Re: Question/idea: Self-contained WebID

On 5/28/14 5:22 AM, Daniël Bos (远洋) wrote:
> You're entirely correct, except that I was talking about OpenID, not 
> WebID ^_~
>
> To the point of WebID, since in the simplest case you only need to 
> host a static file, I don't see much of a problem here. You can host 
> it on a website, on Google Drive, Dropbox or a host of other free and 
> convenient places. I believe Kingsley's YouID apps offers this 
> functionality.
>
> I haven't actively followed WebID for a long time, so there's one 
> thing I'm wondering about how it's handled. What do services offering 
> WebID use to identify users?

Denotation is handled by the HTTP URI in the X.509 Certs. SAN slot i.e, 
the WebID.

Identification is handled by the combination of claims in the X.509 cert 
and claims in the public WebID-Profile document, which you obtain by 
de-referencing the WebID in the Cert. SAN en route to the description of 
what's denoted by said WebID.

Authentication of the claims discerned from Identification occurs via 
protocols e.g., WebID-TLS, OpenID etc..
>
> The public key? -> What happens when the user's certificate expires or 
> when he looses control of it?

That's one component of an identity claim i.e., possession of a Public 
Key that pairs with a Private Key.

> The URI?

That's just denotation i.e., like a word in natural language. When you 
added Linked Data principles to the mix, the word becomes a term (i.e, 
denotation and reference duality).
> How can a user change their WebID URI?

Make another identity card/certificate. Cross reference the new WebID 
with the old, via an appropriate relation (e.g., owl:sameAs, 
rdfs:seeAlso etc..) .

> Or something else?

It's ultimately all about identifiers, relations, and logic, thanks to 
the very architecture that underlies the World Wide Web.

-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
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