#42 - AnonCreds: Anonymous Credentials (with Stephen Curran)

Stephen Curran of Cloud Compass Computing, Inc. is a Software Development and DevOps veteran who dove full on into the identity on blockchain world in 2017. Working with the British Columbia Government, Stephen has helped define, build and launch the Verifiable Organizations Network (VON)—a production instance of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Indy, Aries and Ursa projects that makes public information about organizations (incorporations/legal entities) in BC available in the form of verifiable credentials. Stephen is a regular contributor in the Hyperledger Indy and Aries community, facilitating discussions and driving interoperability. Stephen has presented on Blockchain and the Hyperledger Indy and Aries projects many times and is a member of the Sovrin Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Technical Governance Board.

About Podcast Episode

Some of the key topics covered during this episode with Stephen are:

• Introduction to Various Credential Types - AnonCreds and different types of W3C credentials
• Converting AnonCreds VC to W3C VC Standard format and adding other signature types (e.g. LD-Signature/NIST/ed25519/BBS+)
• History of AnonCreds - blinding signature work in the 1970s, advancements and track record since then
• Why are AnonCreds suited for Government Digital ID use cases?
• Capabilities provided by AnonCreds - non-correlability, minimizing data shared, zero knowledge proofs (ZKPs), etc.
• Comparing transferable vs non-transferrable credentials
• Can the way that W3C credentials are formatted get in the way of interoperability in the future?
• Are there use cases where AnonCreds aren’t the right implementation?
• Are AnonCreds more computing intensive than W3C credentials?
• Future for AnonCreds and for Hyperledger Indy
• Why Revocation remains the weak point of AnonCreds and Indy
• Is mDL better suited than AnonCreds for Driver's Licence use cases?

Where to find Stephen?

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-w-curran/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/scurranC3I

Follow Mathieu Glaude

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mathieu_glaude  
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathieuglaude/
• Website: https://northernblock.io/