Heather Flanagan

Designing Digital Wallets for Reality: Where Selective Disclosure and ZKPs Fit Heather Flanagan explores how digital identity wallets are shifting from experimental concepts into real infrastructure, as selective disclosure and zero knowledge proofs move from theory into production. Drawing on recent policy, payments, and wallet deployments, she frames the architectural decisions now facing teams building privacy-preserving identity systems. The episode examines where system complexity lives, how correlation risk emerges at scale, and why operational realities matter more than minimal pilots. It highlights trade-offs between credential models, cryptographic approaches, and long-term sustainability for regulators, enterprises, and ecosystem designers.

Digital wallets are moving into production — and suddenly the difference between selective disclosure and ZKPs really matters. Here's a practical look at where the complexity actually lands.

#til that Organic Roasted Seaweed is more addictive than potato chips

nom nom nom nom.

Trans flag with the words: First they came for the transgender community, And I spoke up immediately even though I’m straight and cis because I’ve read the rest of the fucking poem.

If nothing else, at least I got my mason bee coccoons out and the bee house ready! It'll be fun to see how much spring will have sprung when I get back.

Ooooh, it's pruning season and folks are in the yard working on my orchard. I love seeing the cleanup before spring and am just sad that I'm not out there with them. (I'm prepping for some meetings and events over the next 10 days and am going to miss all the pruning fun.)

Inside the 2026 Monster Scale Summit Agenda The agenda for the 2-day Monster SCALE Summit (free + virtual) is now live! Take a look, register, and start choosing your own adventure across the 50+ tech talks. Here’s a peek at what you can expect...

We’re hosting an absolutely amazing lineup of speakers and talks this year. Take a look and pls join us if anything looks interesting. It's free + virtual. www.scylladb.com/2026/02/17/m...

What Makes a Successful Standard? In this episode, Heather Flanagan examines what truly defines a successful standard in digital identity. While adoption is often treated as the primary measure of success, she explores why that metric alone fails to capture the complexity of standards development and ecosystem coordination. She unpacks the tension between implementation-first cultures and inclusive governance, highlighting how participation, interoperability, and competing implementations shape long-term outcomes. Ultimately, this discussion reframes success as a resilient process that enables credible disagreement and sustainable alignment across diverse stakeholders.

This post tackles a bunch of questions around what "success" means when it comes to technical standards. Is it purely about adoption, or is there room for technical purity? Should a standard describe reality, or shape it?

Let's discuss!

#standards #techindustry

Google VP warns that two types of AI startups may not survive | TechCrunch As generative AI evolves, a Google VP warns that LLM wrappers and AI aggregators face mounting pressure, with shrinking margins and limited differentiation threatening their long-term viability.

As generative AI evolves, a Google VP warns that LLM wrappers and AI aggregators face mounting pressure, with shrinking margins and limited differentiation threatening their long-term viability.

Erlend did a pretty good job responding to the “Be wary of Bluesky” article, but I’ll add a couple of other comments

Mood

Understanding the FIDO Alliance’s Standards and Working Groups Heather Flanagan explores why the FIDO Alliance can feel difficult to follow from the outside, and why that silence is often misunderstood. This episode examines how FIDO’s approach to standards development differs from more open processes, and what that means for people working in digital identity, authentication, and passkeys. The discussion unpacks the meaning of open standards, member-driven governance, and the trade-offs between transparency and collaboration. By understanding FIDO working groups, special interest groups, and closed development models, practitioners can better interpret published specifications and anticipate how authentication standards evolve.

Understanding the FIDO Alliance’s Standards and Working Groups

Heather Flanagan explores why the FIDO Alliance can feel difficult to follow from the outside, and why that silence is often misunderstood. This episode examines how FIDO’s approach to standards development differs from more open…

Ah, ok. I _think_ what you're talking about is an access-based network effect.

Are you asking from the perspective of an individual? If yes, I generally see that as “consent fatigue.” If your asking from a business/organizational perspective,” I’ve seen “permission bloat” and various versions of “creep.” (Permission creep, access creep, etc).

Contributor Skills: How Standards Are Created Heather Flanagan explores what it really takes to be an effective contributor in standards development and digital identity work. Moving beyond visible roles like working group chairs, the discussion centers on how specifications are actually shaped through collaboration, technical debate, and sustained participation. Discover how contributors add value as subject matter experts, implementers, and reviewers, and why skills like preparation, constructive disagreement, and process awareness matter. This episode explains how consensus works, why reliability outweighs brilliance, and how thoughtful contributions directly influence interoperable, implementable digital identity standards.

Chairs run the process. Contributors write the standards. If you want to influence how specs actually turn into something implementable, this post breaks down the skills that make contributors effective and trusted.

TIIME Unconference – Trust and Internet Identity Meeting Europe

Twenty-three hours before my first international trip of the year. Amsterdam in February is not my favorite, but the small conference will be fun to facilitate (tiime-unconference.eu).

We'd definitely love to have you! Ping me if you have questions about participating.

Cool! I didn’t know that either!

Internet Shutdowns and the Reality of a Fragmented Internet Heather Flanagan examines internet fragmentation through the lens of modern internet shutdowns. Using recent, well-documented cases, she explains how connectivity is selectively constrained and why shutdowns are no longer rare emergencies but predictable outcomes of network architecture and governance. Discover how these shutdowns directly impact digital identity systems, from federation failures to lost auditability. Learn why treating the network as neutral and always available is increasingly risky, and why architects, policymakers, and identity teams must rethink assumptions about global interoperability and resilience.

