Skip to content

Clarify the two major VC Barcode use cases. #44

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Open
wes-smith wants to merge 5 commits into
base: main
Choose a base branch
from
+31 −18
Open

Clarify the two major VC Barcode use cases. #44

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
5 commits
Select commit Hold shift + click to select a range
ed61f9d
Add introductory discussion of the two main use cases.
wes-smith Apr 14, 2026
0bbb5da
Update version numbers of related specifications.
wes-smith Apr 14, 2026
d620cfb
Tweak introduction wording.
wes-smith Apr 14, 2026
8868683
Bump CBOR-LD version number.
wes-smith Apr 14, 2026
35305df
Apply grammar and wording updates.
wes-smith Apr 15, 2026
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
49 changes: 31 additions & 18 deletions index.html
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
*/
localBiblio: {
"CBOR-LD": {
title: "Compact Binary Object Representation for Linked Data v0.7",
title: "Compact Binary Object Representation for Linked Data v1.0",
href: "https://w3c.github.io/cbor-ld/"
},
"ICAO9303-3": {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -149,13 +149,13 @@
value: "The Verifiable Credentials Data Model v2.0",
href: "https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/"
}, {
value: "Verifiable Credential Data Integrity v1.0",
value: "Verifiable Credential Data Integrity v1.1",
href: "https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-integrity/"
}, {
value: "The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm Cryptosuites v1.0",
value: "The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm Cryptosuites v1.1",
href: "https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-ecdsa/"
}, {
value: "Compact Binary Object Representation for Linked Data v0.7",
value: "Compact Binary Object Representation for Linked Data v1.0",
href: "https://json-ld.github.io/cbor-ld-spec/"
}]
}]
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -209,11 +209,6 @@
</section>

<section id="sotd">

<p>
This specification is experimental.
</p>

</section>

<section>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -254,16 +249,34 @@ <h2>Introduction</h2>
This specification describes a mechanism to protect optical barcodes,
such as those found on driver's licenses (PDF417) and travel documents (MRZ),
by using a <a>verifiable credential</a> [[VC-DATA-MODEL-2.0]] to express
information about the barcode, which is then secured using Data Integrity
[[VC-DATA-INTEGRITY]], and then compressed using CBOR-LD [[CBOR-LD]]. The
resulting <a>verifiable credential</a> representations are compact enough such
that they fit in under 140 bytes and can thus be integrated with traditional
two-dimensional barcodes that are printed on physical cards using standard
printing processes. This adds tamper resistance to the barcode while
optionally enhancing the barcode to provide information related to whether or
not the physical document has been revoked or suspended by the <a>issuer</a>.
information about either the barcode itself or the subject of the barcode.
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

@dlongley dlongley Apr 21, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Suggested change
information about either the barcode itself or the subject of the barcode.
information in the barcode or about other information in the barcode.

Next, this Verifiable Credential is secured using Data Integrity
[[VC-DATA-INTEGRITY]], and then compressed using CBOR-LD [[CBOR-LD]].
</p>
<p>
There are two main mechanisms by which a Verifiable Credential can
be used to protect a barcode:
<ul>
<li>
A barcode containing a Verifiable Credential can be added to a document.
This Verifiable Credential will typically contain some or all of the data
from the document. In this use case, however, the barcode will generally
contain only the Verifiable Credential.
Comment on lines +261 to +264
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Member

@msporny msporny Apr 22, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

The word "document" is confusing here, as we use the word "document" often to refer to HTML pages, XML documents, and data files in general. We might want to say a physical document to distinguish here.

The last sentence is confusing as well. It says "this use case", but doesn't explicitly distinguish it from the first use case in the first sentence? I'd suggest changes, but I'm having a hard time distinguishing what this paragraph is attempting to convey.

</li>
<li>
Documents that already contain barcodes can augment those barcodes with a Verifiable
Credential for improved security. Here, the Verifiable Credential contains a digital
signature that protects not only the Verifiable Credential itself but also the
data that already exists in the barcode.
Comment on lines +267 to +270
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Member

@msporny msporny Apr 22, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Speaking explicitly to the use cases might be a better option here. The description is too vague to be useful to highlight the distinction.

</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
Both use cases achieve authenticity, integrity, and tamper resistance over the
data protected by the Verifiable Credential. Additionally, for use cases that
require it, these Verifiable Credentials can be revoked or suspended on a
per-barcode basis.
</p>

<section>
<h2>Introductory Examples</h2>

Expand Down
Loading