Patent Publication Number: US-11394713-B2

Title: Did delegation/revocation to another DID

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Most currently used documents or records that prove identity are issued by centralized organizations, such as governments, schools, employers, or other service centers or regulatory organizations. These organizations often maintain every member&#39;s identity in a centralized identity management system. A centralized identity management system is a centralized information system used for organizations to manage the issued identities, their authentication, authorization, roles and privileges. Centralized identity management systems have been deemed as secure since they often use professionally maintained hardware and software. Typically, the identity issuing organization sets the terms and requirements for registering people with the organization. When a party needs to verify another party&#39;s identity, the verifying party often needs to go through the centralized identity management system to obtain information verifying and/or authenticating the other party&#39;s identity. 
     Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) are a new type of identifier, which are independent from any centralized registry, identity provider, or certificate authority. Distributed ledger technology (such as blockchain) provides the opportunity for using fully decentralized identifiers. Distributed ledger technology uses globally distributed ledgers to record transactions between two or more parties in a verifiable way. Once a transaction is recorded, the data in the section of ledger cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent sections of ledger, which provides a fairly secure platform. Since a DID is generally not controlled by a centralized management system but rather is owned by an owner of the DID, DIDs are sometimes referred to as identities without authority. 
     The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments describe herein may be practiced. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Embodiments disclosed herein are related to computing systems and methods for delegating use of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner. An indication is received that a first DID owner desires to delegate use of a DID owned by the first DID owner to a second DID owner. This may allow the second DID owner to act on behalf of the first DID owner in interactions with third-party entities. A signed claim is generated that specifies that the first DID owner has delegated use of the DID to the second DID owner. The signed claim identifies the DID owned by the first DID owner and defines a scope of permission for the second DID owner when the second DID owner uses the delegated DID on behalf of the first DID owner. The signed claim may then be provided to the second DID owner. 
     Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the teachings herein. Features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features can be obtained, a more particular description of the subject matter briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments and are not therefore to be considered limiting in scope. Embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and details through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example computing system in which the principles described herein may be employed; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an example environment for creating a decentralized identification (DID); 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example environment for various DID management operations and services; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example decentralized storage device or identity hubs; 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate an example embodiment of a computing system environment for delegating use of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a flow chart of an example method for delegating use of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments disclosed herein are related to computing systems and methods for delegating use of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner. An indication is received that a first DID owner desires to delegate use of a DID owned by the first DID owner to a second DID owner. This may allow the second DID owner to act on behalf of the first DID owner in interactions with third-party entities. A signed claim is generated that specifies that the first DID owner has delegated use of the DID to the second DID owner. The signed claim identifies the DID owned by the first DID owner and defines a scope of permission for the second DID owner when the second DID owner uses the delegated DID on behalf of the first DID owner. The signed claim may then be provided to the second DID owner. 
     The embodiments disclosed herein represent a technical advance over existing systems. For example, a first DID owner may desire to delegate use of his or her DID to a second DID owner so that the second DID owner can act on behalf of the first DID owner. Being able to delegate his or her DID may allow the first DID owner flexibility as the second DID owner may be better situated to act on behalf of the first DID owner than the first DID owner would be to act for his or herself. This reduces the amount of interaction between the parties, which results in reduced processing use and time. In addition, user convenience and productivity are increased. 
     Because the principles described herein may be performed in the context of a computing system, some introductory discussion of a computing system will be described with respect to  FIG. 1 . Then, this description will return to the principles of a decentralized identifier (DID) platform with respect to the remaining figures. 
     Computing systems are now increasingly taking a wide variety of forms. Computing systems may, for example, be handheld devices, appliances, laptop computers, desktop computers, mainframes, distributed computing systems, data centers, or even devices that have not conventionally been considered a computing system, such as wearables (e.g., glasses). In this description and in the claims, the term “computing system” is defined broadly as including any device or system (or a combination thereof) that includes at least one physical and tangible processor, and a physical and tangible memory capable of having thereon computer-executable instructions that may be executed by a processor. The memory may take any form and may depend on the nature and form of the computing system. A computing system may be distributed over a network environment and may include multiple constituent computing systems. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , in its most basic configuration, a computing system  100  typically includes at least one hardware processing unit  102  and memory  104 . The processing unit  102  may include a general-purpose processor and may also include a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other specialized circuit. The memory  104  may be physical system memory, which may be volatile, non-volatile, or some combination of the two. The term “memory” may also be used herein to refer to non-volatile mass storage such as physical storage media. If the computing system is distributed, the processing, memory and/or storage capability may be distributed as well. 
     The computing system  100  also has thereon multiple structures often referred to as an “executable component”. For instance, the memory  104  of the computing system  100  is illustrated as including executable component  106 . The term “executable component” is the name for a structure that is well understood to one of ordinary skill in the art in the field of computing as being a structure that can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For instance, when implemented in software, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the structure of an executable component may include software objects, routines, methods, and so forth, that may be executed on the computing system, whether such an executable component exists in the heap of a computing system, or whether the executable component exists on computer-readable storage media. 
     In such a case, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the structure of the executable component exists on a computer-readable medium such that, when interpreted by one or more processors of a computing system (e.g., by a processor thread), the computing system is caused to perform a function. Such structure may be computer readable directly by the processors (as is the case if the executable component were binary). Alternatively, the structure may be structured to be interpretable and/or compiled (whether in a single stage or in multiple stages) so as to generate such binary that is directly interpretable by the processors. Such an understanding of example structures of an executable component is well within the understanding of one of ordinary skill in the art of computing when using the term “executable component”. 
     The term “executable component” is also well understood by one of ordinary skill as including structures, such as hard coded or hard wired logic gates, that are implemented exclusively or near-exclusively in hardware, such as within a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other specialized circuit. Accordingly, the term “executable component” is a term for a structure that is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of computing, whether implemented in software, hardware, or a combination. In this description, the terms “component”, “agent”, “manager”, “service”, “engine”, “module”, “virtual machine” or the like may also be used. As used in this description and in the case, these terms (whether expressed with or without a modifying clause) are also intended to be synonymous with the term “executable component”, and thus also have a structure that is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of computing. 