Internet shutdowns make Internet fragmentation real. They’re not technically hard, and they’re becoming normal. Using Iran as a case study, this post looks at how shutdowns work, why they’re increasing, and what they mean for identity, platforms, and global interoperability.

“It is impossible to protect privacy from authoritarianism without addressing consumer privacy.” - from Daniel J. Solove, Privacy in Authoritarian Times - final published version here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #PrivacyMatters

This week’s mantra turned out to be: “Murder is a choice I am not making today.”

OH in a meeting: “They are like assholes. Everyone has them, and everyone should have just one.”

Inside the OpenID DCP Working Group: Issuance, Presentation, and Reality In this episode of The Digital Identity Digest, discover how the OpenID Foundation’s Digital Credentials Protocols Working Group is shaping real-world digital credential issuance and presentation. Learn why standards decisions around interoperability, credential formats, and web-based flows matter for implementers, regulators, and identity architects navigating a complex digital identity ecosystem. Discover how pseudonymous authentication, assurance profiles like HAPE, and conformance testing influence deployments and regulatory alignment. Learn why following the work of the OpenID DCP Working Group offers insight into where digital identity standards are stabilizing, stalling, and reshaping systems.

Digital credentials don’t standardize themselves. A candid tour of the OpenID DCP Working Group: what’s done, what’s dormant, and where real momentum exists—from OpenID4VC, HAIPm and conformance, to ISO alignment and hard tradeoffs.

New use for ChatGPT: write the text for an angrygram email, feed it to ChatGPT requesting a more professional version, and use that for the actual email.

Doesn't make me personally less angry, but at least I sound professional about it!

Hand knit sweater

I can haz sweater!

I could have gone a bit more drawn in at the waist, but it’s pretty good.

Now to figure out what to do with the remaining 500yards of Aran weight Shetland 3-ply.

Looking at my stats, gotta say that people do surprise me.
I didn’t expect my Field Guide to Digital Identity Standards Bodies or Web Payments and Digital Identity Standards to be the most-listened episodes of my audioblog, but here we are.
Thanks; it makes the effort to produce them feel worth it.

Finishing off the last quart of sweet cider we made this past apple season. I definitely need to make more next year!

The AI System That Never Was In this episode of The Digital Identity Digest, learn why the idea of an “AI system” is quietly breaking down under modern AI governance and deployment realities. Heather Flanagan examines how agentic workflows, standards debates, and policy frameworks are exposing gaps between governance language and real-world AI architectures. Discover how this disconnect affects digital identity, accountability, and interoperability, and why unclear definitions create governance risk. Learn why engineers, standards bodies, and policymakers are struggling to align, and why fixing AI language is essential to building enforceable, trustworthy identity and governance frameworks.

I spent winter break reading a backlog of info on AI policy, standards, and deployment. One pattern I noticed: we’ve been using the term “AI system” as a shared shorthand, even though we don’t actually agree on what it refers to in practice.

I have thoughts on that.

#AI #AIpolicy #standards

A Field Guide to Digital Identity Standards Bodies In this episode of The Digital Identity Digest, Heather Flanagan offers a practical field guide to digital identity standards, explaining how organizations like the OpenID Foundation, W3C, IETF, and FIDO Alliance shape specifications, drafts, and published standards through very different processes and cultures. Discover how to interpret standards maturity, understand what a draft really means, and evaluate where work sits in the standards development lifecycle, helping implementers, architects, and policy professionals better assess risk, readiness, interoperability, and real-world impact across the digital identity ecosystem.

This is not a thrilling post. It is a reference. I put together a field guide to how identity standards actually get made across the IETF, W3C, OpenID Foundation, and FIDO. I’ll be pointing back to this all year.

#standards #OIDF #IETF #W3C #FIDO

Process, Standards, and the AI Rogue Wave: Notes from Gartner IAM In this episode of The Digital Identity Digest, Heather Flanagan reflects on Gartner IAM and what it reveals about digital identity decision-making, identity access management priorities, and enterprise buying behavior. The conversation explores how process, not product, often drives outcomes in real-world IAM programs. Learn why overlooked process maturity, invisible identity standards, and interoperability gaps matter, and discover how AI hype distorts expectations across IAM platforms. This episode connects operations, standards, and incentives, offering practical insight for architects, security leaders, and teams navigating sustainable digital identity strategies.

My first post of 2026 is up. Notes from Gartner IAM on process vs product, where standards disappear in buying conversations, and the irony of AI hype warnings surrounded by AI marketing. Walking the floor was… instructive.

#Gartner #IAM

ICYMI 2025: What You All Read the Most This Year In this episode, Heather Flanagan looks back at the most read Digital Identity Digest posts of 2025, exploring what resonated across digital identity, governance, credentials, and AI. The recap reveals patterns behind shifting priorities, recurring debates, and the questions shaping standards work and system design. Discover how topics like agentic AI and authentication, delegation, decentralization, interoperability, and credential terminology signal where identity architecture is headed. The episode explains why governance matters more than technology alone and why clear language and standards alignment are critical for resilient, trustworthy digital identity systems.

2025’s top posts are in: AI agents, delegation headaches, governance gaps, and the slow fragmentation of the Internet. Here’s a roundup of what sparked the most discussion this year — and what these trends suggest for 2026.