walytis-identities 0.1.3

A system for managing identities, contacts and their cryptographic keys based on the Walytis blockchain.

Walytis Decentralised Identity Management

A system for managing identities, contacts and their cryptographic keys based on the Walytis blockchain.

It implements the World-Wide-Web-Consoritum's (W3C's) Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs) specifications.

In the context of W3C's DID architecture, walytis_identities is a DID method, meaning that walytis_identities is a system for creating DIDs and managing DID-Documents. walytis_identities achieves this using the Walytis blockchain.

Project Status EXPERIMENTAL

This library is very early in its development.

The API of this library IS LIKELY TO CHANGE in the near future!

Basic Functionality

Communication With a walytis_identities Identity

• A WaltyisFriends identity is served by a Walytis blockchain.
• The blockchain is used to publish DID-documents, which contain cryptographic public keys.
• Other parties can join a walytis_identities identity's blockchain, get the currently valid DID document, and use the cryptographic keys therein for authentication and encryption when communicating with that identity.

Security of DID-Document Publishing

• When creating a walytis_identities identity, a set of cryptographic keys called identity-control-keys are generated. These are used for authenticating the publication of DID-documents. These keys are distinct from the keys published in the DID-documents, instead they are published on the blockchain alongside DID-documents and used to sign the DID-documents. These keys are the ownership of the identity.
• These keys are automatically renewed, by publishing the new keys on the blockchain, signed by the latest currently valid key.
• The management of these keys, and their validity and renewal, is independent of the management, validity and renewal of DID-documents and the keys publishing therein.

Managing Multiple Devices (Identity Owners)

Device Management

• the list of devices that are members of an identity is published on the identity-control blockchain

Device Authentication

• each device has cryptographic keys which they use for authentication
• each device updates its keys using a dedicated device-keys blockchain

Inter-Device Communication

• data is only shared with devices that authenticate as one of the identity-member-devices listed on the identity-control-blockchain
• identity owners need to share the following keys whenever an owner renews any of the keys: - private keys for the public keys published in DID documents - private keys for the identity control keys

Key Renewal For Identity Control And Communication

• A device decides to renew the keys.
• It waits until a significant number of its other devices are online
• it shares the new private key with the others
• it publishes the public key on the blockchain

Services:

URI specs: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986

Related Projects

For more info, see:

• https://github.com/emendir/Endra
• https://github.com/emendir/BrenthyAndWalytis