     In the description that follows, embodiments are described with reference to acts that are performed by one or more computing systems. If such acts are implemented in software, one or more processors (of the associated computing system that performs the act) direct the operation of the computing system in response to having executed computer-executable instructions that constitute an executable component. For example, such computer-executable instructions may be embodied on one or more computer-readable media that form a computer program product. An example of such an operation involves the manipulation of data. If such acts are implemented exclusively or near-exclusively in hardware, such as within a FPGA or an ASIC, the computer-executable instructions may be hard-coded or hard-wired logic gates. The computer-executable instructions (and the manipulated data) may be stored in the memory  104  of the computing system  100 . Computing system  100  may also contain communication channels  108  that allow the computing system  100  to communicate with other computing systems over, for example, network  110 . 
     While not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments, the computing system  100  includes a user interface system  112  for use in interfacing with a user. The user interface system  112  may include output mechanisms  112 A as well as input mechanisms  112 B. The principles described herein are not limited to the precise output mechanisms  112 A or input mechanisms  112 B as such will depend on the nature of the device. However, output mechanisms  112 A might include, for instance, speakers, displays, tactile output, virtual or augmented reality, holograms and so forth. Examples of input mechanisms  112 B might include, for instance, microphones, touchscreens, virtual or augmented reality, holograms, cameras, keyboards, mouse or other pointer input, sensors of any type, and so forth. 
     Embodiments described herein may comprise or utilize a special-purpose or general-purpose computing system including computer hardware, such as, for example, one or more processors and system memory, as discussed in greater detail below. Embodiments described herein also include physical and other computer-readable media for carrying or storing computer-executable instructions and/or data structures. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computing system. Computer-readable media that store computer-executable instructions are physical storage media. Computer-readable media that carry computer-executable instructions are transmission media. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, embodiments of the invention can comprise at least two distinctly different kinds of computer-readable media: storage media and transmission media. 
     Computer-readable storage media includes RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical and tangible storage medium which can be used to store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computing system. 
     A “network” is defined as one or more data links that enable the transport of electronic data between computing systems and/or modules and/or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computing system, the computing system properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media can include a network and/or data links which can be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computing system. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. 
     Further, upon reaching various computing system components, program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures can be transferred automatically from transmission media to storage media (or vice versa). For example, computer-executable instructions or data structures received over a network or data link can be buffered in RAM within a network interface module (e.g., a “NIC”), and then be eventually transferred to computing system RAM and/or to less volatile storage media at a computing system. Thus, it should be understood that storage media can be included in computing system components that also (or even primarily) utilize transmission media. 
     Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which, when executed at a processor, cause a general-purpose computing system, special-purpose computing system, or special-purpose processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Alternatively, or in addition, the computer-executable instructions may configure the computing system to perform a certain function or group of functions. The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries or even instructions that undergo some translation (such as compilation) before direct execution by the processors, such as intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, or even source code. 
     Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the described features or acts described above. Rather, the described features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computing system configurations, including, personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, pagers, routers, switches, datacenters, wearables (such as glasses) and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed system environments where local and remote computing system, which are linked (either by hardwired data links, wireless data links, or by a combination of hardwired and wireless data links) through a network, both perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the invention may be practiced in a cloud computing environment. Cloud computing environments may be distributed, although this is not required. When distributed, cloud computing environments may be distributed internationally within an organization and/or have components possessed across multiple organizations. In this description and the following claims, “cloud computing” is defined as a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services). The definition of “cloud computing” is not limited to any of the other numerous advantages that can be obtained from such a model when properly deployed. 
     The remaining figures may discuss various computing system which may correspond to the computing system  100  previously described. The computing systems of the remaining figures include various components or functional blocks that may implement the various embodiments disclosed herein as will be explained. The various components or functional blocks may be implemented on a local computing system or may be implemented on a distributed computing system that includes elements resident in the cloud or that implement aspects of cloud computing. The various components or functional blocks may be implemented as software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The computing systems of the remaining figures may include more or less than the components illustrated in the figures and some of the components may be combined as circumstances warrant. 
     Some introductory discussion of a decentralized identifier (DID) and the environment in which they are created and reside will now be given with respect to  FIG. 2 , which illustrates portions of a decentralized network  200 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a DID owner  201  may own or control a DID  205  that represents an identity of the DID owner  201 . The DID owner  201  may register a DID using a creation and registration service, which will be explained in more detail below. 
     The DID owner  201  may be any entity that could benefit from a DID. For example, the DID owner  201  may be a human being or an organization of human beings. Such organizations might include a company, department, government, agency, or any other organization or group of organizations. Each individual human being might have a DID while the organization(s) to which each belongs might likewise have a DID. 
     The DID owner  201  may alternatively be a machine, system, or device, or a collection of machines, devices and/or systems. In still other embodiments, the DID owner  201  may be a subpart of a machine, system or device. For instance, a device could be a printed circuit board, where the subparts of that circuit board are individual components of the circuit board. In such embodiments, the machine or device may have a DID and each subpart may also have a DID. A DID owner might also be a software component such as the executable component  106  described above with respect to  FIG. 1 . An example of a complex executable component  106  might be an artificial intelligence. Accordingly, an artificial intelligence may also own a DID. 
     Thus, the DID owner  201  may be any entity, human or non-human, that is capable of creating the DID  205  or at least having the DID  205  created for and/or associated with them. Although the DID owner  201  is shown as having a single DID  205 , this need not be the case as there may be any number of DIDs associated with the DID owner  201  as circumstances warrant. 
     As mentioned, the DID owner  201  may create and register the DID  205 . The DID  205  may be any identifier that may be associated with the DID owner  201 . Preferably, that identifier is unique to that DID owner  201 , at least within a scope in which the DID is anticipated to be in use. As an example, the identifier may be a locally unique identifier, and perhaps more desirably a globally unique identifier for identity systems anticipated to operate globally. In some embodiments, the DID  205  may be a Uniform Resource identifier (URI) (such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) or other pointer that relates the DID owner  201  to mechanisms to engage in trustable interactions with the DID owner  201 . 
     The DID  205  is “decentralized” because it does not require a centralized, third-party management system for generation, management, or use. Accordingly, the DID  205  remains under the control of the DID owner  201 . This is different from conventional centralized IDs which base trust on centralized authorities and that remain under control of corporate directory services, certificate authorities, domain name registries, or other centralized authority (referred to collectively as “centralized authorities” herein). Accordingly, the DID  205  may be any identifier that is under the control of the DID owner  201  and that is independent of any centralized authority. 
