I'm still a bit confused though - as it seems you still see 'Personal Data Stores' and 'Digital Wallets' as two distinct, somehow separate, things.
Again I'd offer my analogy of HTTP and HTTPS - i.e., first we had 'stuff on the Web' via HTTP to 'store and get that stuff'. But then the world realized it really needed to secure that stuff, so we all moved to HTTPS to 'secure the stuff on the web'.
My point is that that move to HTTPS was for *everything* (i.e., https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere - "You no longer need HTTPS Everywhere to set HTTPS by default!"). Today we don't have 'Stuff' (HTTP) and 'Secure Stuff' (HTTPS) - we just have 'Secure Stuff' (HTTPS).
By the same token, I believe a Wallet should be all we need, where *all* my stuff is Wallet-secure by default, including all the stuff I'm happy to share freely with the world.
(It's why I suggested, while still working at Inrupt, that the Inrupt wallet app should atuomatically open up showing a photo of a loved one. It was to emulate my physical wallet today, where I keep my driver's license and credit cards, but *also* where I keep a photo of my missus and kids, a photo (in my wallet) that I'm happy to open and share with the total stranger sitting beside me at a bar.)
So can you help me see what might I be missing here - why should I continue drawing a distinction between my 'Personal Data Store' and my 'Digital Wallet' ?
imo, the problem word is 'wallet'. Different people mean different things - for example:
- UI/UX - meaning Google and Apple wallet etc. - the interface for payments and loyalty
- Payments wallet - for holding tokenised payments (usually cards from Visa etc.)
- Web3 wallet - for holding assets anchored to a DLT
- ID wallet - it's what governments are rolling out - see GOV.UK and eIDAS2 - storing a govt-issued blob of data related to identity (e.g. a driver's license)
- Data wallet - now we are getting closer to a PDS - holding other (signed) data
Zooming out a bit, I see a PDS for unstructured/unsigned data. Streams, PDFs, all the attachments in email etc.
Bu because a wallet can be stored in a TEE or Secure Enclave, we can then a) sign the data and b) do things like bind the wallet to biometrics, so we can 'selfie' authentication requests.
Lastly, for marketing reasons, many are just calling their data store a 'wallet'. Over time, it'll all converge.
Hiya Jamie - yeah, I remember that post from March last year well (it was the very first post of yours I read!). It was in direct response to that post that I first shared the HTTP vs HTTPS analogy (and my 'photo of the missus and kids' example to try and show that even unstructured/unsigned data also belongs in my Wallet (like it does physically today) instead of being only in a separate PDS thing)!
But yeah, I hear you on the confusion around the ideas/definitions/uses of the word 'Wallet'. (Siloes, siloes, siloes - will the industry ever be rid of it's utter fascination with siloed thinking...?)
It's why I initially referred to the Inrupt Wallet as 'a Wallet++' (i.e., a Wallet for Everything), where everything in it is 'Wallet-Secure by default'. Maybe I should have called it 'a WalletS' :)
So yeah, I totally agree with you that it will (it *has* too, inevitably) all converge.
I just happen to believe that those starting out from that convergence point (i.e., thinking of the entire 'Personal Data Store' as just a single 'can hold everything' Wallet++/WalletS/SolidPod) will always be well ahead of the posse along that journey (i.e., ultimately, I think everything we store will indeed be in TEE/Secure Enclaves (i.e., Wallet-Secure), just like 'HTTPS is everywhere' already today).
Which is why I still can't see any tangible benefit to anyone in distinguishing between a PDS and a Wallet, even today. Interesting times though...
Hiya Jamie - great post again, as ever.
I'm still a bit confused though - as it seems you still see 'Personal Data Stores' and 'Digital Wallets' as two distinct, somehow separate, things.
Again I'd offer my analogy of HTTP and HTTPS - i.e., first we had 'stuff on the Web' via HTTP to 'store and get that stuff'. But then the world realized it really needed to secure that stuff, so we all moved to HTTPS to 'secure the stuff on the web'.
My point is that that move to HTTPS was for *everything* (i.e., https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere - "You no longer need HTTPS Everywhere to set HTTPS by default!"). Today we don't have 'Stuff' (HTTP) and 'Secure Stuff' (HTTPS) - we just have 'Secure Stuff' (HTTPS).
By the same token, I believe a Wallet should be all we need, where *all* my stuff is Wallet-secure by default, including all the stuff I'm happy to share freely with the world.
(It's why I suggested, while still working at Inrupt, that the Inrupt wallet app should atuomatically open up showing a photo of a loved one. It was to emulate my physical wallet today, where I keep my driver's license and credit cards, but *also* where I keep a photo of my missus and kids, a photo (in my wallet) that I'm happy to open and share with the total stranger sitting beside me at a bar.)
So can you help me see what might I be missing here - why should I continue drawing a distinction between my 'Personal Data Store' and my 'Digital Wallet' ?
Thanks for the comment Pat!
I broke out the difference here: https://www.customerfutures.com/p/from-digital-wallets-and-data-stores
But language always gets in the way.
imo, the problem word is 'wallet'. Different people mean different things - for example:
- UI/UX - meaning Google and Apple wallet etc. - the interface for payments and loyalty
- Payments wallet - for holding tokenised payments (usually cards from Visa etc.)
- Web3 wallet - for holding assets anchored to a DLT
- ID wallet - it's what governments are rolling out - see GOV.UK and eIDAS2 - storing a govt-issued blob of data related to identity (e.g. a driver's license)
- Data wallet - now we are getting closer to a PDS - holding other (signed) data
Zooming out a bit, I see a PDS for unstructured/unsigned data. Streams, PDFs, all the attachments in email etc.
Bu because a wallet can be stored in a TEE or Secure Enclave, we can then a) sign the data and b) do things like bind the wallet to biometrics, so we can 'selfie' authentication requests.
Lastly, for marketing reasons, many are just calling their data store a 'wallet'. Over time, it'll all converge.
Hiya Jamie - yeah, I remember that post from March last year well (it was the very first post of yours I read!). It was in direct response to that post that I first shared the HTTP vs HTTPS analogy (and my 'photo of the missus and kids' example to try and show that even unstructured/unsigned data also belongs in my Wallet (like it does physically today) instead of being only in a separate PDS thing)!
But yeah, I hear you on the confusion around the ideas/definitions/uses of the word 'Wallet'. (Siloes, siloes, siloes - will the industry ever be rid of it's utter fascination with siloed thinking...?)
It's why I initially referred to the Inrupt Wallet as 'a Wallet++' (i.e., a Wallet for Everything), where everything in it is 'Wallet-Secure by default'. Maybe I should have called it 'a WalletS' :)
So yeah, I totally agree with you that it will (it *has* too, inevitably) all converge.
I just happen to believe that those starting out from that convergence point (i.e., thinking of the entire 'Personal Data Store' as just a single 'can hold everything' Wallet++/WalletS/SolidPod) will always be well ahead of the posse along that journey (i.e., ultimately, I think everything we store will indeed be in TEE/Secure Enclaves (i.e., Wallet-Secure), just like 'HTTPS is everywhere' already today).
Which is why I still can't see any tangible benefit to anyone in distinguishing between a PDS and a Wallet, even today. Interesting times though...
Yes yes yes yes! Let’s talk and act!