👨‍🏫Glossary of terms

Navigate SSI terms with ease. Our glossary demystifies key concepts, ensuring clarity and confidence in your digital identity journey.

https://timspeelman.nl/eidas/#A3(42)

Authentication:

The process of verifying the identity of a user or device, often through credentials such as passwords, tokens, or cryptographic keys.

Blockchain:

A distributed ledger technology that records transactions across many computers so that the records cannot be altered retroactively without altering all subsequent blocks.

Decentralized Identity (DID):

A digital identity that is controlled by the individual or organization to whom it belongs, rather than by a centralized authority.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT):

A consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data spread across multiple sites, countries, or institutions.

Holder:

The individual or entity that possesses and controls a digital identity or verifiable credentials.

Identity Provider:

An entity that creates, maintains, and manages identity information while providing authentication services to other applications.

Immutable:

A characteristic of blockchain technology where once data has been recorded, it cannot be altered or deleted.

Interoperability:

The ability of different systems, platforms, or organizations to work together seamlessly without special effort from the user.

Issuer:

The entity that creates and issues digital credentials, attesting to certain attributes or rights of the holder.

Private Key:

A secure digital code known only to the owner, used to sign transactions or messages to prove ownership of a digital identity or asset.

Public Key:

A publicly disclosed code that corresponds to a private key, used to verify signatures or messages signed with the private key.

Revocation:

The process of invalidating a digital credential or key before its predetermined expiration date, often due to compromise or loss.

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI):

An approach to digital identity that gives individuals control over their personal data and how, when, and to whom it is disclosed.

Trust Anchor:

A trusted entity or authority in a network that validates credentials and identities, serves as a root of trust.

Trust Registry:

A decentralized registry that maintains a list of trusted entities (such as issuers and verifiers) in the SSI ecosystem, facilitating the verification of credentials and identities.

Verifiable Credential (VC):

A digital statement made by an issuer about a holder, which can be verified using cryptographic techniques.

Verifier:

An entity that checks the validity of a digital credential presented by a holder.

Proof of Authority (PoA):

A consensus mechanism in a blockchain network where transactions and blocks are validated by approved accounts, known as validators.

Identity Wallet:

A digital wallet that allows users to store and manage their digital identities and verifiable credentials securely.

Consensus Mechanism:

A process in blockchain technology used to achieve agreement on a single data value among distributed processes or systems.

eIDAS v2 Annotated

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