To put people in control of their data, we can't just start building. We must align on the root cause so every builder, partner, and advocate is focused on the same problem.
Read the Declaration below, then sign to get involved. (Select your role in the next step).
We, the people and organizations of the digital age, declare that our digital and physical worlds have merged.
Yet, the foundation of this new world is broken. Our identities—our data, our communications, our very sense of self—are held captive by countless disconnected services and platforms.
We are in a state of Identity Chaos.
This is more than an inconvenience; it is the systemic fragmentation of control.
Fragmentation of Identity: Our identifiers are scattered and disconnected (photo IDs, passwords, credit cards, birth certificates).
Fragmentation of Data: Data linked to our identity is trapped in databases we do not own (emails, digital currency, medical records, property deeds).
Fragmentation of Process: We are forced to navigate arbitrary rules set by others that change at any time (how we log in, pay for groceries, check in to a hotel, prove our age).
Fragmentation of Trust: The mechanisms of trust are disjointed, incompatible, and non-transferable (credit scores for finance, verified checkmarks for social media, star ratings for marketplaces, government IDs for physical access).
Identity Chaos is the single most critical problem of the modern world.
It is the root cause enabling the threats that plague society today.
It fuels a $10.5 trillion annual cybercrime industry
It powers a $489 billion data-brokering market
It wastes billions of hours of human productivity
It threatens democracies with misinformation and censorship
Most urgently, it empowers AI systems to seize control through our fragmented data, posing an irreversible threat to human autonomy.
A problem this fundamental requires a foundational solution.
Fragmented solutions have failed us. Single Sign-On lacks universal adoption. Cryptocurrency remains impractical. Privacy policies are hollow promises. We are shifting internet complexity, not solving it.
To end Identity Chaos, we must reorganize the internet around the identity owner to ensure they have centralized control of their entire digital life.
We, the undersigned, declare our support for the resolution of Identity Chaos.
We support the development of open-source, decentralized, and user-centric technologies that allow individuals and organizations to consolidate their data and gain sovereign control of their digital selves.
Solving this problem will require a coordinated global effort and a significant investment of capital and talent. We commit to raising awareness of Identity Chaos and supporting efforts that build trust on the Internet and protect our digital rights without sacrificing convenience.
The time to end Identity Chaos is now.
Click to Sign As:
Signers: