAGS: #Convenience #LockIn #PlatformMonopoly #WuTim #SwitchingCosts #DigitalDependency #NetworkEffects #ConsumerBehavior

    BRIEF: Analyzes how convenience becomes tyranny—small easy choices accumulate into structural dependency.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Wu argues convenience is “the most underestimated and least understood force in the world today.” Tracing two waves of convenience, he demonstrates how frictionless efficiency breeds monopoly: “The easier it is to use Amazon, the more powerful Amazon becomes.”

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Choice Architecture Lens): Documents how convenience creates lock-in transforming initial voluntary choice into permanent dependency. Frictionless efficiency breeds monopoly—the structural coercion pattern.

Z

Zuboff (2019) Surveillance Capitalism

  • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (2019). [book]. Zuboff, Shoshana. PublicAffairs, New York. 704 pages. ISBN 978-1-61039-569-4. Available from: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/shoshana-zuboff/the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism/9781610395694/.

    TAGS: #SurveillanceCapitalism #Privacy #BehavioralData #BigTech #ZuboffShoshana #DataExtraction #DigitalEconomy #Democracy #HumanAutonomy

    BRIEF: Develops surveillance capitalism framework—unprecedented economic logic extracting behavioral surplus and deploying instrumentarian power through ubiquitous computation.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Zuboff develops surveillance capitalism framework identifying unprecedented economic logic that claims human experience as free raw material, extracts “behavioral surplus” beyond service improvement, manufactures prediction products sold in behavioral futures markets, and deploys “instrumentarian power” through ubiquitous computational architecture to modify behavior.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Context Boundaries Lens): Surveillance capitalism’s power depends on aggregation across contexts to build totalizing behavioral profiles. Context boundaries directly limit this power.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Essential theoretical foundation for inference coercion—”instrumentarian power” operates through behavioral prediction and modification.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Self-Coercion Lens): “Instrumentarian power”—automated systems shape choices through invisible architecture creating algorithmic conformity pressure.

Zwitter et al. (2020) SSI: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

  • Digital Identity and the Blockchain: Universal Identity Management and the Concept of the “Self-Sovereign” Individual (2020). [paper]. Zwitter, Andrej J.; Gstrein, Oskar J.; Yap, Evan. Frontiers in Blockchain, Volume 3, Article 26. DOI: 10.3389/fbloc.2020.00026. Retrieved 2025-11-12 from: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/blockchain/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00026/full.

    TAGS: #SelfSovereignIdentity #IdentityPhilosophy #DigitalIdentity #BlockchainIdentity #IdentityGovernance #PrivacyRights #GDPR #HumanRights #BiometricIdentification #RelationalIdentity

    BRIEF: Critically examines SSI through philosophical, legal, and technical lenses, revealing naturalist-constructivist tensions requiring explicit governance decisions.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Zwitter et al. examine digital identity through philosophical, legal, and technical lenses, arguing SSI represents fundamental shift from purpose-driven identification toward infrastructural resource. Position digital identity within tensions between naturalist (uniquely individual) and constructivist (relationally constituted) worldviews. Through case studies (Estonia’s e-ID, Forus platform, Kiva), demonstrate blockchain identity opportunities and risks. Warn against “Googlization” and neo-feudalism risks—meaningful self-sovereignty requires governance decisions addressing privacy, backup mechanisms, and power balances.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Relational Autonomy Lens): Identifies relational data ownership problem—many identity attributes are inherently relational (parent-child, employer-employee). Statement “X is friends with Y” constitutes information about both parties.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Multi-Scalar Sovereignty Lens): Warns network effects create quasi-mandatory participation despite nominal individual control—”neo-feudalism” risk if implementation focuses solely on technical feasibility.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Coercion Resistance Lens): Biometric backup dilemma—persistent authentication versus surveillance infrastructure. India’s Supreme Court dissent warned of “invisible threads of a society networked on biometric data.”

Zhu et al. (2024) Generative AI Security

  • Generative AI Security: Challenges and Countermeasures (2024). [paper]. Zhu, Banghua; Mu, Norman; Jiao, Jiantao; Wagner, David. arXiv:2402.12617v2 [cs.CR]. University of California, Berkeley. Available 2025-11-15 from: https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.12617.

    TAGS: #GenerativeAI #AISecurity #LLMSecurity #Jailbreaking #PromptInjection #AIFirewall #Watermarking #AIGovernance #SocialEngineering #MachineLearning #AdversarialML #AIAlignment #RLHF #ContentModeration #OpenSourceAI

    BRIEF: Analyzes GenAI security; traditional defenses fail, requiring AI firewalls, guardrails, watermarking for social engineering attacks.

    SHORT ABSTRACT: Position paper analyzing unique security challenges of Generative AI systems showing traditional defenses (access control, sandboxing, parameterized queries, patching) fail due to emergent capabilities and semantic attack surfaces. Proposes Target/Fool/Tool taxonomy positioning GenAI as attack victim, accidental accomplice, and weaponizable tool. Argues attacks resemble social engineering requiring intelligent ML-based defenses.

    WHY THIS MATTERS (for Cryptographic Paradigms Lens): Demonstrates how paradigm assumptions shape security—traditional software security fails for GenAI because attacks resemble social engineering against reasoning systems. SSI systems using GenAI for trust scoring or verification inherit these vulnerabilities.