Rename "authentication" to "identity verification"

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Christopher Lemmer Webber 2019-07-19 13:26:25 -04:00
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commit 029898482f
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1 changed files with 20 additions and 17 deletions

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@ -60,8 +60,12 @@ not specified:
# "clean agreement" on how to attach signatures *to* posts yet.
# - authorization is not specified
- Authentication is not specified. Authentication is important to
verify "did this entity really say this thing".[fn:did-you-say-it]
- Identity verification is not specified.
("Identity verification" is the same as "authentication", but since
"authentication" sounds confusingly too similar to "authorization",
we are not generally using that term in this document.)
Identify verification is important to verify "did this entity
really say this thing".[fn:did-you-say-it]
However, the community has mostly converged on using [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-cavage-http-signatures-11][HTTP Signatures]]
to sign requests when delivering posts to other users.
The advantage of HTTP Signatures is that they are extremely simple
@ -76,20 +80,19 @@ not specified:
all users have a library for in their language, so Linked Data Proofs
have not as of yet caught on as popularly as HTTP Signatures.
- Authorization is also not specified. (Authentication and
authorization are frequently confused (especially because in
English, the words are so similar) but mean two very different
things: the former is checking who said/did a thing, the latter is
checking whether they are allowed to do a thing.) As of right now,
authorization tends to be extremely ad-hoc in ActivityPub systems,
sometimes as ad-hoc as unspecified heuristics from tracking who
received messages previously, who sent a message the first time,
and so on. The primary way this is worked around is sadly that
- Authorization is also not specified.
As of right now, authorization tends to be extremely ad-hoc in
ActivityPub systems, sometimes as ad-hoc as unspecified heuristics
from tracking who received messages previously, who sent a message
the first time, and so on.
The primary way this is worked around is sadly that
interactions which require richer authorization simply have not
been rolled out onto the ActivityPub network.
Compounding this situation is the general confusion/belief that
authorization must stem from authentication.
authorization must stem from identity verification (again, partly
because "authentication" is often used for "identity verification",
and that term /sounds/ in English too similar to "authorization").
This document aims to show that not only is this not true, it is also
a dangerous assumption with unintended consequences.
An alternative approach based on "object capabilities" is
@ -544,12 +547,12 @@ In no way do Access Control Lists follow the
to be able to sensibly trust their computing systems in this modern
age.
To be sure, we need authentication when it is important to know that a
certain entity "said a particular thing", but it is important to
understand that this is not the same as knowing whether a particular
entity "can do a certain thing".
To be sure, we need identity verification when it is important to know
that a certain entity "said a particular thing", but it is important
to understand that this is not the same as knowing whether a
particular entity "can do a certain thing".
Mixing up authentication with authorization is how we get ACLs,
Mixing up identity verification with authorization is how we get ACLs,
and ACLs have serious problems.
For instance, consider that Solitaire (Solitaire!) can steal all your