matrix-org / matrix-org/matrix-spec
Decentralised identity (SPEC-458)
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- HTML
- Stars
- 330
- Forks
- 150
- Avg merge
- 2h 21m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 3
Description
Submitted by @matthew:matrix.org
Somehow we've got this far without a bug tracking replacing sydent and the Identity Service with a decentralised equivalent. There's been lots of discussion about this, talking about using existing decentralised identity systems or ledgers ranging from keybase, blockstack (onename), webfist, stellar.org, evernym, uport.me, namecoin, WebAuthn, WebID, Alpenhorn's anytrust model, etc. We haven't yet found a good solution for simply replacing the email->mxid mapping system of the current ISes with a decentralised one, given the problem of validating an email address in a decentralised manner, when emails themselves are inherently centralised to the SMTP servers responsible for that domain, and existing SMTP have very limited hooks for validating the identity of its users.
(Imported from https://matrix.org/jira/browse/SPEC-458)
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing how the current Identity Services and sydent provide the email–MXID mapping described in the issue. Compare the listed decentralised identity systems and the email-validation constraint, then identify a concrete approach and scope. The issue does not define a chosen technology or a clear completion criterion.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- blockchain
- Domain
- authentication, security
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100