We are exploring IC as a platform for a new application. However, I am unable to access II as I embrace dencentralization and avoid using big central corporations services and products such as Microsoft Windows, Apple Keychain or Google Chrome.
Instead we use Linux systems like Ubuntu and Lineage with FOSS only - incl. encryption, fingerprints and so on. So I guess mobile access doesn’t work at all then – and the only way on desktop is to use a Yubikey (which most people don’t have).
Or do I miss something here? Is there any possibility for privacy-aware users to access IC somehow without being dependent on Big-techs goodwill?
Okay, reading thru the other posts I understand II is only a hard requirement for NNS, and is needed by your flagship social demo apps, as for the average user this is easier than a wallet.
By deciding for just the best auth method, II, these apps loose people with old devices (see Africa as a key market for Web3), as well as privacy-focused folks. So helping these devs integrating a wallet API, as an inconvinient backup option, would probably help IC promotion and subsequently mass adoption?
And secondly, I understand that in web browsers WebAuthn is used, which on Android is only supported by Chrome with PlayServices. However, a little native app could overcome this limitation to support AOSPs like LineageOS, GrapheneOS and alike. Maybe there is someone with the needed skills?
The II is built in as part of the network–it’s not a centralized Big Tech mechanism comparable to that of AWS or Google. In the future it would be the ideal way to do things, but since we still live in a world were most authentication is still “preweb3crypto”, I can understand the need for an alternative resolution:
You can in fact bypass it completely and generate principals for users behind the scenes if you use a Rust based canister, based on any seed value provided by the user (this is how NFID integrates Google OAuth into their wallet; hopefully someone will publish an example or template of that code since it could help a lot of dapps on the IC to ease on-boarding for non-web3 users in particular).
In the meantime you can look at the The Wall dapp that creates authentication for a user based on them signing with their Metamask wallet. There a lot of a ways you can make it so the user can provide a seed value to your canister (they could even input a 12 word passphrase for instance) and then do what you are trying to IIUC.
Thanks a lot for your answer - this is very informative!
I totally agree, it would help the IC project a lot to integrate NFID (and/or other possibilities) to ‘your’ flagship demo apps.
I am new to IC and was wondering why such an amazing project has, in comparison, such a low traction.
Due to privacy concerns IDs are a critical topic in our communities; and on the other side, tons of end-users are needed to create the buzz and become relevant. To both problems you have the solutions, but hidden carefully, it seems to me.
Unless this is your intention (e.g. for having the time to do the proper coding?), I would escalate this topic in your organization very much.
Password Managers like Dashlane or NordPass support Passkeys which can be used for II, so there is no problem using OpenSource products like browsers, Linux or Androids anymore. Hurray!
