2024-02-20 Meeting notes

James Kragh, Chair

Y

Justin Byrd, Vice Chair

Y

Noreen Whysel, Secretary

Y

Jeff Brennan

N

Bev Corwin

N

Sal D'Agostino

N

Jorge Flores

Y

Thomas Jones

Y

Thomas Sullivan

Y

Catherine Schulten

N

Jim StClair

N

Jeff Brennan

N

Simone Alcorn

N

Maria Vachino

N

Renee Hunter

N

Isha Chhatwal

N

1pm EST

Validating Factual Personal Information

@Jim Kragh @Noreen Whysel

Vinton Cerf article Validating Factual Personal Information. 

From Noreen: Vint Cerf seems to be hinting toward the process we are working on in PEMC, MAAS and RIUP, only he doesn’t mention “mobile” or “wallet”. It seems like what he is describing for the most part already exists. But duplicates the problem of storing data in a browser or at the verifier. He does mention a registry several times.

We should post a response to his article introducing him to the Kantara WG works. Noreen knows Vint and will email him also.

https://m-cacm.acm.org/magazines/2024/2/279540-validating-factual-personal-information/fulltext

Names

@Tom Jones

Noreen, Jorge and Tom shared some FNO (first name only) thoughts and comments and Tom followed that with a bit of text in the link below. 

The Naming of People

(tried to capture the issue here - our industry is making the problem worse. ..tom)

https://tcwiki.azurewebsites.net/index.php?title=Innovation

Innovation has applied to Identifiers applied to people. In Roman times, the family name (gens) was important, in Ancient Israel it was the tribal association. In western land the patronym became common. In Spain the matronym as added after the patronym. The Picts of Scotland used just the matronym. Confusion was crated when the location of these surnames turned out to very different in different part of the world. In 2024 we are still trying to reconcile these traditions with technology.

1. Dissolution of Monasteries: Henry VIII dissolved numerous monasteries and convents as part of the English Reformation. These religious institutions had often been centers of education, record-keeping, and administration. With their dissolution, many records were lost, including those containing information about lineage and family names.

2. Land Ownership and Taxation: As part of his reforms, Henry implemented a system of land ownership and taxation. To efficiently collect taxes and administer land, it became essential to have clear identification of individuals. Surnames played a crucial role in this process.

3. Formation of Parish Registers: The dissolution of monasteries also led to the establishment of parish registers. These registers recorded baptisms, marriages, and burials within parishes. Surnames were used to distinguish individuals, especially in densely populated areas.

4. Standardization and Legal Documentation: Henry’s government emphasized the need for standardized legal documentation. Surnames facilitated legal transactions, inheritance, and property rights. People began adopting fixed family names, which were passed down through generations.

5. Social Mobility and Identity: The use of surnames allowed for greater social mobility. Individuals could establish their identity beyond their occupation or location. It also provided a sense of belonging and lineage

While Henry VIII didn’t explicitly demand the use of surnames, his policies indirectly encouraged their adoption. The dissolution of monasteries, administrative reforms, and the need for clear identification all contributed to the widespread use of surnames in England.

Technology

Unfortunately technology is created mostly in European-originated countries so we have absurdities like the following which mixes the idea of Surname (a logical type) with Firstname (a position type). Clearly this is an absurdity brought about by chauvinistic attitudes by developers.^[1]

Solutions?

Metadata that indicates the underlying naming structure
Ellis Island “schema”: whatever the officer heard you say. Dutch and Irish names lost Ders and O’s.

FNO: First Name Only designation for

VIAF:Virtual International Authority File

Name must be associated with the identifiers

• date of birth

• region of origin/nationality/ethnicity

• Draft Model Law on the Use and Cross-border Recognition of Identity Management and Trust Services goes into some detail on named trust registries.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-readable_passports have varying name fields based on the available space in the electronic readable part. It is known as Surname followed by Given Names (abbreviated if necessary). It is not clear if either the surname or the given names are actually lists (or includes spaces).

• It might be instructive to look at a passport from Spain to see how they accommodate matronyms.

Intent Casting

@Justin Byrd

Intent casting:

• Kantara Consent and Information Sharing WG (archived, now ANCR WG covers this area) UST Intentcasting V.2 UX and Human Readable

• UST:  Intent Casting V.01 UX and Human Readable terms (archived): UST Intentcasting V.2 UX and Human Readable - Archived Groups - Kantara Initiative (atlassian.net)

• Intentcasting - WG - ISI - Kantara Initiative (archived): Intentcasting

• Intentcasting, Customer Commons https://customercommons.org/category/intentcasting/

• Doc Searls' ProjectVRM

  • Intentcasting – ProjectVRM

  • https://projectvrm.org