Re: mDL app = wallet app

> On 17 Oct 2025, at 03:11, Manu Sporny <msporny@digitalbazaar.com> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM Jeffrey Yasskin <jyasskin@google.com> wrote:
>> As Adam Langley argued for WebAuthn, if websites can restrict the wallet apps they work with, that's likely to prevent new wallet apps from entering the market. It'll also prevent users from using a minority OS of their choice, might require users to have several wallet apps to satisfy the conflicting requirements of the various apps they use, and might prevent users from choosing the best wallet app for their needs.
> 
> Yes, exactly. Wallet attestation is, on the whole, an anti-pattern and
> has no place in an open ecosystem. Some of us in the VCWG have said
> that repeatedly, and I'm concerned that these objections are being
> ignored. It is a security issue, it is an open market competition
> issue, it's government overreach, it's a scalability issue, and in
> many cases, it's security theatre.
> 
> I'll also note that Tom's summary of the conversation we had in the
> Credentials Community Group Incubation call isn't an accurate summary
> of the discussion. The full transcript can be found here:
> 
> Discussion starts at 16 minutes into the video recording:
> https://meet.w3c-ccg.org/archives/w3c-ccg-ccg-incubation-2025-10-15.mp4
> 
> The text transcript is here (search for "00:15:00"):
> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-credentials/2025Oct/0028.html
> 
> The arguments are in the video recording and transcript, so I won't
> repeat them here.
> 
> I do think the issue needs to be written up more formally. We thought
> this bad idea would die on the vine, but it looks like this is headed
> to a bad place w/o an intervention of some kind. Perhaps some of us
> can get together at W3C TPAC to hammer out a plan forward that doesn't
> lead to the dangers that Jeffrey is speaking to; others in the
> community have the same concerns.

To cross-reference the issue: https://github.com/w3c-fedid/digital-credentials/issues/382


> 
> -- manu
> 
> -- 
> Manu Sporny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/manusporny/
> Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
> https://www.digitalbazaar.com/
>

Received on Monday, 20 October 2025 21:13:52 UTC