A proposal from the Human Centered Computing Foundation (HCCF) calls for a new top-level domain, .self, aimed at shifting online identity away from corporate platforms and toward self-hosted, user-owned infrastructure.
What HCCF Is Proposing
Under the plan, described in a blog post from the foundation, individuals would register a domain such as yourname.self as their primary online identifier, replacing reliance on services like 'Sign in with Google' or 'Login with Facebook.' The domain would function as a hub for a person's data, services, and online presence, hosted on infrastructure the individual controls rather than a third-party platform.
HCCF lists several principles underpinning the proposal:
- Self-sovereign identity — control of one's digital identity without mediation by a corporate platform.
- Data portability — data tied to a
.selfdomain can be moved between services, reducing lock-in. - Permissioned data access — users can grant or revoke access to their data at a granular level, including for AI training or other applications.
- Interoperability — the framework is meant to rely on open standards so self-hosted services can communicate with each other.
Why It's Being Proposed Now
HCCF frames the proposal as a response to how personal data is used to train AI systems. By controlling data at the source, the foundation argues, users could set terms for its use — including opting out of AI training or charging for access.
Self-hosting itself isn't new, but a dedicated top-level domain would be a more formal attempt to build infrastructure and standards around it. The proposal has drawn discussion on Hacker News, though it remains a proposal rather than an approved or operating TLD — creating a new gTLD requires going through ICANN's application process, which the HCCF post does not detail a timeline for.
Whether .self gains any real adoption will depend on factors the current proposal doesn't yet address, including funding, technical implementation, and whether ICANN approves the domain at all.