Spherical Cow Consulting
Inside the OpenID DCP Working Group: Issuance, Presentation, and Reality
The AI System That Never Was
A Field Guide to Digital Identity Standards Bodies
Process, Standards, and the AI Rogue Wave: Notes from Gartner IAM
ICYMI 2025: What You All Read the Most This Year
Web Payments and Digital Identity Standards Are Converging – #TIL
Two APIs Walk Into a Browser: FedCM vs. the DC API
What I Wish I Knew When I Started in Identity
Robots, Humans, and the Edges of the Open Web
Digital Identity Wallet Standards, the DC API, and Politics
The Regulator’s Dilemma
The Paradox of Protection
The Infrastructure We Forgot We Built
Can Standards Survive Trade Wars and Sovereignty Battles?
The People Problem: How Demographics Decide the Future of the Internet
Why Tech Supply Chains, Not Protocols, Set the Limits on AI and the Internet
The End of the Global Internet
Delegation and Consent: Who Actually Benefits?
Pirates, Librarians, and Standards Development
Who Really Pays When AI Agents Run Wild? Incentives, Identity, and the Hidden Bill
AI Permissions vs. Human Permissions: What Really Changes?
Roads, Robots, and Responsibility: Why Agentic AI Needs Identity Infrastructure
Bot or Not? Why Incentives Matter More Than Identity
Working Group Chair Skills: Standards Work Isn’t Just for Coders
Agentic AI in the Open Standards Community: Standards Work or Just Hype?
Not Just a Technical Problem: Why Fighting Disinformation Needs Resilient Infrastructure
What WSIS+20 Taught Me About Digital Identity and Global Governance
Kill the Wallet? Rethinking the Metaphors Behind Digital Identity
Local Flavors, Global Reach: Why Digital Identity Needs Cultural Context
When Verification Calls Home: Three Views on Privacy, Risk, and Digital Credentials
Resilience Isn’t Free: What Standards Can (and Can’t) Prepare Us For
Delegation in a Multi-Actor World: It’s Not Just OAuth Anymore
Rethinking Digital Identity: What ARE Open Standards?
The MCP Bandwagon
Acting on Behalf of Others: Delegation, Consent, and Messy Reality
Why Governance Decides If Decentralization Works
Redefining Success: Centralization as a Feature or a Failure?
The Cost of Decentralization: What Companies Need to Weigh Before They Commit
Engineering Meets Economics: Shifting, Not Choosing, Between Centralized and Decentralized
Trailer
Web Payments and Digital Identity are Having a Moment
Who Owns the Bots? Rethinking Governance for Non-Human Identities
Is Introspection a Bug or a Feature?
The Future of Open Standards: Politics, Sovereignty, and the Role of SDOs
The Boundaries Between Standards and Policy: AI Training as a Case Study
Why Enterprises Should Care About Digital Credentials (Even If It’s Complicated)
Digital Credentials vs. Traditional Federation: What’s the Difference?
Standards vs. Reality: The Long Tail of Legacy Systems
Shared Signals: Who Pays the Price for Stronger Identity?
What AI Agents Can Teach Us About Fraud in Consumer Identity
Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Privacy, Innovation, and Equity
Agentic AI and Authentication: Exploring Some Unanswered Questions
Securing the Software Supply Chain: How SCITT, SPIFFE, and WIMSE Work Together
Are You Human? A Dive Into the Proof of Personhood Debate
Digital Credentials That Can Be Verified: A Lesson in Terminology
Understanding NHIs: Key Differences Between Human and Non-Human Identities
Unlock the Secrets of OAuth 2.0 Tokens (and Have Fun Doing It!)
The Importance of Early Engagement in Standards
Every Company is an IAM Company
Rethinking Identity Management: The Role of Non-Human Identities in Academic Research
The Importance of Digital Identity Wallet Standards
Operationalizing Trust Frameworks: Who’s Going to Keep the Lights On?
The Wallets Are Coming – But Are We Ready for What’s Next?
From Concept to Consensus: Developing Internet Standards
Why FIPS 140-3 Matters for Cryptography and Digital Identity Security
Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: Protecting Human and Non-Human Identities
Digital Identity in the Age of AI: Challenges and Opportunities
IAM’s Time Problem: Why Digital Attestation Needs Work
FedCM: The Tightrope Walk of Developing a Specification
Introducing Digital Identity Standards Development Service for Executives
Preparing for the Quantum Shift in Cybersecurity
The EU Digital Identity Architecture Reference Framework – How to Get There From Here
What is the W3C WICG Digital Credentials API?
Privacy and Personalization on the Web: Striking the Balance
The Evolving Landscape of Non-Human Identity
A Cookieless Horizon: Navigating Browser Changes
Understanding Browser Tracking & Logins: The Invisible Trail
The Evolution of MFA: Beyond SMS and Email
Navigating the Passwordless Future: Enhancing Digital Security
More on the Options and Diversity of Verifiable Credentials
Verifiable Credentials vs mdocs: A Comparative Analysis
SSI: More than just Blockchain
Federated Identity and SSI – YMMV
Standards, Browsers, and Identity Wallets
Comparing Federated Logins and Passkeys: Which One Fits Your Needs?
Authorization – the Next Big Thing
Hosting a Successful Meeting
How to Stay Organized: Tips for Entrepreneurs, Freelancers, and Consultants
Communication as a Critical Business Skill
Navigating the Intersection of Privacy Laws and Technical Standards
NIST 800-63-4 and Equity
The Writing Process
Bemused about Biometrics
Pedantic About Privacy
Resolutions for 2023
Freelancing Advice for the Holidays
Can AI Write This Blog Post?
When Gravity Takes Over
This Is Your Brain On Identity
“Why don’t they just quit?”
It’s a Wrap!
Index Cards – They Never Go Out of Style
Embracing the Uncomfortable
Can a Freelancer Have a Side Gig?
You Don’t Have To Be Good At Everything
Where Did All the Energy Go?
But There’s No Pressure
Be Brave. Say No.
The Gaps Are Where Life Gets Interesting
The Power of the Outline
Public Speaking Tips for Virtual Conferences
Succession Planning in Consulting
The Case of the Unclear Antecedent
Index: What’s it like to be a …?
A World of Only Carrots
Open-source Projects
When Words Do Not Mean What You Think They Mean
Bias, Meritocracy, and Human Nature
WFH – everything I hoped it would be (almost)
Publishing – it’s character-building!
Get Inside Their Heads
Remote Project Management 101
Surviving Business Travel
Human Networking
The Meaning Behind Meeting Minutes
Making Decisions
Project Management and the Art of Herding Cats
Tweet Jamming: The Fun Inherent in Asynchronicity
It Takes All Kinds – Freelancing for a Living