terms.html

<p>
The following terms are used to describe concepts in this specification.
</p>

<dl class="termlist">
  <dt><dfn data-lt="claims">claim</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
An assertion made about a <a>subject</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verifiable credential schema|verifiable credential schemas|credential schema|credential schemas">verifiable credential schema</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The data model that this specification defines.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="json schema|json schemas">json schema</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A declarative language that allows you to annotate and validate JSON documents.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="credential|credentials">credential</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A set of one or more <a>claims</a> made by an <a>issuer</a>. 
The <a>claims</a> in a credential can be about different <a>subjects</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn>data minimization</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The act of limiting the amount of shared data strictly to the minimum
necessary to successfully accomplish a task or goal.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="decentralized identifiers|DID|DIDs">decentralized identifier</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A portable URL-based identifier, also known as a <strong><em>DID</em></strong>,
associated with an <a>entity</a>. These identifiers are most often used in a
<a>verifiable credential</a> and are associated with <a>subjects</a> such that a
<a>verifiable credential</a> itself can be easily ported from one
<a>repository</a> to another without the need to reissue the <a>credential</a>.
An example of a DID is <code>did:example:123456abcdef</code>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn class="lint-ignore" data-lt="decentralized identifier documents|DID document|DID documents">decentralized identifier document</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
Also referred to as a <strong><em>DID document</em></strong>, this is a document
that is accessible using a <a>verifiable data registry</a> and contains
information related to a specific <a>decentralized identifier</a>, such as the
associated <a>repository</a> and public key information.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn class="lint-ignore">digital signature</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="entities|entity's">entity</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A thing with distinct and independent existence, such as a person,
organization, or device that performs one or more roles in the ecosystem.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="holders|holder's|holders'">holder</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A role an <a>entity</a> might perform by possessing one or more
<a>verifiable credentials</a> and generating <a>presentations</a> from them.
A holder is usually, but not always, a <a>subject</a> of the <a>verifiable
credentials</a> they are holding. Holders store their <a>credentials</a> in
<a>credential repositories</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn class="lint-ignore"
           data-lt="identities|identity's">identity</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The means for keeping track of <a>entities</a> across contexts. Digital
identities enable tracking and customization of <a>entity</a> interactions
across digital contexts, typically using identifiers and attributes. Unintended
distribution or use of identity information can compromise privacy. Collection
and use of such information should follow the principle of
<a>data minimization</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="issuers|issuer's">issuer</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A role an <a>entity</a> can perform by asserting <a>claims</a> about one or
more <a>subjects</a>, creating a <a>verifiable credential</a> from these
<a>claims</a>, and transmitting the <a>verifiable credential</a> to a
<a>holder</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="presentation|presentations">presentation</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
Data derived from one or more <a>verifiable credentials</a>, issued by one or
more <a>issuers</a>, that is shared with a specific <a>verifier</a>.
  </dd>  
  <dt><dfn data-lt="credential repository|credential repositories|repositories">repository</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A program, such as a storage vault or personal <a>verifiable credential</a>
wallet, that stores and protects access to <a>holders'</a>
<a>verifiable credentials</a>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn>selective disclosure</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The ability of a <a>holder</a> to make fine-grained decisions about what
information to share.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="subjects|subject's">subject</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A thing about which <a>claims</a> are made.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="credential validation">validation</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The assurance that a <a>verifiable credential</a> or a
<a>verifiable presentation</a> meets the needs of a <a>verifier</a> and other
dependent stakeholders. This specification is constrained to <a>verifying</a>
<a>verifiable credentials</a> and <a>verifiable presentations</a> regardless of
their usage. Validating <a>verifiable credentials</a> or
<a>verifiable presentations</a> is outside the scope of this specification.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verifiable credential|verifiable credentials|vc|vcs">verifiable credential</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A verifiable credential is a tamper-evident credential that has authorship that 
can be cryptographically verified. Verifiable credentials can be used to build
<a>verifiable presentations</a>, which can also be cryptographically verified.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verifiable data registries">verifiable data registry</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A role a system might perform by mediating the creation and <a>verification</a>
of identifiers, keys, and other relevant data, such as
<a>verifiable credential</a> schemas, revocation registries, issuer public keys,
and so on, which might be required to use <a>verifiable credentials</a>. Some
configurations might require correlatable identifiers for <a>subjects</a>. Some
registries, such as ones for UUIDs and public keys, might just act as namespaces
for identifiers.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verifiable presentation|verifiable presentations|vp|vps">verifiable presentation</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A verifiable presentation is a tamper-evident presentation encoded in such a way 
that authorship of the data can be trusted after a process of cryptographic 
verification. Certain types of verifiable presentations might contain data that 
is synthesized from, but do not contain, the original <a>verifiable credentials</a> 
(for example, zero-knowledge proofs).
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verify|verified|verifying|verifiable|verifiability">verification</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The evaluation of whether a <a>verifiable credential</a> or <a>verifiable presentation</a>
is an authentic and timely statement of the issuer or presenter, respectively.
    This includes checking that: the credential (or presentation) conforms to the specification; the proof method is
satisfied; and, if present, the status check succeeds.
Verification of a credential does not imply evaluation of the truth
of <a>claims</a> encoded in the credential.</a>.

  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="verifier|verifiers|verifier's|credential verifiers|credential verifier's">verifier</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A role an <a>entity</a> performs by receiving one or more
<a>verifiable credentials</a>, optionally inside a
<a>verifiable presentation</a> for processing. Other specifications might refer
to this concept as a <dfn data-lt="relying parties">relying party</dfn>.
  </dd>
  <dt><dfn data-lt="URL|URLs">URL</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
A Uniform Resource Locator, as defined by [[URL]]. URLs can be dereferenced such
that they result in a resource, such as a document. The rules for dereferencing,
or fetching, a URL are defined by the URL [=url/scheme=]. This specification
does not use the term URI or IRI because those terms have been deemed to be
confusing to Web developers.
  </dd>
    <dt><dfn data-lt="resolution|schema resolution">schema resolution</dfn></dt>
  <dd>
The process that takes as its input a <a>URL</a> and returns a <a>credential schema</a>.
  </dd>
</dl>