Method and apparatus for accepting a digital identity of a user based on transitive trust among parties are described. One aspect of the invention relates to managing a digital identity of a user. The digital identity is provided to a first party, where the digital identity includes a self-asserted claim. An acceptance token is obtained from the first party. The acceptance token purports authenticity of the self-asserted claim according to the first party. The digital identity and the acceptance token are provided to a second party to request validation of the self-asserted claim by the second party based on the acceptance token.