Re: [community] from W3C….Fwd: Proposal: "User" header field

Perhaps you might want to consider sending acct: URI.
Then, you can leverage WebFinger for the discovery process.


2013/12/26 Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com>

>
>
>
> On 25 December 2013 18:14, Phil Hunt <phil.hunt@oracle.com> wrote:
>
>> Do you mean a URL for session state or a URL for the User (subject)
>> authenticated?
>>
>
> The URL for the User (subject) authenticated.
>
>
>>
>> Phil
>>
>> On Dec 25, 2013, at 6:50, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 19 July 2013 16:00, n-sakimura <n-sakimura@nri.co.jp> wrote:
>>
>>> Actually, in the pure sense, OAuth Bearer Authorization is just
>>> representing the Authorization = Access Grant, and the entity who is
>>> presenting the token is not necessarily the entity who got authenticated
>>> and obtained the token. That's the beauty of bearer instruments [1]. (Most
>>> common bearer instrument is physical money such as bank notes and coins.)
>>> It makes the late binded delegation / power of attorney easy.
>>>
>>> However, this feature makes the bearer token a dangerous thing to use as
>>> authentication / representation of identity. To use it as an authentication
>>> token, the following assumptions MUST be fulfilled.
>>>
>>> 1. Bearer Token is naver used by any entity but the entity who
>>>    obtained it.
>>>
>>> 2. It is possible to verify the audience of the token.
>>>
>>> These conditions are generally not met.
>>>
>>> That's why OpenID Connect introduced ID Token, which is a registered
>>> instrument rather than a bearer instrument.
>>>
>>> If you were just concerned with authentication (= process of identifying
>>> the entity in front of your service), then I would stick with OpenID
>>> Connect. Create an OAuth authorization request with scope=openid as:
>>>
>>> https://server.example.com/authorize?
>>>     response_type=code
>>>     &client_id=s6BhdRkqt3
>>>     &redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fclient.example.org%2Fcb
>>>     &scope=openid
>>>     &state=af0ifjsldkj
>>>
>>> Then, you will get an authorization code.
>>>
>>> Send the authorization code to the authorization endpoint. This is a
>>> plain OAuth 2.0 Authorization request again:
>>>
>>> POST /token HTTP/1.1
>>>   Host: server.example.com
>>>   Authorization: Basic czZCaGRSa3F0MzpnWDFmQmF0M2JW
>>>   Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
>>>
>>>   grant_type=authorization_code&code=SplxlOBeZQQYbYS6WxSbIA
>>>     &redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fclient%2Eexample%2Ecom%2Fcb
>>>
>>> It will respond with JSON such as:
>>>
>>>   {
>>>    "access_token":"SlAV32hkKG",
>>>    "token_type":"Bearer",
>>>    "expires_in":3600,
>>>    "refresh_token":"tGzv3JOkF0XG5Qx2TlKWIA",
>>>    "id_token":"eyJ0 ... NiJ9.eyJ1c ... I6IjIifX0.DeWt4Qu ... ZXso"
>>>   }
>>>
>>> id_token is JWT encoded JSON. When you decode it, you will get something
>>> like:
>>>
>>>
>>>   {
>>>    "iss": "https://server.example.com",
>>>    "sub": "alice",
>>>    "aud": "https://blog.example.com",
>>>    "exp": 1311281970,
>>>    "iat": 1311280970
>>>   }
>>>
>>> You can put these in the session cookie for easy access from the web
>>> application such as blog subsequently. Make sure that you store them in the
>>> cookie that was bound for the state parameter value that came back with
>>> code.
>>>
>>> This I think solves your use case, does it not?
>>> That's about the bear minimum you have to do to do the authentication...
>>>
>>
>> I finally got some time to read through this, I've looked at OAuth,
>> Bearer Token, Basic and Digest Auth documentation.  There would appear to
>> be no 100% straightforward way for clients and servers to indicate a URL
>> that controls that session.  I've put this proposal in our wiki page,
>> including the proposed text, some background, use cases and
>> implementations.  One use case is for client side apps to be able determine
>> the user they are dealing with and render the page accordingly.
>>
>> http://www.w3.org/community/rww/wiki/User_Header
>>
>> Feedback welcome!  (And Merry Christmas :))
>>
>> [[
>>  Introduction
>>
>> There would appear to be no simple way in HTTP, to indicate an HTTP URL
>> referring to the User that is currently controlling a session. This would
>> be useful for both clients and servers, and, in particular to allow client
>> side applications to personalize a page. Architecturally, a clean, modular,
>> separation of identity and verified identity (authentication) may be
>> beneficial.
