Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently released a proposal for a new digital identity system—which he’s dubbed “pluralistic identity.” Buterin contends that this system is the key to protecting individual privacy, while allowing anyone to participate in an equitable way in the digital economy. He warns that even privacy-preserving systems are dangerous if they enforce a hard_id one identity per individual.
Buterin argues that pluralistic identity offers the only way forward between privacy, inclusivity and security in the digital age. He argues we need to merge one-per-person identity schemes with these social-graph systems to create rich, global identity networks.
The Need for Pluralistic Identity
He compares this with environments where everything you do is linked to one public persona.
"In the real world, pseudonymity generally requires having multiple accounts" - Vitalik Buterin
This idea proposes an identity mechanism, where the cost of obtaining each new identity grows exponentially, preventing bad actors from accumulating identities but still permitting pseudonymous behavior. This balance becomes increasingly important when considering the tension between privacy and security.
"all of your activity must de-facto be under a single public identity" - Vitalik Buterin
Buterin then goes on to cite a number of existing pluralistic identity systems as examples. These are projects such as World ID, Taiwan’s digital ID project, and the European Union’s multiple ID initiatives.
Balancing Privacy and Cost
These systems can be quite explicit as Circles, the social-graph-based verification system mentioned above. They can be indirect, through a reliance on several ID providers like government issued documents and social media. But Buterin insists that this market-based approach stops any single ID from cornering the market.
"The theoretical ideal is something in the middle, where you can get N identities at a cost of N²" - Vitalik Buterin
This concept suggests a system where obtaining multiple identities becomes increasingly expensive, deterring abuse while still allowing for pseudonymity. This balance is crucial for maintaining both privacy and security.
Examples of Pluralistic Identity in Practice
Buterin cites several examples of pluralistic identity systems. These include World ID, Taiwan’s digital ID project, and various European Union initiatives.
These systems can be explicit, like Circles, which uses social-graph-based verification. They can also be implicit, relying on multiple ID providers such as government documents and social platforms. Buterin believes this approach prevents any single ID from dominating the market.
"If their market share gets too close to 100%, they shift the world… to a one-per-person model, which has worse properties" - Vitalik Buterin
