As the Swiss referendum on digital ID approaches, one question deserves more attention:

Even if people control their credentials, will they feel ownership of their digital identity?

In my new ACM Interactions blog, I argue that self-sovereign identity (SSI) risks becoming an illusion of ownership. Complexity, lack of safety nets, and the need for institutional trust mean that sovereignty on paper doesn’t always translate into trust in practice.

To their credit, the Swiss government has done an excellent job in making digital ID a public debate, treating transparency and inclusiveness seriously. Now the challenge is to ensure systems are not only decentralized, but also usable, trustworthy, and flexible enough for everyone.

The link to the full text: “The illusion of ownership in self-sovereign identity”