>>
>> There has been some discussion on whether the "From" header can be used
>> to identify a user in HTTP, but for historical reasons it's limited to
>> email, any change to this would likely get some pushback from the IETF.
>>
>> The suggestion has been to choose another header, and the latest proposal
>> is to create a new User header. The text below is very similar to the
>> existing "From" header
>>  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<http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986>
>>
>>    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.
>>
>> Additionally, servers MAY send this header, having verified the identity
>> of a user, enabling client side apps to personalize a page.
>>  Use Cases  Page Personalization
>>
>> The user header would allow a personalization of pages for client side
>> apps. One might display a user's name, avatar and homepage, by
>> dereferencing the URL and finding out more information.
>>  Server Response
>>
>> A server may respond with a user header to tell a client who is in
>> control of the current session. The client may use this information to
>> access locally stored information.
>>  Endpoint Discovery
>>
>> By dereferencing a URL it may be possible to find further endpoints, for
>> example, in order to authenticate the idenitity.
>>  Identity Verification
>>
>> While the user header is simply a hint, it is possible to imagine a
>> scenario where more information is provided, such as a key pair in TLS, or
>> additional information such as the "Authorization" header, to enable the
>> server to verify the authenticity of the User. For example using Basic Auth
>> the user may not contain the ":" character, so this would, enable a URL to
>> be associated with a password.
>>  Implementations
>>
>>    - OpenLink Data Spaces <http://ods.openlinksw.com/wiki/ODS/>
>>    - rww.io
>>    - data.fm
>>
>>  ]]
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> [1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearer_instrument
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (2013/07/19 18:23), Torsten Lodderstedt wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Melvin,
>>>>
>>>> <snip>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     1) You just need a hint? So you don't rely on this data for access
>>>>>     control. Use any header you want.
>>>>>     2) You want to control access to a resource. This requires
>>>>>     trustworthy/authenticated identity data. Here the obvious way is
>>>>>     an OAuth access token (authorization header, BEARER scheme). In
>>>>>     your specific case, it might be required to even specify the
>>>>>     tokens format. JSON web tokens would be the right choice in my
>>>>>     opinion.
>>>>>
>>>>>     Why does you concept require the user id to be a URL?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Thorsten, the concept does not require a URL, but it needs a header
>>>>> that does not *forbid* a URL, and this was the issue with "From".  The
>>>>> reason is that many people host user profiles on a web URL, so we
>>>>> would like to be inclusive of that group of people.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not 100% familiar with all the latest changes to OAuth / OpenID
>>>>> Connect, but if there is something in those specifications that could
>>>>> be reused to send an identity to a server, and you could point me to
>>>>> what to read up on, I'd be grateful.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> sure.
>>>>
>>>> Latest information regarding OAuth can be obtained on the WG page
>>>> (https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/oauth/)
>>>>
>>>> Sending a token to a protected resource uses the BEARER authorization
>>>> scheme (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6750) and works like this:
>>>>
>>>>       GET /resource HTTP/1.1
>>>>       Host: server.example.com
>>>>       Authorization: Bearer mF_9.B5f-4.1JqM
>>>>
>>>> "mF_9.B5f-4.1JqM" is the actual token typically containing identity and
>>>> authz data about the user on whos behalf the request is being performed.
>>>>
>>>>  From the client's perspective, this token is opaque and can be utilize
>>>> any format the OAuth authorization server and the respective resource
>>>> server agreed upon. The WG also specified a certain token format, which
>>>> is called JSON Web Token
>>>> (http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-oauth-json-web-token-10). The
>>>> format allows to represent identity data (so-called claims) in a
>>>> cryptographically protected way. One of those claims is "sub", an user
>>>> account identifier which may also be a URI. A typical JWT contains
>>>> claims identifying the IDP (iss), the resource server the token is
>>>> targeted at (aud) and the user id (sub).
