Today we unveil something special - our very own Recognition Program! ✨

Web5 prescribes that users maintain control of their content by decoupling their identity and data from the applications that they use. I'm frequently asked why major companies, who have made billions of dollars off of our data, would buy into this model.

Hey there, fellow techies! 🍁 With October rolling in, we're greeted by the crisp orange leaves of fall, the comforting aroma of pumpkin spice, and of course, the much-anticipated Hacktoberfest. Whether you're a seasoned contributor or taking your first steps into the world of open-source, there's something for everyone. And guess what? We've got some exciting news!

In today’s age of social media dominance, our online identities have become integral to both our personal lives and professional endeavors. From connecting with friends and family to building brands and businesses, platforms like Twitter and Instagram have given us the power to create digital personas that resonate with others where your user handle serves as a unique identifier in the digital world.

I wanted to learn more about how Web5 (and SSI in general) works and the benefits it could offer. To do this I created a simple project to create and store DIDs, and use them to read and write to a DWN using a protocol.

With the emergence of Web5 comes the exciting possibilities for individuals seeking more control over their online identities, data and content. With Web5, traditional authentication methods are no longer the sole means of verifying identity and ownership. Instead, users can leverage Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) to establish their digital presence while retaining full control over their data. Let's explore how this revolutionizes authentication and content ownership as we know it.

Web5 introduces a paradigm shift in the way we build applications. App-centric logins and data storage are replaced with decentralized identity and personal data stores.

While Web5 abstracts away a lot of the complexity of building decentralized apps, it would be nice to have a helping hand to answer all of your Web5 questions.

That's why we've created a Web5 Assistant in the form of a ChatGPT plugin. The Web5 Assistant is built on GPT-4 and was trained on all of our available documentation.

did:hack Hackathon​

The Decentralized Identity Foundation organized did:hack, a decentralized identity hackathon designed for people to learn, collaborate, and think creatively about how decentralized identity technology can be leveraged to improve digital interactions in the future.

The 4-day virtual event included sessions from TBD, SpruceID, Dock.io, Aviary Tech, Trinsic, and Danube Tech - all providing educational sessions on ecosystem tools that enable decentralized identity and verifiable credentials.

Recently on the blog we talked about why decentralized identifiers (DIDs) are a practical solution to real problems. In that post we discussed some high-level concepts behind how and why DIDs could solve many of the identity and data problems we face today, but today let’s dive deep on a specific problem set DIDs could solve: parental controls and minors’ digital security.

It’s an inescapable reality for parents today that their kids will be online. There’s no avoiding the reality that minors are going to consume a diverse array of content and interact with others on the internet, but parents do want to have a say in what’s put in front of their children. Digital safety is already incorporated by some services - such as Netflix - and platforms - like iOS - but universal parental controls and safety monitoring don’t presently exist. That could change, however, via DIDs and a concept known as DID controllers.

In the realm of digital identity, Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) empowers individuals to control their personal data and online presence. SSI Console is a user-friendly SSI admin console that simplifies the management of SSI services.