Lexicon
Following is a working lexicon, very much subject to change. Some or all of this lexicon may be added to the core protocol specification or other documents.
Issues:
- Consider broadening authorizing user to authorizing party if we want not to preclude these use cases in future.
- Note that the word "endpoint" is unnatural for nontechnical readers, particularly in the formulation "endpoint in a protocol". Does this work sufficiently for techies that we don't have to be concerned about others? Does it make sense to talk about actors, roles, players, ...?
- Consider revising "host service user" (depends on custodianship discussion).
An authorizing user is a web user (a natural person) who configures an AM with access authorization policies and terms in order to instruct it how to make access decisions when a requester attempts to access a protected resource on a host. An authorizing user is the sole party capable of dictating access authorization terms to a requesting party.
A protected resource is an access-restricted resource (as defined in [HTTP]) that can be obtained from a host with the authorization of an authorizing user, as carried out by an AM.
An authorization manager (or AM) is an endpoint in the UMA protocol that carries out an authorizing user's policies and terms for resource access by interacting, in the role of an HTTP server (as defined in [HTTP]), with hosts in order to convey resource access decisions and with requesters in order to determine their suitability for access.
An AM application is software that implements an AM.
An AM service is an AM application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who run an AM service are intermediaries that are not involved in demanding access authorization terms or making representations.
An access authorization term (or term) is a requirement for a representation that an authorizing user places on a requesting party, receipt of which is generally a condition for authorizing the requesting party's access to a protected resource.
A claim request is the technical expression in the UMA protocol of an access authorization term, conveyed by an AM to a requester.
A representation is a statement of an affirmative or promissory nature that a requesting party makes in response to an authorizing user's access authorization term.
A claim is the technical expression in the UMA protocol of a representation, conveyed by by requester to an AM.
An access authorization policy (or policy) is an instruction an authorizing user gives an AM that the AM is capable of applying unilaterally in calculating authorization for access to a protected resource, without receiving claims from a requester.
A host is an endpoint in the UMA protocol that interacts with AMs in the role of an HTTP client (as defined in [HTTP]) in order to receive and act on access decisions, and with requesters in the role of an HTTP server (also as defined in [HTTP]) in order to respond to access attempts.
A host application is software that implements a host.
A host service is a host application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who run a host service are intermediaries that are not involved in demanding access authorization terms or making representations.
A host service user is a web user (a natural person) who interacts with a host service in order to use and configure it for resource hosting. In general, a user of a host service is identical to the authorizing user of the same resources at that host, but in special cases they may be different people.
A requester is an endpoint in the UMA protocol that interacts with hosts and AMs in the role of an HTTP client (as defined in [HTTP]) to attempt, and receive authorization for, access to a protected resource.
A requester application is software that implements a requester.
A requester service is a requester application that is deployed on a network. The legal or natural person(s) who deploy a requester service may be intermediaries that are not involved in demanding access authorization terms or making representations, or one or them may be a requesting party.
A requesting party is either a legal person (such as a company running a requester service), or a natural person (a web user) who interacts with a requester service, in order to seek protected resource access on his/her/its own behalf. In either case, a requesting party is the sole party capable of making representations to an authorizing user.
References
[HTTP]
Fielding, Gettys, Mogul, Frystyk, Masinter, Leach, Berners-Lee, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol