Self-Sovereign Credentials for Decentralized Identity Verification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing identity management systems rely on centralized control, limiting user autonomy over their identity data and requiring intermediaries for authentication and verification.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of self-sovereign credentials, where identity providers provision and users control verifiable credentials on their mobile devices, enabling direct verification and authentication with relying parties.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If centralized identity management systems are used, then control and verification can be maintained by intermediaries, but user autonomy and control over personal identity data are limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontrol over identity dataVSAvoidsystem architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts control over identity data from centralized intermediaries and places it directly in users' mobile devices through self-sovereign credentials. Users provision and control their own verifiable credentials locally, eliminating the need for centralized identity management while maintaining reliability through cryptographic verification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Users independently provision, store, and manage their own identity credentials in their mobile devices without requiring centralized intermediaries. The system enables self-service identity management where users control their own data while relying parties can verify credentials through decentralized verification mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Ease of operation

If decentralized self-sovereign credentials are implemented, then user autonomy and security are enhanced, but intermediary control and centralized verification are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser control over identityVSAvoidverification trust

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces cryptographic protocols and verification mechanisms as trusted intermediaries that enable decentralized verification. Rather than centralized control, the system uses cryptographic signatures, public key infrastructure, and verifiable credential standards as mediators to establish trust between users and relying parties in a decentralized environment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces mechanical centralized control systems with cryptographic verification mechanisms. Trust is established through mathematical cryptography rather than organizational hierarchy, substituting cryptographic proof mechanisms for centralized administrative control while maintaining verification reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Reliability

If traditional centralized identity systems are used, then verification can be performed through intermediaries, but user privacy and data security are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveauthentication verificationVSAvoidprivacy exposure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts personal identity data from centralized databases and stores it locally in users' mobile devices. This extraction eliminates the need to transmit sensitive PII to intermediaries or relying parties, verifying identity through cryptographic proofs rather than exposing underlying personal data, thus protecting privacy while maintaining verification reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements local storage and processing of identity credentials in users' mobile devices rather than centralized storage. Each user's identity data resides locally with appropriate security controls, allowing verification to occur without exposing underlying personal information to external systems, thereby protecting privacy while enabling authentication.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS20250181687A1Systems and methods for use in implementing self-sovereign credentials

Publication Date: 2025.06.05 MASTERCARD INT INC

AI summary

Systems and methods are provided for providing verifiable credentials to relying parties. One example computer-implemented method includes submitting, by a relying party computing device of a relying party, to a mobile device of a user, a request for a verifiable credential of the user, the request including identifier data for the relying party and, in response, receiving, from the mobile device, the verifiable credential. The method also includes the relying party computing device verifying the verifiable credential with an identity provider (IDP) computing device, retrieving a public key specific to the issuer of the verifiable credential, verifying the verifiable credential based on the retrieved public key, and notifying that the verifiable credential is verified, whereby the mobile device and the relying party computing device proceed in communicating based on the verifiable credential being verified.