Self-sovereign identity (SSI) solutions implemented on the basis of blockchain technology are seen as alternatives to existing digital identification systems, or even as a foundation of standards for the new global infrastructures for identity management systems. It is argued that ‘self-sovereignty' in this context can be understood as the concept of individual control over identity relevant private data, capacity to choose where such data is stored, and the ability to provide it to those who need to validate it. It is also argued that while it might be appealing to operationalise the concept of ‘self-sovereignty’ in a narrow technical sense, depreciation of moral semantics obscures key challenges and long-term repercussions. Closer attention to the normative substance of the ‘sovereignty’ concept helps to highlight a range of ethical issues pertaining to the changing nature of human identity in the context of ubiquitous private data collection.

基于区块链技术实施的自我主权身份（SSI）解决方案被视为现有数字身份识别系统的替代方案，甚至被视为身份管理系统新的全球基础设施标准的基础。有人认为，在这种情况下，“自我主权”可以理解为个人控制与身份相关的私人数据的概念、选择此类数据存储位置的能力以及将其提供给需要验证它的人的能力。还有人认为，虽然在狭义的技术意义上实施“自我主权”的概念可能很有吸引力，但对道德语义的贬低掩盖了关键挑战和长期影响。