D2.1: Inventory of Topics and Clusters

Title: THE IDENTIFICATION CONCEPT

The Identification Concept

In the previous section (“ ”) we have presented the descriptive perspective of Identity, i.e. a conceptualisation relying on a set of distinguishing characteristics that an object owns and that forms its identity. In this section we are going to present a process perspective of Identity, i.e. processes in which this identity of an object is engaged and more specifically how the identity information is disclosed and used.

Identification concerns the set of approaches and mechanisms that intervene in the course of an interaction and which are very broadly related to the disclosure of Identity information (person characteristics and/or linking to a profile). For instance, it covers a variety of concepts such as anonymity (state of non disclosure of identity information), unlinkability (property of a system not to disclose information related to the relations that could exist between different items), or identifiers (information item that can be used to provide some level of authentication for an entity). 

This identification is usually partial (disclosing only a partial identity), and is used in a specific context and for a specific purpose (granting access to a resource, delivering more personalised services, etc.). 

Note: Profiling represents also a concept that can be related to identification.  Profiling is defined as the process of constructing or applying a profile of an individual or a group. A profile consists of patterns of correlated data (Hildebrandt and Backhouse, 2005). The concept of profiling is specifically covered in workpackage 7 and will not be further described.

What is the identification used for

Identification intervenes in the following contexts: 

1. The access control to restricted resources or areas 

2. The exploitation of identity information 

3. The monitoring to enable accountability 

Controlling access to restricted resources or areas (authentication)

One of the reasons for identifying a person is for controlling access to restricted resources or areas. This control comprises two different aspects: authentication and access management. Authentication relates to the verification of the identity of the person, and in particular ensuring that she is the person she claims to be. The management of the right of access relates to the role of this person in a context and the categories of operations granted to this person (for instance there may be some limitation related to the usage of a resource or to permitted operations in a particular area). 

From an end-user perspective, identification may apply to another person or an organisation (moral person). Elements (factual, clues, etc) can also be used by a person to ensure that another person or organisation is indeed who she claims to be. For instance, an email address provides some level of identification related to the sender. The URL and the visual identity of a web site can also provide some means to authenticate an organisation.