>>>>
>>>> This is an example JWT (prior signature processing etc):
>>>>
>>>>       {"iss":"https://idp.mydomain.com",
>>>>         "aud":"https://resourceserver.otherdomain.org"
>>>>        "exp":1300819380,
>>>>        "sub":"http://this.is.the/user/bmeier
>>>> <http://this.is.the/user/identifier>"}
>>>>
>>>> regards,
>>>> Torsten.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>     Regards,
>>>>>     Torsten.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com
>>>>>     <mailto:melvincarvalho@gmail.com>> schrieb:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         On 18 July 2013 19:38, Torsten Lodderstedt
>>>>>         <torsten@lodderstedt.net <mailto:torsten@lodderstedt.net>>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>             I fully agree with George und would like to add: why don't
>>>>>             you just use the authorization header to send identity
>>>>>             data/credentials/tokens to the server in order to allow
>>>>>             for access control?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Hi Thorsten, thanks for the tip. If there's an existing way to
>>>>>         identify to a server a user's URL via a header, I'd love to
>>>>>         learn more about that. It's preferable to reuse existing
>>>>>         tools, if possible, than to create something new.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             George Fletcher <gffletch@aol.com
>>>>>             <mailto:gffletch@aol.com>> schrieb:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 I'm a little confused... first the spec says
>>>>>
>>>>>                     The current text includes: "It SHOULD NOT be used
>>>>>                     as an insecure form of access protection." -- This
>>>>>                     is the same as the "From" header (which may
>>>>>                     contain an email address).  Do you think stronger
>>>>>                     wording is required.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 and then you follow that up with
>>>>>
>>>>>                     In particular, one thing we are working on in the
>>>>>                     Read Write Web Community Group is fine grained
>>>>>                     access control for writing or appending a file.
>>>>>                     It's helpful to know who is trying to make a
>>>>>                     change before returning e.g. SUCCESS or FORBIDDEN
>>>>>                     response codes.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Since there is no authentication or proof associated
>>>>>                 with the 'User' header, how can you use it for fine
>>>>>                 grained access control? Is the expectation that the
>>>>>                 value is an untrusted identification of the user that
>>>>>                 can be used to optimize certain use cases? If so, I'm
>>>>>                 not sure which use cases it helps?
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Thanks,
>>>>>                 George
>>>>>
>>>>>                 On 7/18/13 12:49 PM, Melvin Carvalho wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 On 18 July 2013 01:54, John Kemp <john@jkemp.net
>>>>>>                 <mailto:john@jkemp.net>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     The problem, in general, with putting identifiers
>>>>>>                     in HTTP requests is that they get mistaken for
>>>>>>                     being real things. User is no worse (or better)
>>>>>>                     than User-Agent. Remember all of the mess about
>>>>>>                     how websites would attempt to render sites to
>>>>>>                     clients based on the contents of the User-Agent
>>>>>>                     header, and how long it's taken for something
>>>>>>                     better to appear for that task?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 Yes, I agree that User-Agent can be slightly
>>>>>>                 problematic. Some spiders such as googlebot actually
>>>>>>                 put their URL in the User-Agent header, as a
>>>>>>                 semi-colon separated list, which is not ideal.  The
>>>>>>                 user and the user-agent are different concepts.  The
>>>>>>                 proposed header would be a simpler solution, imho.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     'Just a hint' doesn't tell anyone what this is
>>>>>>                     really going to be used for. Are there use-cases
>>>>>>                     written down, in addition to a syntax?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 The current text includes: "It SHOULD NOT be used as
>>>>>>                 an insecure form of access protection."  -- This is
>>>>>>                 the same as the "From" header (which may contain an
>>>>>>                 email address). Do you think stronger wording is
>>>>>>                 required.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 The use case is the same as "From" in fact, my ideal
>>>>>>                 would have been just to loosen the scope of "From"
>>>>>>                 but there was pushback from the IETF on this, with
>>>>>>                 the suggestion to think of another header name.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 In particular, one thing we are working on in the
>>>>>>                 Read Write Web Community Group is fine grained access
>>>>>>                 control for writing or appending a file.  It's
>>>>>>                 helpful to know who is trying to make a change before
>>>>>>                 returning e.g. SUCCESS or FORBIDDEN response codes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     On a more specific level, this looks like
>>>>>>                     "On-behalf-of" - a more indicative name than
>>>>>>                     "user" for the seemingly potential usage (this
>>>>>>                     request is performed on behalf of the user X)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 I'd be very happy to reuse something existing, so
>>>>>>                 long as it allowed URLs and email address too.  If
>>>>>>                 I'm correct, On-behalf-of is email specific?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     I'm not sure why OpenIDs couldn't appear in this
>>>>>>                     header, FWIW. The recipient could run OpenID
>>>>>>                     protocol with the client, regarding the
>>>>>>                     identifier sent in the header. That would allow
>>>>>>                     "verification" of the OpenID to occur, wouldn't
>>>>>> it?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 Well I hadnt thought of that, but yes that could work
