In 2005 Kim Cameron warned us what would happen if we did nothing about identity.

We look at the problems and how to make his 7 laws of identity real and work for the mess we're now in.

The 7 laws of identity
Kim Cameron in 2025. Image courtesy of Doc Searls on Flickr
$9 Trillion
The global cost of fraud online in 2024 up 80% since 2019.
400k
Trafficked people forced to scam online in camps on the Thai - Myanmar border.
17.4 Billion
User records exposed by hackers in the first 6 months of 2025 alone.

" The Internet was built without a way to know who and what you are connecting to. This limits what we can do with it and exposes us to growing dangers. If we do nothing, we will face rapidly proliferating episodes of theft and deception which will cumulatively erode public trust in the Internet. "

Kim Cameron
Architect of Identity, Microsoft Corporation
The Internet isn't a Vault

The Internet isn't a Vault

Why is it seemingly so easy to industrialise fraud and identity crime? The problem is incredibly complex and has its roots back as far as the 18th Century. Decisions taken over decades in good faith have layered one upon the other to create the mother of all unintended consequences.

Read more
Two Decades of Neglecting the Digital Identity Crisis

Two Decades of Neglecting the Digital Identity Crisis

Kim Cameron's work was foundational, but a lot has happened in the intervening 20 years. Now not only do we need to implement his rules, we have to solve the problems caused by doing nothing for twenty years.

Read more
The Future of Trust

The Future of Trust

In his paper, Kim Cameron called for an identity layer for the internet. Self has spent six years researching and developing a solution to that challenge. Here, we look at what that is.

Read more

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Blog

The Internet isn't a Vault
The Internet isn't a Vault
Why is it seemingly so easy to industrialise fraud and identity crime? The problem is incredibly complex and has its roots back as far as the 18th Century. Decisions taken over decades in good faith have layered one upon the other to create the mother of all unintended consequences.
Two Decades of Neglecting the Digital Identity Crisis
Two Decades of Neglecting the Digital Identity Crisis
Kim Cameron's work was foundational, but a lot has happened in the intervening 20 years. Now not only do we need to implement his rules, we have to solve the problems caused by doing nothing for twenty years.
The Future of Trust
The Future of Trust
In his paper, Kim Cameron called for an identity layer for the internet. Self has spent six years researching and developing a solution to that challenge. Here, we look at what that is.
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