     In some embodiments, the structure of the DID  205  may be as simple as a username or some other human-understandable term. However, in other embodiments, for increased security, the DID  205  may preferably be a random string of numbers and letters. In one embodiment, the DID  205  may be a string of 128 numbers and letters. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed herein are not dependent on any specific implementation of the DID  205 . In a very simple example, the DID  205  is shown within the figures as “123ABC”. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 2 , the DID owner  201  has control of a private key  206  and public key  207  pair that is associated with the DID  205 . Because the DID  205  is independent of any centralized authority, the private key  206  should at all times be fully in control of the DID owner  201 . That is, the private and public keys should be generated in a decentralized manner that ensures that they remain under the control of the DID owner  201 . 
     As will be described in more detail to follow, the private key  206  and public key  207  pair may be generated on a device controlled by the DID owner  201 . The private key  206  and public key  207  pair should not be generated on a server controlled by any centralized authority as this may cause the private key  206  and public key  207  pair to not be fully under the control of the DID owner  201  at all times. Although  FIG. 2  and this description have described a private and public key pair, it will also be noted that other types of reasonable cryptographic information and/or mechanisms may also be used as circumstances warrant. 
       FIG. 2  also illustrates a DID document  210  that is associated with the DID  205 . As will be explained in more detail to follow, the DID document  210  may be generated at the time that the DID  205  is created. In its simplest form, the DID document  210  describes how to use the DID  205 . Accordingly, the DID document  210  includes a reference to the DID  205 , which is the DID that is described by the DID document  210 . In some embodiments, the DID document  210  may be implemented according to methods specified by a distributed ledger  220  (such as blockchain) that will be used to store a representation of the DID  205  as will be explained in more detail to follow. Thus, the DID document  210  may have different methods depending on the specific distributed ledger. 
     The DID document  210  also includes the public key  207  created by the DID owner  201  or some other equivalent cryptographic information. The public key  207  may be used by third-party entities that are given permission by the DID owner  201  to access information and data owned by the DID owner  201 . The public key  207  may also be used to verify that the DID owner  201  in fact owns or controls the DID  205 . 
     The DID document  210  may also include authentication information  211 . The authentication information  211  may specify one or more mechanisms by which the DID owner  201  is able to prove that the DID owner  201  owns the DID  205 . In other words, the mechanisms of the authentication information  211  may show proof of a binding between the DID  205  (and thus its DID owner  201 ) and the DID document  210 . In one embodiment, the authentication information  211  may specify that the public key  207  be used in a signature operation to prove the ownership of the DID  205 . Alternatively, or in addition, the authentication information  211  may specify that the public key  207  be used in a biometric operation to prove ownership of the DID  205 . Accordingly, the authentication information  211  may include any number of mechanisms by which the DID owner  201  is able to prove that the DID owner  201  owns the DID  205 . 
     The DID document  210  may also include authorization information  212 . The authorization information  212  may allow the DID owner  201  to authorize third-party entities the rights to modify the DID document  210  or some part of the document without giving the third-party the right to prove ownership of the DID  205 . For example, the authorization information  212  may allow the third-party to update any designated set of one or more fields in the DID document  210  using any designated update mechanism. Alternatively, the authorization information may allow the third-party to limit the usages of DID  205  by the DID owner  201  for a specified time period. This may be useful when the DID owner  201  is a minor child and the third-party is a parent or guardian of the child. The authorization information  212  may allow the parent or guardian to limit use of the DID owner  201  until such time as the child is no longer a minor. 
     The authorization information  212  may also specify one or more mechanisms that the third-party will need to follow to prove they are authorized to modify the DID document  210 . In some embodiments, these mechanisms may be similar to those discussed previously with respect to the authentication information  211 . 
     The DID document  210  may also include one or more service endpoints  213 . A service endpoint may include a network address at which a service operates on behalf of the DID owner  201 . Examples of specific services include discovery services, social networks, file storage services such as identity servers or hubs, and verifiable claim repository services. Accordingly, the service endpoints  213  operate as pointers for the services that operate on behalf of the DID owner  201 . These pointers may be used by the DID owner  201  or by third-party entities to access the services that operate on behalf of the DID owner  201 . Specific examples of service endpoints  213  will be explained in more detail to follow. 
     The DID document  210  may further include identification information  214 . The identification information  214  may include personally identifiable information such as the name, address, occupation, family members, age, hobbies, interests, or the like of DID owner  201 . Accordingly, the identification information  214  listed in the DID document  210  may represent a different persona of the DID owner  201  for different purposes. 
     A persona may be pseudo anonymous. As an example, the DID owner  201  may include a pen name in the DID document when identifying him or her as a writer posting articles on a blog. A persona may be fully anonymous. As an example, the DID owner  201  may only want to disclose his or her job title or other background data (e.g., a schoolteacher, an FBI agent, an adult older than 21 years old, etc.) but not his or her name in the DID document. As yet another example, a persona may be specific to who the DID owner  201  is as an individual. As an example, the DID owner  201  may include information identifying him or her as a volunteer for a particular charity organization, an employee of a particular corporation, an award winner of a particular award, and so forth. 
     The DID document  210  may also include attestation information  215 . The attestation information  215  may be any information that is associated with the DID owner  201 &#39;s background. For instance, the attestation information  215  may be (but not limited to) a qualification, an achievement, a government ID, a government right such as a passport or a driver&#39;s license, a payment provider or bank account, a university degree or other educational history, employment status and history, or any other information about the DID owner  201 &#39;s background. In some embodiments, the DID owner  201  collects various signed attestations that are included in the attestation information from different third-party entities. 
     The DID document  210  may also include various other information  216 . In some embodiments, the other information  216  may include metadata specifying when the DID document  210  was created and/or when it was last modified. In other embodiments, the other information  216  may include cryptographic proofs of the integrity of the DID document  210 . In still further embodiments, the other information  216  may include additional information that is either specified by the specific method implementing the DID document or desired by the DID owner  201 . 
