@_elena there's also no need for SSO (Single Sign-On) to mean “single identity” —as long as YOU are the one that controls the sign-on. See e.g. the Nomad protocol:
In September of 2025, under pressure to show they are really 'decentralized' and to great fanfare #Bluesky announced they were spinning out the "one centralized component" of their network to a new fully independent Switzerland based organization.
Creating an Independent Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Directory Organization
https://docs.bsky.app/blog/plc-directory-org
Since then crickets. No information on progress. Structure? Funding? Ownership? Who will it employ? Will the financials be public?
A little background here. This PLC directory is like the 'phone book' for AT Protocol, that enables this much ballyhooed ability to have a single name/address across all instances and apps. Whoever holds the4 phone book has total control over the network. Currently that is Bluesky PBC and their VC owners, but they have said they are relinquishing that to this new Swiss organization.
@_elena The same goes for account portability. One of the advantages for data harvesters is that it allows them to connect data points even when a person relocates to a different service. Presumably, this is one of the possibilities that attracted Dorsey to the "protocols not platforms" idea in the first place. When your business is trafficking in user data, the problem with platforms is that people sometimes leave them, which makes them harder to track. But if their new destination is on a protocol that routes their data to your server…
Most of the identity-related features of Bluesky double as data-tracking features.
@mastodonmigration FYI: "Progress has also been made on formation of an independent PLC Organization, with an update to be shared at AtmosphereConf later this week." https://atproto.com/blog/2026-spring-roadmap
Should be interesting
@_elena Interesting point!
Personally, PDSes are one thing I really like about the Atmosphere/ATProto. Being able to log into multiple apps without needing to manage multiple accounts is pretty convenient, and enables more developer experimentation.
Here, you either create a new fediverse platform, meaning you need to create a new account, or maybe a Mastodon browser plugin or web app, because not many want to put in the effort to support all the different APIs.