>>>>>>                 quite well!  One of the perceived issues with OpenID
>>>>>>                 as a URL (dating back as far as Yadis) was that the
>>>>>>                 UX for typing in an HTTP URL lead to a loss of
>>>>>>                 conversions.  If this could be done by the software
>>>>>>                 and may save some typing, especially on mobile
>>>>>>                 devices. The same technique could be used with PKI if
>>>>>>                 the URL contained a public key and the (rich) client
>>>>>>                 could store the private key.  I think that will
>>>>>>                 become a more valuable use case next year when crypto
>>>>>>                 on the browser becomes a REC
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     John
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     On Jul 17, 2013, at 7:41 PM, Melvin Carvalho
>>>>>>                     <melvincarvalho@gmail.com
>>>>>>                     <mailto:melvincarvalho@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > On 18 July 2013 01:06, Nat Sakimura
>>>>>>                     <sakimura@gmail.com <mailto:sakimura@gmail.com>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     wrote:
>>>>>>                     > Hi.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > I am forwarding the mail in the identity
>>>>>>                     commons list.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Apparently, there is an initiative at W3C
>>>>>>                     proposing a new "identity" header, which I
>>>>>>                     believe is actually harmful for the general
>>>>>>                     public. Simple web sites are going to take it as
>>>>>>                     authenticated identity and thus will cause
>>>>>>                     identity theft of their users.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Their proposal is to include
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >   User: http://this.is.the/user/identifier
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > in the HTTP header.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Could those of you active in W3C reach out to
>>>>>> them?
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > As I have written below, if it were to just
>>>>>>                     include the IdP address as a hint, I am kind of
>>>>>> fine.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Thanks for sharing this.  Since this was my
>>>>>>                     proposal, I hope I can shed a bit of light light.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Firstly, it's not the W3C, simply a group of
>>>>>>                     people brainstorming in the a W3C hosted forum
>>>>>>                     (aka community groups).  The proposal has no
>>>>>>                     official standing, but if there are no
>>>>>>                     objections, the idea is to try and push the idea
>>>>>>                     upstream.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Yes, the idea is that it is just a hint.  Note
>>>>>>                     the text:
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > "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."
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > We asked the IETF if we could use the "From"
>>>>>>                     header for this, but the feedback is that "From"
>>>>>>                     is restricted to email, and this would be
>>>>>>                     difficult to change.  The suggestion was to come
>>>>>>                     up with a new header.  Very happy to have
>>>>>>                     feedback, I've followed IIW work for many years.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Best,
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Nat
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>>>                     > From: Kaliya "Identity Woman"
>>>>>>                     <kaliya-lists@identitywoman.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:kaliya-lists@identitywoman.net>>
>>>>>>                     > Date: 2013/7/18
>>>>>>                     > Subject: Re: [community] from W3C$B!D(B.Fwd:
>>>>>>                     Proposal: "User" header field
>>>>>>                     > To: Nat Sakimura <sakimura@gmail.com
>>>>>>                     <mailto:sakimura@gmail.com>>
>>>>>>                     > Cc: "community@lists.idcommons.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:community@lists.idcommons.net>"
>>>>>>                     <community@lists.idcommons.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:community@lists.idcommons.net>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Yes Nat,  Thats sort of what I got from reading
>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Who among us is very active in the W3C world?
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > If no one should we be figuring out who should
>>>>>> be?
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Should we write them a letter asking them to
>>>>>>                     send "identitish" proposals to IIW? or other
>>>>>>                     forums for good input?
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > Maybe we should write something that is like
>>>>>>                     understanding identity basics for technical
>>>>>>                     specification folks across a range of standards
>>>>>>                     bodies?
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > - Kaliya
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > On Jul 17, 2013, at 3:32 AM, Nat Sakimura wrote:
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >> Whoa, what's that?!
>>>>>>                     >>
>>>>>>                     >> That's not only useless but actually harmful.
>>>>>>                     >>
>>>>>>                     >> I can kind of see some utility in sending the
>>>>>>                     IdP address, but not the user.
>>>>>>                     >>
>>>>>>                     >> =nat via iPhone
>>>>>>                     >>
>>>>>>                     >> On Jul 16, 2013, at 7:39, "Kaliya \"Identity
>>>>>>                     Woman\"" <kaliya-lists@identitywoman.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:kaliya-lists@identitywoman.net>> wrote:
>>>>>>                     >>
>>>>>>                     >>> Hi folks,
>>>>>>                     >>>  Apparently the W3C wants to send "user"
>>>>>>                     names along in HTTP headers.
>>>>>>                     >>> I thought some folks who know about identity
>>>>>>                     and how it does/could/should work might be up for
>>>>>>                     chiming in over there.