       FIG. 2  also illustrates a distributed ledger  220 . The distributed ledger  220  may be any decentralized, distributed network that includes various computing systems that are in communication with each other. For example, the distributed ledger  220  may include a first distributed computing system  230 , a second distributed computing system  240 , a third distributed computing system  250 , and any number of additional distributed computing systems as illustrated by the ellipses  260 . The distributed ledger  220  may operate according to any known standards or methods for distributed ledgers. Examples of conventional distributed ledgers that may correspond to the distributed ledger  220  include, but are not limited to, Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum, and Litecoin. 
     In the context of DID  205 , the distributed ledger or blockchain  220  is used to store a representation of the DID  205  that points to the DID document  210 . In some embodiments, the DID document  210  may be stored on the actual distributed ledger. Alternatively, in other embodiments the DID document  210  may be stored in a data storage (not illustrated) that is associated with the distributed ledger  220 . 
     As mentioned, a representation of the DID  205  is stored on each distributed computing system of the distributed ledger  220 . For example, in  FIG. 2  this is shown as DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251 , which are ideally identical hashed copies of the same DID. The DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251  may then point to the location of the DID document  210 . The distributed ledger or blockchain  220  may also store numerous other representations of other DIDs as illustrated by references  232 ,  233 ,  234 ,  242 ,  243 ,  244 ,  252 ,  253 , and  254 . 
     In one embodiment, when the DID owner  201  creates the DID  205  and the associated DID document  210 , the DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251  are written to the distributed ledger  220 . The distributed ledger  220  thus records that the DID  205  now exists. Since the distributed ledger  220  is decentralized, the DID  205  is not under the control of any entity outside of the DID owner  201 . DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251  may each include, in addition to the pointer to the DID document  210 , a record or time stamp that specifies when the DID  205  was created. At a later date, when modifications are made to the DID document  210 , each modification (and potentially also a timestamp of the modification) may also be recorded in DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251 . DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251  may further include a copy of the public key  207  so that the DID  205  is cryptographically bound to the DID document  210 . 
     Having described DIDs and how they operate generally with reference to  FIG. 2 , specific embodiments of DID environments will now be explained. Turning to  FIG. 3 , a computing system environment  300  that may be used to perform various DID management operations and services will now be explained. It will be appreciated that the environment of  FIG. 3  may reference elements from  FIG. 2  as needed for ease of explanation. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the environment  300  may include various devices and computing systems that may be owned or otherwise under the control of the DID owner  201 . These may include a user device  301 . The user device  301  may be, but is not limited to, a mobile device such as a smart phone, a computing device such as a laptop computer, or any device such as a car or an appliance that includes computing abilities. The device  301  may include a web browser  302  operating on the device and an operating system  303  operating the device. More broadly speaking, the dashed line  304  represents that all of these devices may be owned or otherwise under the control of the DID owner  201 . 
     The environment  300  also includes a DID management module  320 . It will be noted that in operation, the DID management module  320  may reside on and be executed by one or more of user device  301 , web browser  302 , and the operating system  303  as illustrated by respective lines  301   a ,  302   a , and  303   a . Accordingly, the DID management module  320  is shown as being separate for ease of explanation. In some embodiments, the management module  320  may be referred to as a “digital wallet” or a “user agent”. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the DID management module  320  includes a DID creation module  330 . The DID creation module  330  may be used by the DID owner  201  to create the DID  205  or any number of additional DIDs, such as DID  331 . In one embodiment, the DID creation module may include or otherwise have access to a User Interface (UI) element  335  that may guide the DID owner  201  in creating the DID  205 . The DID creation module  330  may have one or more drivers that are configured to work with specific distributed ledgers such as distributed ledger  220  so that the DID  205  complies with the underlying methods of that distributed ledger. 
     A specific embodiment will now be described. For example, the UI  335  may provide a prompt for the user to enter a username or some other human recognizable name. This name may be used as a display name for the DID  205  that will be generated. As previously described, the DID  205  may be a long string of random numbers and letters and so having a human-recognizable name for a display name may be advantageous. The DID creation module  330  may then generate the DID  205 . In the embodiments having the UI  335 , the DID  205  may be shown in a listing of identities and may be associated with the human-recognizable name. 
     The DID creation module  330  may also include a key generation module  350 . The key generation module may generate the private key  206  and public key  207  pair previously described. The DID creation module  330  may then use the DID  205  and the private and public key pair to generate the DID document  210 . 
     In operation, the DID creation module  330  accesses a registrar  310  that is configured to the specific distributed ledger that will be recording the transactions related to the DID  205 . The DID creation module  330  uses the registrar  310  to record DID hash  231 , DID hash  241 , and DID hash  251  in the distributed ledger in the manner previously described, and to store the DID document  210  in the manner previously described. This process may use the public key  207  in the hash generation. 
     In some embodiments, the DID management module  320  may include an ownership module  340 . The ownership module  340  may provide mechanisms that ensure that the DID owner  201  is in sole control of the DID  205 . In this way, the provider of the DID management module  320  is able to ensure that the provider does not control the DID  205  but is only providing the management services. 
     As previously discussed, the key generation module  350  generates the private key  206  and public key  207  pair and the public key  207  is then recorded in the DID document  210 . Accordingly, the public key  207  may be used by all devices associated with the DID owner  201  and all third parties that desire to provide services to the DID owner  201 . Accordingly, when the DID owner  201  desires to associate a new device with the DID  205 , the DID owner  201  may execute the DID creation module  330  on the new device. The DID creation module  330  may then use the registrar  310  to update the DID document  210  to reflect that the new device is now associated with the DID  205 , which update would be reflected in a transaction on the distributed ledger  220 , as previously described. 
     In some embodiments, however, it may be advantageous to have a public key per device  301  owned by the DID owner  201  as this may allow the DID owner  201  to sign with the device-specific public key without having to access a general public key. In other words, since the DID owner  201  will use different devices at different times (for example using a mobile phone in one instance and then using a laptop computer in another instance), it is advantageous to have a key associated with each device to provide efficiencies in signing using the keys. Accordingly, in such embodiments the key generation module  350  may generate additional public keys  208  and  209  when the additional devices execute the DID creation module  330 . These additional public keys may be associated with the private key  206  or in some instances may be paired with a new private key. 
