Identity

Digital identity

The identity of a person, group, thing, process or any other entity is often expressed through a digital identifier within a certain context. For example, a Social Security Number is a digital identifier that identifies a person within the context of the US social security administration and the internal revenue service. A library-assigned accession number is a digital identifier for a particular book within the context of the library that owns the book.

Related Topics:
Digital - Identifier - Social Security Number

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Contrast with an analog identifier, such as a fingerprint.

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Recently, various efforts have started to define universal digital identifiers, i.e. digital identifiers whose context is global. URLs are an example of universal digital identifiers for web pages.

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A digital identifier is often used jointly with one or more credentials that make (credible) assertions about an entity and a digital identifier claimed by the entity. For example, a credit card number is a digital identifier which is often used in connection with a credit card slip and the actual credit card (both are credentials) in order to prevent or reduce financial fraud.

Related Topics:
Credential - Fraud

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