Alienated Digital Identities

Digital identities allow friends to like us, governments to analyze us and media platforms to monetize us. As the internet has evolved, so has the creation, storage and access to digital identities. This paper presents the notion that modern digital identities are no longer natural extensions of the user, but alienated entities that exist outside of their control. To justify this claim, this research analyses the externalized storage of digital identities and how this lessens the user’s inherent rights and access to them. It introduces concepts such as “derivative” digital identities and how the over-valuation of company stocks contributes to this alienation. The goal of the research is to justify the need for users to reclaim the ownership, storage, and access to their digital identities. This paper proposes a technical guideline and discusses the benefits and challenges of developing such a system.