     In those embodiments where the additional public keys  208  and  209  are associated with different devices, the additional public keys  208  and  209  may be recorded in the DID document  210  as being associated with those devices. This is shown in  FIG. 3 . It will be appreciated that the DID document  210  may include the information (information  205 ,  207  and  211  through  216 ) previously described in relation to  FIG. 2  in addition to the information (information  208 ,  209  and  365 ) shown in  FIG. 3 . If the DID document  210  existed prior to the device-specific public keys being generated, then the DID document  210  would be updated by the creation module  330  via the registrar  310  and this would be reflected in an updated transaction on the distributed ledger  220 . 
     In some embodiments, the DID owner  201  may desire to keep secret the association of a device with a public key or the association of a device with the DID  205 . Accordingly, the DID creation module  330  may cause that such data be secretly shown in the DID document  210 . 
     As described thus far, the DID  205  has been associated with all the devices under the control of the DID owner  201 , even when the devices have their own public keys. However, in some embodiments it may be useful for each device or some subset of devices under the control of the DID owner  201  to each have their own DID. Thus, in some embodiments the DID creation module  330  may generate an additional DID, for example DID  331 , for each device. The DID creation module  330  would then generate private and public key pairs and DID documents for each of the devices and have them recorded on the distributed ledger  220  in the manner previously described. Such embodiments may be advantageous for devices that may change ownership as it may be possible to associate the device-specific DID to the new owner of the device by granting the new owner authorization rights in the DID document and revoking such rights from the old owner. 
     As mentioned, to ensure that the private key  206  is totally in the control of the DID owner  201 , the private key  206  is created on the user device  301 , browser  302 , or operating system  303  that is owned or controlled by the DID owner  201  that executed the DID management module  320 . In this way, there is little chance that a third-party (and most consequentially, the provider of the DID management module  320 ) may gain control of the private key  206 . 
     However, there is a chance that the device storing the private key  206  may be lost by the DID owner  201 , which may cause the DID owner  201  to lose access to the DID  205 . Accordingly, in some embodiments, the UI  335  may include the option to allow the DID owner  201  to export the private key  206  to an off device secured database  305  that is under the control of the DID owner  201 . As an example, the database  305  may be one of the identity hubs  410  described below with respect to  FIG. 4 . A storage module  380  is configured to store data (such as the private key  206  or the attestation information  215  made by or about the DID owner  201 ) off device in the database  305  or in identity hubs  410  that will be described in more detail to follow. Of course, in some embodiments the storage module  380  may store at least some data on the device if the device has sufficient storage resources. In some embodiments, the private key  206  may be stored as a QR code that may be scanned by the DID owner  201 . 
     In other embodiments, the DID management module  320  may include a recovery module  360  that may be used to recover a lost private key  206 . In operation, the recovery module  360  allows the DID owner  201  to select one or more recovery mechanisms  365  at the time the DID  205  is created that may later be used to recover the lost private key. In those embodiments having the UI  335 , the UI  335  may allow the DID owner  201  to provide information that will be used by the one or more recovery mechanisms  365  during recovery. The recovery module  360  may then be run on any device associated with the DID  205 . 
     The DID management module  320  may also include a revocation module  370  that is used to revoke or sever a device from the DID  205 . In operation, the revocation module may use the UI element  335 , which may allow the DID owner  201  to indicate a desire to remove a device from being associated with the DID  205 . In one embodiment, the revocation module  370  may access the DID document  210  and may cause that all references to the device be removed from the DID document  210 . Alternatively, the public key for the device may be removed. This change in the DID document  210  may then be reflected as an updated transaction on the distributed ledger  220  as previously described. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an embodiment of a computing system environment  400  in which a DID such as DID  205  may be utilized. Specifically, the environment  400  will be used to describe the use of the DID  205  in relation to one or more decentralized stores or identity hubs  410  that are each under the control of the DID owner  201  to store data belonging to or regarding the DID owner  201 . For instance, data may be stored within the identity hubs using the storage module  380  of  FIG. 3 . It will be noted that  FIG. 4  may include references to elements first discussed in relation to  FIG. 2 or 3  and thus use the same reference numeral for ease of explanation. 
     In one embodiment, the identity hubs  410  may be multiple instances of the same identity hub. This is represented by the line  410 A. Thus, the various identity hubs  410  may include at least some of the same data and services. Accordingly, if a change is made to part of at least some of the data (and potentially any part of any of the data) in one of the identity hubs  410 , the change may be reflected in one or more of (and perhaps all of) the remaining identity hubs. 
     The identity hubs  410  may be any data store that may be in the exclusive control of the DID owner  201 . As an example only, the first identity hub  411  and second identity hub  412  are implemented in cloud storage (perhaps within the same cloud, or even on different clouds managed by different cloud providers) and thus may be able to hold a large amount of data. Accordingly, a full set of the data may be stored in these identity hubs. 
     However, the identity hubs  413  and  414  may have less memory space. Accordingly, in these identity hubs a descriptor of the data stored in the first and second identity hubs may be included. Alternatively, a record of changes made to the data in other identity hubs may be included. Thus, changes in one of the identity hubs  410  are either fully replicated in the other identity hubs or at least a record or descriptor of that data is recorded in the other identity hubs. 
     Because the identity hubs may be multiple instances of the same identity hub, only a full description of the first identity hub  411  will be provided as this description may also apply to the identity hubs  412  through  414 . As illustrated, identity hub  411  may include data storage  420 . The data storage  420  may be used to store any type of data that is associated with the DID owner  201 . In one embodiment the data may be a collection  422  of a specific type of data corresponding to a specific protocol. For example, the collection  422  may be medical records data that corresponds to a specific protocol for medical data. The collection  422  may include any other type of data, such as attestations  215  made by or about the DID owner  201 . 
     In one embodiment, the stored data may have different authentication and privacy settings  421  associated with the stored data. For example, a first subset of the data may have a setting  421  that allows the data to be publicly exposed, but that does not include any authentication to the DID owner  201 . This type of data may be for relatively unimportant data such as color schemes and the like. A second subset of the data may have a setting  421  that allows the data to be publicly exposed and that includes authentication to the DID owner  201 . A third subset of the data may have a setting  421  that encrypts the subset of data with the private key  206  and public key  207  pair (or some other key pair) associated with the DID owner  201 . This type of data will require a party to have access to the public key  207  (or to some other associated public key) in order to decrypt the data. This process may also include authentication to the DID owner  201 . A fourth subset of the data may have a setting  421  that restricts this data to a subset of third parties. This may require that public keys associated with the subset of third parties be used to decrypt the data. For example, the DID owner  201  may cause the setting  421  to specify that only public keys associated with friends of the DID owner  201  may decrypt this data. With respect to data stored by the storage module  380 , these settings  411  may be at least partially composed by the storage module  380  of  FIG. 3 . 
