Microsoft Word fidis-wp2-de models doc

FIDIS 

Future of Identity in the Information Society (No. 507512)

 

D2.3 

  

[Final], Version: 2.0 

File: fidis-wp2-del2.3.models.doc 

Page 20 

 

3  The Categories of Attributes of the Person 

 

The previous chapter has given us an overview of how the person’s information is managed 

in Identity Aware Information Systems and in particular in IMS. 

In this chapter, we are going to look more in detail what are the individual facet of the identity 

of the person, and in particular what are the different categories of attributes can be used to 

represent this person. 

 

Note: The next chapter will provide a more integration perspective, and will look at how these 

different categories of attributes can be assembled in order to represent the identity of the person in 

an application context. 

 

3.1  The attributes of the person: a categorisation 

 

As described in the previous section, a variety of attributes can be used to represent the 

person. Each attribute is used to represent a particular characteristic or property of a person 

such as the identification of this person (how we refer to this person), some biological 

characteristic (the physical characteristic of this person), some location information (where 

the person lives, where the person is now), personal and behavioural characteristics (how the 

person behaves, the preferences of this person, etc.) or social characteristics (who this person 

knows, the affiliations of this person, etc.). 

This chapter, shall analyse the different categories of attributes, and for each of them describe 

what they are, in which context they are used, how they are acquired and if there are any 

standards that are used to represent them. 

 

3.2 Identification 

3.2.1 Description 

The identification attributes represent a category that is used primarily as a “referent” to a 

person. Their main function is to provide support for linkability. 

 

The name 

One of the most well known identifiers is the name. A name is a “label for a thing, person, 

place, product (brand name), and even an idea or concept, normally used to distinguish one 

from another” (Wikipedia). A person’s name is principally used to refer to a particular person. 

For instance, the name of a person can be used in an article to indicate who the author of a 

particular writing is, i.e. to create a link (or association) between a document and its author. It 

is also used in people’s communication (such as in a discussion) to make reference to a person 

that is not present. A name can also be used in Information Systems to reference a person. 

Different names can be associated with a person such as a surname (inherited from the 

parents), given name (chosen by the parents), married name (acquired from the husband), nick 

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FIDIS 

Future of Identity in the Information Society (No. 507512)

 

D2.3 

  

[Final], Version: 2.0 

File: fidis-wp2-del2.3.models.doc 

Page 21 

 

name (chosen by close acquaintances), pseudonym (chosen by the person, and used to reduce 

linkability) or stage name (a particular pseudonym chosen by an actor to help separate his 

private life from his work life). 

 

Pure identifiers 

Other categories of identifier exist that are often used for non-human processing. A typical 

person identifier is for instance the ssn (social security number). The ssn is an identifier that is 

issued to people by governmental agencies mainly for managing people’s identification in 

their relationships with the government (and not only social security). 

 

Other attributes also used as identifiers 

It is important to indicate that other attributes that can be associated to the person can also be 

used as identifiers, such as biometric information. 

 

More detail on identifiers can be found in FIDIS WP3, with deliverables related to 

identification and authentication. 

 

3.2.2  Examples of attributes 

 

•

 

Name 

o

 

First name or given name 

o

 

Last name 

o

 

Married name 

o

 

Maiden name 

o

 

Nick name 

o

 

Pseudonym 

 

Stage name 

•

 

Identifier 

o

 

ssn (social security number) 

o

 

Login 

o

 

 used as identifiers (identifier is only a secondary function) 

 

Biometric attributes 

 

 Etc. 

 

 

3.2.3 Application domains 

The identification attributes appear in every application domain (for instance the name of a 

person is present in almost every user model). These attributes have however a very central 

role in applications that focus on authentication and identification, such as applications which 

function to manage access control (such as a passport or other ID cards) or applications 

concerned with the management of contacts (business cards). 

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