Re: VOTE: Verifiable Claims Terminology

On 06/10/2016 12:18 AM, Manu Sporny wrote:
> In order to make the terminology used across all Verifiable Claims
> proposal documents consistent, we need to seek consensus on the proper
> terms. This poll is an attempt to seek consensus on the terms we will
> use for the Verifiable Claims Working Group Proposal.
>
> The poll is an Instant Runoff Vote (IRV). There are three contests, make
> sure to order your choices in all three. Drag the candidates to arrange
> them in order of preference with your favorite at the top and your least
> favorite at the bottom.
>
> The poll opens now and will close at midnight (ET) on June 15th.
>
> Be sure to take time carefully ranking items, even the ones at the
> bottom (it matters in an IRV).
>
> https://www.opavote.com/vote/6609369386975232

I noticed a subtle difference in the second question in how I think
about this terminology than is captured there:

"There is an entity in our architecture that has a set of attributes
that are asserted via a set of credentials. This has typically been
called an "Identity", but that terminology has proven problematic
because it is fairly vague (and thus people think we're addressing
problems that we are not). We may want to keep the terminology as-is, or
we may want to change it to something the group feels is better."

I consider the thing that is identified by an identifier from the
identifier registry to be of type "Identity". I consider any particular
collection of attributes (it may not be *all attributes ever asserted*)
associated with that identifier to be an "Identity Profile".

Since "a set of attributes that are asserted via a set of credentials"
most closely matches "Identity Profile", I'm going to vote that way.
However, I would still expect to find this in the data model:

This is an "Identity Profile":

{
   "id": "<id from the identifier registry>",
   "type": "Identity",
   /* ...attributes asserted in this particular profile */
}

Note that the document above is referred to as an "Identity Profile",
but the "type" associated with the "id" is "Identity". You can have many
"Identity Profiles" for any particular "id", but the thing the
attributes therein are talking about is of type "Identity".


-- 
Dave Longley
CTO
Digital Bazaar, Inc.
http://digitalbazaar.com

Received on Friday, 10 June 2016 15:54:42 UTC