Web of Trust
Public.icon
from
Idena
Web of Trust
Web of Trust (
WoT
) based on reputation of
Identity
"If person A vouches for person B, and person B vouches for person C, then person A has reason to believe that person C is human, especially if persons Y and Z make the same claim. With enough of this kind of support, a decentralized network of authenticated participants can form, with no upper limit on its capacity. A global web of trust is not inconceivable."
Criticism of WoT
"The criteria for one person vouching for another have become intentionally and completely subjective."
"Participants with lax standards may vouch for names they recognize from social media feeds, without necessarily knowing whether those accounts are bots."
"There is nothing to prevent a saboteur from vouching for a deliberately bad identity. Illegitimate or low-reputation accounts may eventually be voted down by the network's crowdsourcing logic, but only after identities have begun to interact with each other. As a result, one may end up in a situation no different from the current state of social media, without confidence that any given identity is legitimate."