Towards a Catalogue of Self-Sovereign Identity Design Patterns

Abstract

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a user-centric, decentralised identity approach that provides a means for identification, authentication, and authorisation without the involvement of external entities, responsible for identity provisioning and management in current centralised and federated approaches. In general, the basic building blocks of an SSI system include decentralised identifiers, verifiable credentials, identity wallets, a verifiable data registry, and three main actors: issuer, identity holder, and verifier. Even though the SSI field is dominated by proposals, SSI systems can be implemented in different ways, which is reflected in the absence of a well-defined architecture. Thus, the best implementation is still a matter of research, the requirements of the individual system, and its field of application. However, well-designed and implemented systems are crucial to avoiding failures, speeding up the development process, ensuring high quality, and the broader adoption of SSI solutions. Hence, the main objective of this study was to identify design patterns and good practices of the SSI ecosystems by reviewing and analysing the literature, technical documentation, and existing SSI implementations. Therefore, the study is built on existing knowledge, and presents a comprehensive catalogue of thirty-five SSI design patterns that can serve as a starting point for a possible SSI system design.