US Patent 11777932 Controlling access to internet of things devices using verifiable credentials

In general, this disclosure describes an IoT access control exchange for IoT devices. Verifiable credentials can be generated and used to grant access to IoT devices definitively identified using a Decentralized Identifier (DID). DIDs for IoT devices are registered by the IoT exchange hub acting as an Identity Hub. An organization interested in obtaining data from a collection of devices, the IoT Access Customer, contacts the IoT device owner agent via their mutual agents and obtains a verifiable credential with a request for access. The access request is submitted to the IoT exchange hub. The IoT exchange hub either enforces the access request itself if the devices do not have enough resources or submits the verifiable credential with the access request to the devices for them to enforce access. The IoT access customer agent, IoT device owner agent, and IoT exchange hub similarly identify themselves and prove authentication using DIDs.