Lexicon

Kantara Information Sharing Working Group Lexicon

(Note: citations to definitions in other lexicons to be added later, as appropriate)

Fundamentals

Sharing is an intentional, voluntary act of giving, typically subject to explicit or implicit rules of use.

Information is data in context. Data is meaning encoded in a medium. However, data by itself lacks the context of who created it, where, how, and why it was created. Information includes context so that the recipient can more fully extract meaning; it includes not only the facts of "what" but also details that can include who created it and why, who is transmitting it and why, how it relates to the recipient, and constraints on its use. In the work of the Information Sharing work group, individuals provide the context that enables recipients to better understand and make use of the meaning encoded in shared information.

Information Sharing is the voluntary act of giving information, subject to rules of use. After agreeing to terms, one party shares information with another, communicating a copy of the data to be shared and applicable context.

Relevant Parties

Individual A natural person.

Corporation A corporate entity.

Legal Party A natural or corporate person who enters into an implied or explicit agreement, either for the purposes of a specific transaction or as part of an ongoing relationship.

Recipient is the receiver of information, for whom the rules of use apply. This is a legal party, either a corporation or individual, who receives limited title in the information to use according to specific provisions of an information sharing agreement. In UMA terms, this is the Requesting Party.

Originator is the authorizing person in any information sharing exchange. Typically, this party is the owner of the information. In all cases, the originator is the controlling party for the shared information. In UMA terms, this is the Authorizing User.

Intermediary is any legal party who accesses, communicates, or processes shared information on behalf of either the recipient, the originator, or another intermediary. They are not a Party to information sharing agreements that might exist between an originators and a recipients, although separate agreements may create obligations between the intermediary and the party on whose behalf they operate.

Trusted Authority is an intermediary recognized as authoritative for specific, verified information about or on behalf of the originator, and who provides that information to recipients under the originator's direction.

Technology

Software is machine readable, executable code that performs specific tasks.

Service is a running instance of software.

Application is the software or service that receives, processes, and distributes shared information, typically run by an intermediary to provide a service to an individual or entity. This is to be distinguished from the legal party that may own or control the software or service running the software.

System Components

NOTE: This section still needs help, especially between clarifying the interfaces and the endpoints.

Datastore is one or more applications which host information for sharing with designated recipients under an information sharing agreement (including the originator as recipient). The term may be used to refer to one specific datastore hosting a particular set of data, or generically to the common aggregate of all such datastores under the control of a party. A specific datastore's location may be chosen by the controlling party or determined by a trusted authority. It may be located anywhere, both physically and digitally.

Personal Datastore is a datastore under the control of an individual.

Corporate Datastore is a datastore under the control of a corporation.

Authorization Point is a service that facilitates requests for protected information. It acts as the primary policy store and policy decision making point for recipients requesting access to shared information. It provides authentication services so that recipients can access information hosted at a datastore.

Communications Point is a service that facilitates incoming communications on behalf of a party. It is a special case of an authorization point applied to protected resources that provide for incoming communications.

Information Dashboard is a service that is used to aggregate communication and authorization controls, allowing parties to manage their relationships with recipients of shared information. The dashboard allows originators to set, revise, and revoke policy for shared resources on a per recipient basis. It also provides a secure, spam-free, incoming channel for recipients to communicate with originators on previously authorized terms. Parties may have one or more dashboards and dashboards may aggregate the services of multiple communications and authorization managers.