Meeting Place

Meeting Place is an implementation of Affinidi Messaging that leverages the DIDComm v2.1 protocol, built on top of Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs). Unlike traditional identifiers such as email addresses or phone numbers, DIDs act as both the identity and the communication endpoint, enabling secure, private, and anonymous connections between parties. This approach gives users full control over their identity while ensuring confidentiality and integrity in message exchange.

Key Features

• Support for multiple digital identities, ensuring privacy and anonymity across different interactions.
• Secure, customisable invitations for connecting with others, enabling privacy-preserving discovery.
• Spam reduction by requiring user consent before establishing a connection.
• End-to-end encrypted communication using DIDComm v2.1.
• Seamless integration with Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), including Verifiable Credentials and Presentations.

Key Components

Identity

Unlike traditional chat apps that use email or phone numbers, Meeting Place allows users to maintain multiple identities for different contexts. Each connection—whether direct or in a group—creates a unique set of DIDs, enhancing privacy by separating identity contexts.

Each connection established with another participant, whether direct or in a group chat, generates a unique set of Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs). This dynamic DID assignment enhances user privacy by separating identity contexts across different interactions.

Example:

1. Alice and Bob connect directly using professional identities for a project.
2. A a unique set of DIDs is generated for each participant and for the secure channel.
3. Later, Alice joins a separate group chat for another project using the same professional identity.
4. A new DID is created for Alice in this context and another for the group channel.

This approach prevents identity reuse across conversations, improving privacy.

Discovery

The Control Plane API enables discovery and secure channel creation using DIDComm v2.1. Participants can publish a connection offer or invitation with one of their identities (e.g., gaming persona) for direct or group chat.

An invitation includes a description, validity, and optional vCard details.

Other participants claim the invitation using a passphrase, sending a connection request to the publisher. The publisher must approve the request before a secure channel is created.

When the channel is established, the system generates:

• Channel DID to establish the connection.
• DIDs for each participant using their selected identity.

Meeting Place SDKs

The Meeting Place SDK includes modular packages that can be used independently. For example, you can use only the Mediator SDK to enable DIDComm-based messaging without integrating the full Meeting Place app via the Chat SDK.

The Meeting Place SDK also leverages other Affinidi open-source SDKs, such as  DIDComm for Dart, which sends DIDComm messages, and  SSI for Dart, which manages decentralised identity and associated cryptographic keys.

What’s Next