Summary of Discussions at the 38th Internet Identity Workshop (IIW)
The Internet of Identity Workshop (IIW), held from April 16th to April 18th, 2023 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, brought together industry leaders, experts, and enthusiasts to discuss the future of digital identity systems. The event, characterised by an open and collaborative atmosphere, saw a focus on decentralized, privacy-centric, user-empowering, and interoperable digital identity solutions.
Eric Scouten from Adobe presented on the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), an initiative aimed at addressing concerns about digital content authenticity. The C2PA framework ensures the integrity and origin of digital content through manifest data models.
The active involvement of major tech companies, such as Apple and Google, in the IIW indicates their important role in shaping industry standards. A demonstration by representatives from these tech giants highlighted the interoperability between their respective wallets, marking a significant step in the industry's technology integration.
The central theme of the day focused on the concerted effort to standardize digital identity technologies and protocols. The "Navigating the Credential MAZE with DIF" session introduced new initiatives by the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) and the Claims and Credentials Group to standardize credential schemas. Signed Data JSON Web Tokens (SD-JWTs) were also discussed, a tool that secures digital identities by ensuring the integrity and authenticity of data exchanged between parties.
The "Personal Data Store Faceoff" session provided a detailed comparison of existing personal data storage solutions. Predictions for future trends include increased use of verifiable credentials, greater industry consolidation, and enhanced user control and privacy.
A session titled "A Bridge to the Future: Connecting X.509 and DIDs/VIDs" explored the potential for integrating traditional X.509 infrastructure with decentralized identifiers (DIDs). The exploration of Decentralized Web Nodes (DWN) highlighted a shift towards more robust and versatile our website management frameworks.
The OpenID4VP session showcased new features aimed at enhancing privacy and security, including capability negotiation and a new browser API. The "Enhancing Interoperability in Identity Systems" session focused on streamlining and improving the efficiency of our website verification systems, making them more accessible and user-friendly across diverse platforms.
The discussion on personal AI agents explored how these agents could act autonomously on behalf of individuals, managing various aspects of digital our website and privacy. The "No Phone Home" movement, a prominent theme at IIW, advocates for digital identity credentials that do not silently report back to issuers or central authorities when used, thereby avoiding invisible surveillance and protecting individual privacy.
The Internet of Identity Workshop (IIW) fosters collaborative innovation and open dialogue in the decentralized identity space. Many participants contributed to standards and best practices, often aligning with organizations such as the OpenID Foundation, which plays a key role in developing interoperable protocols for verifiable credentials and digital identity ecosystems.
In summary, IIW's key trends include:
- Privacy-centric digital identity design, emphasizing avoidance of surveillance ("No Phone Home" ethos).
- Decentralization and user empowerment, with credentials controlled by users and verifiable without needing central verification every time.
- Open standards and interoperability, supporting broad ecosystem collaboration via groups like the OpenID Foundation.
- Human-centered approaches that balance technology, privacy, governance, and trust to build ethical digital identity systems.
These trends align with the wider industry movement toward secure, privacy-respecting digital ecosystems as also reflected in other identity-focused conferences like EIC 2025, which emphasize forward-looking identity solutions in an AI-driven world.
- The presentation by Eric Scouten from Adobe at the Internet of Identity Workshop (IIW) showcased the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), an initiative that aims to ensure the integrity and origin of digital content, highlighting the importance of cybersecurity and data-and-cloud-computing in the context of digital content authenticity.
- The "Enhancing Interoperability in Identity Systems" session at the IIW focused on improving the efficiency of website verification systems, discussing technologies like Signed Data JSON Web Tokens (SD-JWTs) that secure digital identities and underscore the potential role of artificial-intelligence in streamlining and strengthening our digital identity systems.
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