Effective identification management helps organisations to reduce and/or prevent fraud, loss of privacy and identity theft by applying good practice processes.
The identification management elements
Descriptions of the elements and their relationships
Entity
An Entity can be a person or machine that presents a Credential to a Relying Party, providing them with assurance that certain identification management processes have been previously carried out.
Credential
A Credential is an artefact that is established for an Entity. It contains specific information that is bound to the Entity as well as an authenticator. An example could be a mobile phone or an access card.
Relying Party
A Relying Party provides services to an Entity and requires one or more of the Entity’s credentials to establish information about the Entity to enable provision of the service.
Enrolment
The processes that occur when an Entity enrols with a Relying Party to get a service.
Credential Provider
A Credential Provider establishes Credentials for an Entity.
Establish Credential(s)
The process a Credential Provider undertakes to provide an Entity with a Credential.
Credential Presentation
The process of an Entity presenting a Credential to a Relying Party.
Facilitation
The process in which an Entity presenting a Credential to a Relying Party requires a mechanism to facilitate the interaction.
Facilitation Provider
A Facilitation Provider provides mechanisms for facilitating the presentation of 1 or more Credentials to Relying Parties.
Relying party becoming a Credential Provider
A Relying Party (or organisation) can become a Credential Provider when they have completed an enrolment process and decide to establish a credential that will be relied upon by other Relying Parties in the future. For example, a passport, practicing licence, or staff access card.
Identification management and other practices
Identity management
Identity and identity management tend to focus on attributes and their management rather than the wider processes and human behaviours essential to prevent identity theft and the impacts of this. The material in this website takes a different approach to the area, to solve many of the problems that have been hampering effective development of solutions.
Privacy and security
Identification management is a practice that is separate from, but closely related to Privacy and Security. While several requirements within the Identification Standards contribute to information privacy and security, they do not replace the need to apply relevant standards within these separate practices.