Self-Sovereign Identity and Guardianship in Practice

With Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) technologies, individuals use electronic ‘wallets’ to collect information (‘credentials’) from various parties about themselves and present this information to (possibly other) parties. The context in which the information is presented, or used, is often different from the context in which a credential with this information is created and issued. In this paper, we illustrate this with financial guardianship, which is created by a judge in an official court procedure and which gives the guardian rights and duties that can or need to be invoked vis-a-vis a party not being the court. In this illustration, we explore (i) the application of SSI in the context of financial guardianship, (ii) what is characteristic about the gap between the practical (legal) and technical perspective, and (iii) what needs to be done to overcome the challenges. We observe gaps between the legal and technical reality. We offer insights into how to advance the application of SSI in the context of financial guardianship, and possibly beyond, which may be taken up in future research.