Title: Decentralized Systems and Digital Democracy

Abstract: Decentralized systems have often been called "democratizing" by virtue of being ostensibly open to participation by anyone anywhere. Technology cannot actually be "democratizing" by democratic principles, however, unless it serves everyone, offers everyone not just a voice but an equal voice, and is accountable to and ultimately governed by the people it serves. Today's decentralized technologies are generally designed and governed by small in-groups, however, falling far short of real democratic self-governance. Can we build genuinely democratizing decentralized technology that serves its users inclusively, equally, and securely? A necessary first step is digital personhood: distinguishing between real people and fake accounts such as sock puppets, bots, or deep fakes. The emerging Proof of Personhood ecosystem aspires to offer each human participant exactly one credential each during a given time period, providing a human-centric anti-Sybil defense while ideally preserving other desirable properties such as privacy, inclusiveness, and low cost. Proof of personhood alone is insufficient for real participatory democracy, however, unless it includes coercion resistance: ensuring that real humans are participating in their own interests and not in someone else's. This talk will outline the current state of the art and recent lessons and progress in proof of personhood more broadly, and coercion resistance specifically, towards bringing real democracy to decentralized systems.

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