« Blockchain in the context of law and identity »

For more than a decade, blockchain technologies have been gradually and deeply redefining the political, legal, and economic boundaries of our social contract. Some of their characteristics both liberate and challenge the established order, i.e. existing governance models. In collaboration with the IN Groupe company and through an interdisciplinary lens, this paper examines how the positioning and perspectives of these new technologies are articulated, opposed, or integrated into current legal and social frameworks. In parallel with societal upheavals analyzed in the context of computer decentralization, the concept of digital identity has been evolving and questioned for several decades to cope with the explosive expansion of online interactions and identification needs of individuals. This insatiable digitization of our lives implies new philosophical, social, and legal considerations considering the many facets of our already ‘phygital’ identities. These attempts at defining and scientifically reclaiming identity also evoke new concrete lines of reflection regarding the emergence of a new digital identity 3.0. Supposedly decentralized, emancipatory, and serving digital rights, we identify how decentralized digital identity and blockchain technologies represent a revolution in search of new legal rules. By examining socio-digital (eco)systems, this study questions the consequences of these new Web 3.0 decentralization technologies, allowing individuals to hold universal proof of digital existence in line with their fundamental, now cryptographic and programmable, rights. A privileged line of reflection suggests that it is crucial not to prohibit or discredit certain open and decentralized blockchains, to satisfy the continuous needs of trust and cryptographic ownership of Internet users and citizens. These infrastructures can indeed serve as an alternative and digital counterbalance, particularly in developing countries.