Introduction to Digital Identity

In the early days of the internet, online communities operated on good faith and shared curiosity, without the need for passwords or elaborate verification systems. However, as the web evolved into the backbone of modern life, digital identity failed to keep pace.

The Missing Layer

We’ve successfully digitized commerce, communication, and computation, but identity remains a patchwork of logins and surveillance. This lack of a robust digital identity system undermines the trust and security that are essential for online interactions.

Verification vs. Identity

Verification and identity are often confused, but they serve different purposes. Proving ownership of private keys or matching a face to a passport photo is only part of the story. Digital identity must be portable, composable, and trustable across systems, supporting not just access but also trust, and it must work for both humans and AI agents.

The Challenge of Trust Infrastructure

The fundamental challenge in solving digital identity is building trust infrastructure. This involves creating a system that can verify uniqueness and accountability without exposing personal data or relying on government-run surveillance regimes.

The Rise of AI and Gatekeepers

AI platforms are becoming the new gatekeepers of human activity, training on our conversations and acting on our behalf. However, these platforms lack accountability, and it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between human and bot interactions.

The Need for Accountability

As AI agents generate content, apply for jobs, and negotiate contracts, it’s essential to prove personhood and tie it to real accountability without sacrificing privacy or control. The current system, which relies on fragmented approaches to age verification and surveillance, is failing us.

Fragmented Approaches

The EU’s prototype age verification app and the UK’s Online Safety Act are examples of fragmented approaches to digital identity. These systems raise more questions than they answer, and the use of opaque third-party providers and surveillance-based solutions undermines individual freedom and privacy.

Scaling Trust

To establish and scale trust, we need ways to prove uniqueness and accountability without exposing personal data. This requires a secure, one-to-one mapping between a biological human and a digital representation, encrypted and held locally. Zero-knowledge proofs and social graph validation can help create identity networks that grow virally, not through centralized registration.

A Post-Platform Internet

Every human should have a portable, self-owned identity that can be used across platforms. We also need to ensure that bots and agents can be audited and held accountable, and that DAOs and marketplaces can make decisions based on real, unique participants.

The World We’re Sleepwalking Toward

If we fail to act, centralized identity, CBDCs, and AI platforms will converge into a system where governments and corporations can control and manipulate individual behavior. This would undermine individual freedom, dignity, and privacy, creating a surveillance state that’s more efficient and permanent than anything that’s come before.

The Need for a Proactive Identity Layer

We need a proactive identity layer for the entire internet, one that’s not owned by governments or corporations and verifies human uniqueness without surveillance. This layer must prioritize privacy, dignity, and individual freedom at the protocol level, providing a foundation for a more secure, trustworthy, and free digital future.

About the Author

Kirill Avery is a self-taught coder and entrepreneur who built Europe’s largest consumer social app at the age of 16. He’s the youngest engineer to have worked at VK.com and the youngest solo founder accepted into Y Combinator. You can follow his work and thoughts on the future of the internet and digital identity on bitpulse.