     In some embodiments, the identity hub  411  may have a permissions module  430  that allows the DID owner  201  to set specific authorization or permissions for third parties such as third parties  401  and  402  to access the identity hub. For example, the DID owner  201  may provide access permission to his or her spouse to all the data  420 . Alternatively, the DID owner  201  may allow access to his or her doctor for any medical records. It will be appreciated that the DID owner  201  may give permission to any number of third parties to access a subset of the data  420 . This will be explained in more detail to follow. With respect to data stored by the storage module  380 , these access permissions  430  may be at least partially composed by the storage module  380  of  FIG. 3 . 
     The identity hub  411  may also have a messaging module  440 . In operation, the messaging module allows the identity hub to receive messages such as requests from parties such as third parties  401  and  402  to access the data and services of the identity hub. In addition, the messaging module  440  allows the identity hub  411  to respond to the messages from the third parties and to also communicate with a DID resolver  450 . This will be explained in more detail to follow. The ellipsis  416  represents that the identity hub  411  may have additional services as circumstances warrant. 
     In one embodiment, the DID owner  201  may wish to authenticate a new device  301  with the identity hub  411  that is already associated with the DID  205  in the manner previously described. Accordingly, the DID owner  201  may utilize the DID management module  320  associated with the new user device  301  to send a message to the identity hub  411  asserting that the new user device is associated with the DID  205  of the DID owner  201 . 
     However, the identity hub  411  may not initially recognize the new device as being owned by the DID owner  201 . Accordingly, the identity hub  411  may use the messaging module  440  to contact the DID resolver  450 . The message sent to the DID resolver  450  may include the DID  205 . 
     The DID resolver  450  may be a service, application, or module that is configured in operation to search the distributed ledger  220  for DID documents associated with DIDs. Accordingly, in the embodiment the DID resolver  450  may search the distributed ledger  220  using the DID  205 , which may result in the DID resolver  450  finding the DID document  210 . The DID document  210  may then be provided to the identity hub  411 . 
     As discussed previously, the DID document  210  may include a public key  208  or  209  that is associated with the new user device  301 . To verify that the new user device is owned by the DID owner  201 , the identity hub  411  may provide a cryptographic challenge to the new user device  301  using the messaging module  440 . This cryptographic challenge will be structured such that only a device having access to the private key  206  will be able to successfully answer the challenge. 
     In this embodiment, since the new user device is owned by DID owner  201  and thus has access to the private key  206 , the challenge may be successfully answered. The identity hub  411  may then record in the permissions  430  that the new user device  301  is able to access the data and services of the identity hub  411  and also the rest of the identity hubs  410 . 
     It will be noted that this process of authenticating the new user device  301  was performed without the need for the DID owner  201  to provide any username, password or the like to the provider of the identity hub  411  (i.e., the first cloud storage provider) before the identity hub  411  could be accessed. Rather, the access was determined in a decentralized manner based on the DID  205 , the DID document  210 , and the associated public and private keys. Since these were at all times in the control of the DID owner  201 , the provider of the identity hub  411  was not involved and thus has no knowledge of the transaction or of any personal information of the DID owner  201 . 
     In another example embodiment, the DID owner  201  may provide the DID  205  to the third-party entity  401  so that the third-party may access data or services stored on the identity hub  411 . For example, the DID owner  201  may be a human who is at a scientific conference who desires to allow the third-party  401 , who is also a human, access to his or her research data. Accordingly, the DID owner  201  may provide the DID  205  to the third-party  401 . 
     Once the third-party  401  has access to the DID  205 , he or she may access the DID resolver  450  to access the DID document  210 . As previously discussed, the DID document  210  may include an end point  213  that is an address or pointer to services associated with the decentralized identity. 
     Completing the research data example, the third-party  401  may send a message to the messaging module  440  asking for permission to access the research data. The messaging module  440  may then send a message to the DID owner  201  asking if the third-party  401  should be given access to the research data. Because the DID owner desires to provide access to this data, the DID owner  201  may allow permission to the third-party  401  and this permission may be recorded in the permissions  430 . 
     The messaging module  440  may then message the third-party  401  informing the third-party that he or she is able to access the research data. The identity hub  411  and the third-party  401  may then directly communicate so that the third-party may access the data. It will be noted that in many cases, it will actually be an identity hub associated with the third-party  401  that communicates with the identity hub  411 . However, it may be a device of the third-party  401  that does the communication. 
     Advantageously, the above described process allows the identity hub  411  and the third-party  401  to communicate and to share the data without the need for the third-party to access the identity hub  411  in the conventional manner. Rather, the communication is provisioned in the decentralized manner using the DID  205  and the DID document  210 . This advantageously allows the DID owner to be in full control of the process. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the third-party  402  may also request permission for access to the identity hub  411  using the DID  205  and the DID document  210 . Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed herein allow access to any number of third parties to the identity hubs  410 . 
       FIG. 5A  illustrates an embodiment of a computing system environment  500  that will be used to explain delegation of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner is accordance with the embodiments disclosed herein. It will be noted that since the computing system environment  500  may correspond to one or more of the computing system environments  100 - 400  previously described, the  FIG. 5A  may include references to elements first discussed in relation to  FIGS. 2-4  and thus may use the same reference numeral for ease of explanation. 
     As illustrated, the computing system environment  500  may include a delegation module  510 . In one embodiment, the delegation module  510  may be implemented by a third-party such as the provider of the DID management module  320  and/or the identity hubs  410 . In other embodiments, the delegation module  510  may be hosted on a server computer that is separate from the devices  301  owned by the DID owner  201 . In still other embodiments, the delegation module  510  may be part of DID management module  320  or may at least share some functions with the DID management module  320 . In further embodiments, the delegation module  510  may be part of or controlled by a third-party entity. 
