RE: Action-2142: Review of Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations

A government-issued pass that grants free or subsidized access to public transport to a person due to a disability would be a good example of a verifiable claim which is subject to the privacy concerns that Gottfried notes in his first comment.

Regarding Gottfried's second point, there may be use cases for individual preferences that are verifiable. For example, special arrangements (including the availability of assistive technology, and other customizations of the user interface) for educational or other assessments may need to be approved by an authority in order to be granted. Usually, the authority is the examination provider itself (e.g., a school, university or government). I don't know whether there are situations in which the party who approves the arrangements is different from the party that needs to verify them in order to provide what the person with a disability requires. If there are such cases, then we would wish to make user preferences verifiable under limited circumstances, and therefore consider using this specification as a means of conveying the preferences.

From: Gottfried Zimmermann (Lists) [mailto:zimmermann@accesstechnologiesgroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2017 1:53 PM
To: 'W3C WAI Accessible Platform Architectures' <public-apa@w3.org>
Subject: Action-2142: Review of Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations

Following up on action 2142<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FWAI%2FAPA%2Ftrack%2Factions%2F2142&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=XLctvIuoBfOn3mf2AAJr1xEBYW%2FnWiY5bwTQOCB0N9I%3D&reserved=0>, I have looked at the Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations draft 03 August 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FWD-verifiable-claims-data-model-20170803%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=aOy8Ecy6EUymQL55bmH7zuUiJrtVkjaqw7WI1%2B7DFRs%3D&reserved=0>, and documented my findings in the APA Wiki<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FWAI%2FAPA%2Fwiki%2FVerifiable_Claims_Data_Model_and_Representations&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=0ffbTP%2B%2B6kLrYu4lvzWzj40db30FO8dzcm7bFpqzWhk%3D&reserved=0>.

Here is the result of my review:


The Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations draft 03 August 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FWD-verifiable-claims-data-model-20170803%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=aOy8Ecy6EUymQL55bmH7zuUiJrtVkjaqw7WI1%2B7DFRs%3D&reserved=0> does not contain any requirements or recommendations on the user interface, nor does the related Verifiable Claims Use Cases Note 08 June 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FNOTE-verifiable-claims-use-cases-20170608%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=WniUCOWDit4yzFkniMWJmXdz25DCCAHYF%2BhZWy3FLzs%3D&reserved=0>. Therefore, there is no reason for raising accessibility concerns.

On an internal discussion, I see two points worth considering here, but none of them is critical enough to raise a flag.
1. If verifiable claims contain information about a person's health status of disability, this information needs to be protected on a highest level for privacy and security. Note that privacy and security considerations are already covered in sections 5 and 6 of the Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations draft 03 August 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FWD-verifiable-claims-data-model-20170803%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=aOy8Ecy6EUymQL55bmH7zuUiJrtVkjaqw7WI1%2B7DFRs%3D&reserved=0>.
2. On a first sight, one could hope that the ecosystem for verifiable claims could be also used for a controlled distribution of personal preference profiles identifying user interface needs and preferences of individual users. However, the ecosystem presented in Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations draft 03 August 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FWD-verifiable-claims-data-model-20170803%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=aOy8Ecy6EUymQL55bmH7zuUiJrtVkjaqw7WI1%2B7DFRs%3D&reserved=0> is informal (not normative), and does only contain components that help to verify data - not to store and manage the data. For personal preference profiles, the verification is usually not important - since the user does not gain privileges over other users by claiming to need a a specific set of preferences. There is one exception, though: If the user can get access to electronic texts that would otherwise be protected by copyright - due to their visual impairment. But this use case can be implemented by the Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations draft 03 August 2017<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2F2017%2FWD-verifiable-claims-data-model-20170803%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cjjwhite%40ets.org%7C73555db4f1d1481b05e908d4efd013ac%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C636397124347510648&sdata=aOy8Ecy6EUymQL55bmH7zuUiJrtVkjaqw7WI1%2B7DFRs%3D&reserved=0> without the need for a personal preference profile.


Best regards,
Gottfried

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 Prof. Dr. Gottfried Zimmermann
Mobile User Interaction
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