Data Subjectivation - Self-sovereign Identity and Digital Self-Determination

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the philosophical implications of the Self-sovereign identity (SSI), considered one of the most prominent examples in which the process that we define as data subjectivation takes place. We will begin by examining the technical side of the SSI model and then delve into the concepts of identity and sovereignty, which are crucial for defining digital identity. We will explain how these concepts must be understood within a broader theoretical framework that we refer to as data subjectivation. This framework acknowledges the emergence of a new digital subject defined through the materialisation of data, which determines an individual’s rights and powers in their digital life. We scrutinise this process starting from the concept of “virtual materiality” and from the relationship between the physical world and the virtual world defined by Katherine Hayles. We will show that, to achieve the promises that are often associated with the SSI model, such as a decentralised and trusted web inhabited by digitally “sovereign” users, we must frame the vision put forth by the SSI as a socio-technical imagery. We sketch how this discourse can be oriented by employing the idea of digital self-determination, trying to frame the open questions of powers and rights in digital spaces linking the SSI and the process of data subjectivation. Finally, we show how a purely technical solution to the goal of a user that “owns” their data cannot be feasible, and we encourage further exploration of the inextricable links between the technological development of digital identity solutions and the political values that shape them.