The perils of allowing Facebook to control a user’s online identity are many. A good alternative is to use an Ethereum wallet so that you can control your data.
In case you have used your Facebook credentials ever to log into another online service, you are assisting the social network to control your identity. You are doing so even if you are not a Facebook user. You could be doing the same using Apple and Google identity services. You are possibly even sharing your data with U.S. intelligence.
Although the inherent anonymity of the Internet is a good thing for sure, it leaves the users of ID-dependent tools in the hands of prominent centralized identity providers and their apparent inevitable abuses.
Decentralized identity standards-sign-in with Ethereum
Blockchain developers have often discussed coming up with “decentralized” identity standards to rescue us from the perils of Big Login. One major step towards this development is Sign-in With Ethereum.
It is nothing complicated but a standard means to use the Ethereum wallet one has as an identifier across several services. The beauty of this wallet is your name is not attached to your ETH wallet. It uses a cryptographic marker as your identity. Now, that also means the user instead of the identity provider has full control over what details are linked with it. Finally, you will be able to decide whether a specific service requires your proof of age, name, or check of your ETH balance. There is no need to send all the details to all the services you use.
