Identity and Privacy Governance

The increasing use of systems based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) is frequently being described as one of the avenues to safeguard privacy in the digital age. Decentralization and the decreasing influence of corporate and public intermediaries could create a new power balance and culture change when it comes to personal data. Proponents of the technology believe that new concepts such as 'self-sovereign identity' and 'zero knowledge proof' have the potential to increase the control of the individual over personal and sensitive data. At the same time, this raises the question how trust in society can be ensured. Is there really no longer a need for states and trusted-third parties once 'Decentralized autonomous organizations' (DAOs) have taken over many governance functions? Finally, will theses networks be fair and inclusive, rather than enabling new agile and tech-savvy stakeholder to become the power brokers? What are the unintended consequences of challenging existing governance structures and democracy?

This Research Topic has been initiated by organizers of the International Conference 'Blockchain, Public Trust, Law and Governance', which took place at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, 29-30 November 2018.

For this collection we welcome submissions along this theme from different disciplinary perspectives including on the topics:

- Privacy in the digital age and DLT
- Digital Identity, Self-Sovereign Identity
- DLT and governmental surveillance (Law Enforcement, Security Services)
- Anonymity/Pseudonymity in cryptocurrency environments
- Governance of and through DLT based networks
- Qualification of 'DAOs' from philosophical, social and legal perspectives
- DLT as enabler of progress in the Global South

This list is illustrative, not comprehensive. We also encourage subscriptions on other topics and along the general theme.