When Credentials Cause Harm

Verifiable digital records of learning and work and digital credentials promise to unlock opportunity, until they don't. When record and credential systems fail, they can trap workers in rigid pathways, exclude learners from advancement, and turn trust into a commodity that some can afford and others cannot.

When Credentials Cause Harm exposes how emerging verifiable record and digital credentialing systems perpetuate inequity in learning and work contexts, even as they're marketed as tools of empowerment. More importantly, it charts a path forward: showing how verifiable digital records and credentials can expand freedom when designed with equity and human rights at the center.

For anyone building, implementing, or affected by digital record and credentialing systems, this book reveals what's at stake and how to build systems that truly serve people.

Book 1 in the When We Cause Harm Series