>>>>>>                     >>> It seems like Authentication of identity
>>>>>>                     might be a good thing rather then just assertion.
>>>>>>                     >>>  - Kaliya
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> From: Christine
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> As you know, I'm a big proponent of open
>>>>>>                     standards. For this reason I monitor many groups.
>>>>>>                     You might be interested in the W3C Read Write Web
>>>>>>                     community group: http://www.w3.org/community/rww/
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> I sent you a message a few weeks ago about
>>>>>>                     Tabulator.
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> See below messages about User header field.
>>>>>>                     If you are not already a member, I recommend you
>>>>>>                     join and contribute!
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> Christine
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>>>>>                     >>>> Subject:   Re: Proposal: "User" header field
>>>>>>                     >>>> Resent-Date:     Sat, 13 Jul 2013 16:19:02
>>>>>> +0000
>>>>>>                     >>>> Resent-From: public-rww@w3.org
>>>>>>                     <mailto:public-rww@w3.org>
>>>>>>                     >>>> Date:  Sat, 13 Jul 2013 12:08:37 -0400
>>>>>>                     >>>> From:      Joe <presbrey@gmail.com
>>>>>>                     <mailto:presbrey@gmail.com>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> To:  Melvin Carvalho
>>>>>>                     <melvincarvalho@gmail.com
>>>>>>                     <mailto:melvincarvalho@gmail.com>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> CC:  public-rww <public-rww@w3.org
>>>>>>                     <mailto:public-rww@w3.org>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> Great job Melvin!
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> Data.fm sends the User header already :)
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>> On Jul 13, 2013, at 10:55 AM, Melvin
>>>>>>                     Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com
>>>>>>                     <mailto: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!
>>>>>>                     >>>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     ______________________________
>>>>>> ______________________________
>>>>>>                     >>> You received this message as a subscriber on
>>>>>>                     the list:
>>>>>>                     >>> community@lists.idcommons.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:community@lists.idcommons.net>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >>> To be removed from the list, send any message
>>>>>> to:
>>>>>>                     >>> community-unsubscribe@lists.idcommons.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:community-unsubscribe@lists.idcommons.net
>>>>>> >
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >>>
>>>>>>                     >>> For all list information and functions, see:
>>>>>>                     >>> http://lists.idcommons.net/
>>>>>> lists/info/community
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > --
>>>>>>                     > Nat Sakimura (=nat)
>>>>>>                     > Chairman, OpenID Foundation
>>>>>>                     > http://nat.sakimura.org/
>>>>>>                     > @_nat_en
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                     > specs mailing list
>>>>>>                     > specs@lists.openid.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:specs@lists.openid.net>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     http://lists.openid.net/
>>>>>> mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     > _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                     > specs mailing list
>>>>>>                     > specs@lists.openid.net
>>>>>>                     <mailto:specs@lists.openid.net>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                     >
>>>>>>                     http://lists.openid.net/
>>>>>> mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                 specs mailing list
>>>>>>                 specs@lists.openid.net  <mailto:
>>>>>> specs@lists.openid.net>
>>>>>>                 http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 --
>>>>>                 George Fletcher <http://connect.me/gffletch>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 ------------------------------
>>>>> ------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>                 specs mailing list
>>>>>                 specs@lists.openid.net  <mailto:specs@lists.openid.net
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> specs mailing list
>>>> specs@lists.openid.net
>>>> http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Nat Sakimura (n-sakimura@nri.co.jp)
>>> Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.
>>> Tel:+81-3-6274-1412 Fax:+81-3-6274-1547
>>>
>>> $BK\%a!<%k$K4^$^$l$k>pJs$O5!L)>pJs$G$"$j!"08@h$K5-:\$5$l$F$$$kJ}$N$_$KAw?.(B $B$9$k$3$H$r0U?^$7$F$*$j$^$9!#0U?^$5$l$?pJs$N(B
>>> $B3+<(!"J#@=!":FG[I[$dE>Aw$J$I0l@Z$NMxMQ$,6X;_$5$l$F$$$^$9!#8m$C$FK\%a!<%k(B $B$rl9g$O!"?=$7Lu$4$6$$$^$;$s$,!"Aw?.specs@lists.openid.net
>> http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> specs mailing list
> specs@lists.openid.net
> http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>
>


-- 
Nat Sakimura (=nat)
Chairman, OpenID Foundation
http://nat.sakimura.org/
@_nat_en

Received on Thursday, 16 January 2014 09:01:37 UTC