     Suppose that the DID owner  201 , who may be considered a first DID owner in the embodiment, desires to delegate his or her DID  205  to a DID owner  520 , who may be considered a second DID owner in the embodiment, so that the DID owner  520  can act on behalf of the DID owner  201 . As illustrated, the DID owner  520  may own or otherwise be associated with a DID  525  that has been generated for the DID owner  520  in the manner previously described. The DID owner  520  may be a human or organization of humans or the DID owner may be a machine, system, or device, or a collection of machines, devices and/or systems. Accordingly, the DID owner  520  may be any entity as described previously with respect to the DID owner  201 . 
     In the embodiment the DID owner  201  may provide an indication  501  to the delegation module  510  that indicates that the DID owner  201  desires to delegate the DID  205  to the DID owner  520 . In some embodiments, the indication  501  may be as simple as the DID owner  201  accessing his or her management module  320  on his or her device  301  and initiating the delegation process in delegation module  510  that is part of the management module  320 . In other embodiments, the indication  501  may include the DID owner  201  sending a message to a delegation module  510  that is not part of the management module  320  or hosted by the device  301 . 
     The indication  501  may be received by the delegation module  510 . As illustrated, the delegation module  510  may include a generation module  530 . In operation, the generation module  530  may generate a signed claim or token  535  that is cryptographically signed by the DID owner  201  using the private and public key pair  206  and  207 . The signed claim  535  may specify that the first DID owner  201  has delegated use of the DID  205  to the second DID owner  520 . 
       FIG. 5B  illustrates an example embodiment of a signed claim  535 . It will be noted that the example embodiment of the signed claim  535  is only one of any number of possible implementations of a signed claim and thus should not be used to limit the embodiments disclosed herein. As illustrated, the signed claim  535  may include the DID  205  of the DID owner  201 . The DID  205  is used to identify the DID owner  201  as having authorized the generation of the signed claim  535  and is used to identify the DID owner  201  to any third-party entities. In addition, the signed claim  535  may include the DID  525  of the DID owner  520 . The inclusion of the DID  525  illustrates that the DID owner  520  has been delegated the use of the DID  205  and thus has been authorized to act on behalf of the DID owner  201 . Thus, a formal relationship between the DID  205  and the DID  525  is created. 
     The signed claim  535  may also include a permission scope  536  that defines the scope of permission for the DID owner  525  when using the delegated DID  205  on behalf of the DID owner  201 . The permission scope  536  may include a first permission  536 A, a second permission  536 B, a third permission  536 C, and any number of additional permissions as illustrated by the ellipses  536 D. For example, the first permission  536 A may authorize the DID owner  525  to use the DID  205  to sign the DID owner  201  up for a service such as a social network service offered by one or more third-party entities such as entities  540  or  550 . The second permission may authorize the DID owner  525  to use the DID  205  to purchase a product or a service from one of the third-party entities  540  or  550 . 
     The third permission  536 C may authorize one of the third-party entities, such as entity  540 , to access one of the ID hubs  410  such as ID hub  411  and then access a subset of or all of the data  420  stored in the ID hub. The permission  536 C may also authorize the third-party entity  540  to then provide the accessed subset of or all of the data  420  to another entity, such as the third-party entity  550 . It will be noted that the additional permissions  536 D may be set for any other reasonable purpose as identified by the DID owner  201 . For example, the additional permissions  536 D may limit the DID owner  520  to use of the delegated DID  205  with only certain persons or other entities, or they may limit the delegation to certain devices or networks controlled by the DID owner  520 . In this way, the DID owner  201  is able to set boundaries to the authorization that is given to the DID owner  520  when using the delegated DID  205 . 
     In some embodiments, the signed claim  535  may include geographical permission  537 . The geographical permission  537  may be used by the DID owner  201  to limit the geographical area where the delegated DID  205  may be used by the DID owner  520 . For example, the DID owner  201  may desire to limit the delegation to his or her hometown, state, or country. Alternatively, the DID owner  201  may know that the DID owner  520  may be travelling and so may limit use of the DID  205  to the countries that will be visited by the DID owner  520 . Accordingly, the DID owner  520  is not able to use the delegated DID  205  on behalf of the DID owner  201  outside of the geographical area specified by the geographical permission  537 . 
     In other embodiments, the signed claim  535  may include a time permission  538 . The time permission  538  may be used by the DID owner  201  to limit the amount of time that the delegated DID  205  may be used by the DID owner  520 . For example, the DID owner  205  may only desire to delegate the DID  205  for a few weeks or months. Upon the expiration of the time specified by the time permission  538 , any authorization for the DID owner  520  to use the DID  205  may automatically be revoked. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5A , in some embodiments the delegation module  510  may record an indicator  560  in the distributed ledger  220  that indicates that the DID owner  201  has delegated use of the DID  205  to the DID owner  520 . In this way, other parties such as third-party entities  540  and  550  can be notified that the delegation of DID  205  has occurred. To aid in this process, the signed claim  535  may include a prompt  539  (see  FIG. 5B ) that prompts a third-party such as the entities  540  or  550  to check the distributed ledger  220  to verify that the delegation of DID  205  has occurred or has not been revoked before accepting that the DID owner  520  is authorized to act on behalf of the DID owner  201 . 
     In some instances, the DID owner  205  may desire to alter the permission scope  536  while still allowing some use of the delegated DID  205  by the DID owner  520 . Accordingly, the delegation module  510  may include a revoke module  570 . In operation, the revoke module  570  may allow the DID owner  201  to alter the permission scope as needed by revoking one or more of the permissions  536 . For example, as mentioned above suppose that the third permission  536 C authorized the third-party entity  540  to access the data  420  in the identity hub  411  and that the DID owner  201  desired to revoke this permission while still granting the other permissions  536 A,  536 B, and potentially  536 D to the DID owner  520 . In such instance, the DID owner  201  may access the revoke module  570  to revoke the permission  536 C. This is represented by the dashed line  531  in  FIG. 5B . As shown in  FIG. 5B , the other permissions are still granted to the DID owner  520 . Accordingly, the DID owner  520  is no longer able to access the data  420  in the identity hub  411  but is still able to perform the actions specified by the other permissions  536 . 
