Re: Proposal for Authorization in VC HTTP API

On Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 9:25 AM David Chadwick <
d.w.chadwick@verifiablecredentials.info> wrote:

Surely the http api should concentrate on the functionality of the
endpoints, and authentication and authorisation is required for all of
them, which can be the subject of the new document that Orie is suggesting.
I also assume that using the term authorisation implies authentication as
well, since you cannot authorise anyone without authentication e.g. I
present an authz token to you, but you still have to authenticate and
verify the token.

I have been very happy to see the term "verify" used in this discussion,
because it avoids the confusion between "authenticate" to mean "this is a
properly formed token" from "this is the right person."  Your last phrase
raises the possibility of someone taking "authenticate" in a way you didn't
intend.

--------------
Alan Karp


On Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 9:25 AM David Chadwick <
d.w.chadwick@verifiablecredentials.info> wrote:

> On 22/08/2021 15:10, Manu Sporny wrote:
>
> On 8/21/21 7:26 PM, steve capell wrote:
>
> * I'm unclear about which VC-API interactions should require authorisation
> and which should not.
>
> There is clarity on most, but not all, of the endpoints we have defined so far
> wrt. authorization. There is a column here marked "Authorization Required?":
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hlevKRxCXsJBWvJTkL30nZVp8cpF26aY3PJqzuHtIZE/edit#gid=0
>
> To be clear, we're talking exclusively about authorization (not
> authentication, e.g., DIDAuth -- that's out of scope).
>
>
> * I can imagine that an issuer will certainly want to authorise a subject
> that is requesting a VC.  "yes, that's the john smith we know, here's your
> digital drivers license"
>
> The term I believe you meant to use was "authenticate", because
> "authorization" is subtly orthogonal. So, let's make sure we're talking about
> the same thing first:
> https://stackoverflow.com/a/6556548
>
> "yes, that's the john smith we know" is authentication
>
> "and given that it's the john smith we know, he is authorized to receive a
> digital driver's license" is authorization.
>
> "here's your digital drivers license" presumes some sort of authorization took
> place. Providing the digital drivers license happens AFTER authorization was
> successful.
>
>
> * But I cant imagine why or how a verifier will want to authorise John
> when he presents his license as proof of age in a bottle shop because
> there's very unlikely to have been any a-priori registration of either john
> or his chosen system to the bottle shop system. Instead I'd expect an
> anonymous access "yes, that's a valid drivers license and, yes, the photo
> on it looks like you sir, here's your vodka".
>
> Again, "yes, that's a valid drivers license and, yes, the photo on it looks
> like you sir" is authentication.
>
> "and given that you're above the age of ??, you are allowed to purchase
> alcohol" is authorization.
>
> "here's your vodka" presumes some sort of authorization took place.
>
> You're not far off, but we do need to make sure we're very clear about what
> we're talking about "authorization", and what's not necessarily the focus of
> the current discussion "authentication".
>
>
> would it be possible to see a diagram of VC-API interactions with some
> indication of which require auth and which dont?
>
> Column G here:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hlevKRxCXsJBWvJTkL30nZVp8cpF26aY3PJqzuHtIZE/edit#gid=0
>
> The Use Cases team is working on some more detailed data flow diagrams to
> elaborate upon the matter further. I expect we're several weeks of from those
> being done.
>
> Did that help, Steve?
>
> Surely the http api should concentrate on the functionality of the
> endpoints, and authentication and authorisation is required for all of
> them, which can be the subject of the new document that Orie is suggesting.
> I also assume that using the term authorisation implies authentication as
> well, since you cannot authorise anyone without authentication e.g. I
> present an authz token to you, but you still have to authenticate and
> verify the token.
>
> -- manu
>
>
>
>