Re: Proposal: "User" header field

Great job Melvin!

Data.fm sends the User header already :)




On Jul 13, 2013, at 10:55 AM, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote:

> I would be nice to be able to identify a user in HTTP, especially with read/write protocols and access control, it can be important to know who is trying to change something.
> 
> There has been some discussion on whether the "From" header can be used to identify a user in HTTP, and my from most people is that this would be a good candidate to send a user, but for historical reasons it's limited to email, and changing this would perhaps get some pushback from the IETF.
> 
> The suggestion has been to choose another header, so I thought that "User" might be a good candidate, since we have User Agent arleady.
> 
> Here's the proposed text:
> 
> [[
> User
> 
> The User request-header field, if given, SHOULD contain an identifier for the human user who controls the requesting user agent. The address SHOULD be machine-usable, as defined by the "URI General Syntax" RFC 3986
> 
>        User   = "User" ":" URI
> An example is:
> 
>        User: http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#i
> This header field MAY be used for logging purposes and as a means for identifying the source of invalid or unwanted requests. It SHOULD NOT be used as an insecure form of access protection. The interpretation of this field is that the request is being performed on behalf of the person given, who accepts responsibility for the method performed. In particular, robot agents SHOULD include this header so that the person responsible for running the robot can be contacted if problems occur on the receiving end.
> 
> The client SHOULD NOT send the User header field without the user's approval, as it might conflict with the user's privacy interests or their site's security policy. It is strongly recommended that the user be able to disable, enable, and modify the value of this field at any time prior to a request. 
> 
> ]]
> 
> Feedback welcome!
>