     In other instances, the DID owner  201  may desire to revoke the delegation of the DID  205  so that the DID owner  520  no longer has authorization to use the DID  205  on his or her behalf. In such instance, the DID owner  201  may access the revoke module  570  to revoke the signed claim  535 . This may result in the signed claim  535  no longer be authorized to be used by the DID owner  520 . In addition, the revoke module  570  may record an indicator  580  in the distributed ledger  220  that indicates that the signed claim  235  has been revoked. In this way, other parties such as third-party entities  540  and  550  can be notified that the delegation of DID  205  has been revoked. The inclusion of the prompt  539  in the signed claim  535  may prompt the third-party to check the distributed ledger  220  and thus learn of the revocation in instances where the DID owner  520  attempts to use the signed claim  535  after the delegation has been revoked. 
     In some instances, the DID owner  520  may fear that the DID owner  201  may repudiate or deny the delegation of the DID  205  even though the DID owner  520  was provided the signed claim  535  by the delegation module  510 . This may be especially true in those embodiments where the delegation is not recorded on the distributed ledger  220 . Such repudiation or denial of the delegation may cause problems for the DID owner  520  should the DID owner  520  be accused of improperly trying to use the DID  205  without any delegation from the DID owner  201 . Thus, this may prevent the DID owner  520  from wanting to act on behalf of the DID owner  201 . 
     Accordingly, in some embodiments the delegation module  510  may record an indicator  590  in an identity hub or other storage  526  that is owned or otherwise accessible to the DID owner  520 . The indicator  590  may specify that the DID owner  201  has delegated the DID  205  to the DID owner  520 . The DID owner  520  may then use the indicator  590  as proof that the DID  205  was delegated to the DID owner  520  if the DID owner  201  tries to improperly repudiate or deny the delegation of the DID  205 . The delegation module  510  may further remove the indicator  590  from the identity hub  526  is instances where the DID owner  201  properly revokes the signed claim  535 . 
     In other embodiments, the delegation module  510  may record in the identity hub  411  an indicator  595  that functions in a manner like the indicator  590 . That is, the indicator  595  may specify that the DID owner  201  has delegated the DID  205  to the DID owner  520 . Use of the indicator  595  may provide further evidence of the delegation of the DID  205 . Thus, the delegation module  510  may record the indicator  590  in the identity hub  526 , may record the indicator  595  in the identity hub  411 , or it may record both the indicator  590  and the indicator  595 . 
     A specific embodiment of using the delegation module  510  will now be explained. As explained above, the DID owner  201  may desire to delegate the DID  205  to the DID owner  520  so that the DID owner  520  may act on the behalf of the DID owner  201  in interactions with various third-party entities. Accordingly, the DID owner  201  may provide the indication  501  to the delegation module  510 , which may result in the generation of the signed claim  535  in the manner previously described. The delegation module  510  may then provide the signed claim  535  to the DID owner  520  and may record the indication  560  in the distributed ledger  220  and one or both indicators  590  and  595 . Upon receipt of the signed claim  535 , the DID owner  520  may be authorized to use the DID  205  on behalf of the DID owner  201  in interactions with various third-party entities such as third-party entities  540  and  550 . In some embodiments, the signed claim  535  may also be stored in the identity hub  411 . 
     Suppose that the third-party entity  540  is a social network entity. The DID owner  520  may provide the signed claim  535  to the third-party entity  540 . The third-party entity  540  may verify that the first permission  536 A gives the DID owner  520  permission to open a social network account on behalf of the DID owner  201 . The third-party entity  540  may also check the distributed ledger  220  to verify that the delegation is valid as prompted by the prompt  539 . 
     Once the third-party entity  540  determines that the delegation is valid, the third-party entity  540  may create a social network account  545  using the DID  205  as an identity for the DID owner  201 . The third-party entity  540  may then provide notification of the social network account to the DID owner  201  by accessing the identity hub  411  using the DID resolver  450  in the manner previously described. 
     As also illustrated in  FIG. 5A , the DID owner  520  may also interact with the third-party entity  550  on behalf of the DID owner  201 . Suppose in this case that the third-party entity  550  sales a service that is desired by the DID owner  201 . Accordingly, the DID owner  520  may provide the signed claim  535  to the third-party entity  550 . The third-party entity  540  may verify that the second permission  536 B gives the DID owner  520  permission to purchase the service on behalf of the DID owner  201 . The third-party entity  550  may also check the distributed ledger  220  to verify that the delegation is valid as prompted by the prompt  539 . 
     Once the third-party entity  550  determines that the delegation is valid, the third-party entity  550  may sale the service using the DID  205  as an identity for the DID owner  201 . The third-party entity  550  may then provide notification of sale of the service to the DID owner  201  by accessing the identity hub  411  using the DID resolver  450  in the manner previously described. 
     The following discussion now refers to a number of methods and method acts that may be performed. Although the method acts may be discussed in a certain order or illustrated in a flow chart as occurring in a particular order, no particular ordering is required unless specifically stated, or required because an act is dependent on another act being completed prior to the act being performed. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a flow chart of an example method  600  for delegating use of a DID from a first DID owner to a second DID owner. The method  600  will be described with respect to one or more of  FIGS. 1-5B  discussed previously. 
     The method  600  includes an act of receiving an indication that a first DID owner desires to delegate use of a DID owned by the first DID owner to a second DID owner so that the second DID owner can act on behalf of the first DID owner in interactions with one or more third-party entities (act  610 ). For example, as previously described delegation module  510  may receive the indication  501  from the first DID owner  201 . The indication  501  indicates that the DID owner  201  desires to delegate the DID  205  to the second DID owner  520  so that the DID owner  520  may act on behalf of the DID owner  201 . 
     The method  600  includes an act of generating a signed claim that specifies that the first DID owner has delegated use of the DID to the second DID owner (act  620 ). The signed claim may identity the DID owned by the first DID owner and define a scope of permission for the second DID owner when the second DID owner uses the delegated DID on behalf of the first DID owner. For example, as previously described the delegation module  510  may generate the signed claim  535  that specifies that the DID  205  has been delegated to the DID owner  520 . The signed claim  535  may identify the DID  205 . The signed claim  535  may also define the scope of permissions  536 , including the permissions  536 A- 536 D and the geographical permission  537  and the time scope permission  538 . 
     The method  600  includes an act of providing the signed claim to the second DID owner (act  630 ). For example, as previously described delegation module  510  may provide the signed claim  535  to the DID owner  520 . 
     For the processes and methods disclosed herein, the operations performed in the processes and methods may be implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined operations are only provided as examples, and some of the operations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, supplemented with further operations, or expanded into additional operations without detracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments. 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.