I-broker
Encyclopedia
An i-broker is a "banker for data" or "ISP for identity services" — a trusted third party that helps individuals and organizations share private data the same way banks help exchange funds and ISPs help exchange e-mail and files. The term was introduced in the Social Web
paper describing how a new layer of Internet infrastructure is possible based on the OASIS
XRI and XDI
specifications. However the concept of an i-broker is not specific to any one technology or protocol, but rather a business and social function, similar to that of a bank or an ISP.
Just as banks offer a wide range of financial services associated with an account, and ISPs a wide range of Internet services, i-brokers will offer a wide range of identity and data sharing applications. As with e-mail and web hosting, some i-brokers will specialize in services for personal account holders, some will concentrate on the business and government market, and some will be full-service brokers handling all types of accounts. In all cases, the sensitivity of the data involved will demand of i-brokers the same high standards of accountability and trust demanded in the global banking system. Unlike the banking system, however, it is unlikely i-brokers will be highly regulated. Instead good behavior is more likely to be enforced by online reputation systems.
Just as people use different banking and brokerage accounts for different financial services, they are likely to use multiple i-brokers for sharing different sets of data (personal, financial, medical, vocational, etc.). However with data sharing technology such as XDI link contracts, an account holder can choose to link all of their i-broker accounts, or selected accounts, or none at all — the same way a web site author determines which pages on the site link to each other.
As more digital identity
protocols and standards come to market, other types of service providers will be in a position offer i-brokering services, including social networks, portals
, domain name registrar
s, internet service provider
s (ISPs), banks, insurance companies, wired and wireless phone companies and e-commerce sites.
XDI.org is the first public trust organization for i-brokers. XDI.org maintains a set of Global Services Specifications (GSS) governing i-broker accreditation and policy management, and a set of I-Services Specifications (ISS) defining interoperable identity services.
I-Brokers are sometimes referred to as a homesite, or PIP (Personal Identity Provider), or IdP (Identity Provider)
Social Web
The social Web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web. The Social web encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed in order to support and foster social interaction. These online social interactions form the basis of much online activity...
paper describing how a new layer of Internet infrastructure is possible based on the OASIS
OASIS (organization)
The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards is a global consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business and web service standards...
XRI and XDI
XDI
XDI is a generalized, extensible service for sharing, linking, and synchronizing structured data over the Internet and other data networks using XRI-addressable RDF graphs...
specifications. However the concept of an i-broker is not specific to any one technology or protocol, but rather a business and social function, similar to that of a bank or an ISP.
Just as banks offer a wide range of financial services associated with an account, and ISPs a wide range of Internet services, i-brokers will offer a wide range of identity and data sharing applications. As with e-mail and web hosting, some i-brokers will specialize in services for personal account holders, some will concentrate on the business and government market, and some will be full-service brokers handling all types of accounts. In all cases, the sensitivity of the data involved will demand of i-brokers the same high standards of accountability and trust demanded in the global banking system. Unlike the banking system, however, it is unlikely i-brokers will be highly regulated. Instead good behavior is more likely to be enforced by online reputation systems.
Just as people use different banking and brokerage accounts for different financial services, they are likely to use multiple i-brokers for sharing different sets of data (personal, financial, medical, vocational, etc.). However with data sharing technology such as XDI link contracts, an account holder can choose to link all of their i-broker accounts, or selected accounts, or none at all — the same way a web site author determines which pages on the site link to each other.
As more digital identity
Digital identity
Digital identity is the aspect of digital technology that is concerned with the mediation of people's experience of their own identity and the identity of other people and things...
protocols and standards come to market, other types of service providers will be in a position offer i-brokering services, including social networks, portals
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
, domain name registrar
Domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
s, internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISPs), banks, insurance companies, wired and wireless phone companies and e-commerce sites.
XDI.org is the first public trust organization for i-brokers. XDI.org maintains a set of Global Services Specifications (GSS) governing i-broker accreditation and policy management, and a set of I-Services Specifications (ISS) defining interoperable identity services.
I-Brokers are sometimes referred to as a homesite, or PIP (Personal Identity Provider), or IdP (Identity Provider)
See also
- i-nameI-nameI-names are one form of an XRI — an OASIS open standard for digital identifiers designed for sharing resources and data across domains and applications. I-names are human readable XRIs intended to be as easy as possible for people to remember and use. For example, a personal i-name could be =Mary...
- i-numberI-numberi-numbers are a type of Internet identifier designed to solve the problem of how any resource can have a persistent identity that never changes even when the resource moves or changes its human-friendly name...
- XRI (Extensible Resource IdentifierExtensible Resource IdentifierExtensible Resource Identifier is a scheme and resolution protocol for abstract identifiers compatible with Uniform Resource Identifiers and Internationalized Resource Identifiers, developed by the at OASIS...
) - XRDSXRDSXRDS is an XML format for discovery of metadata about a resource – in particular discovery of services associated with the resource, a process known as service discovery...
(Extensible Resource Descriptor Sequence) - XDIXDIXDI is a generalized, extensible service for sharing, linking, and synchronizing structured data over the Internet and other data networks using XRI-addressable RDF graphs...
(XRI Data Interchange) - Social WebSocial WebThe social Web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web. The Social web encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed in order to support and foster social interaction. These online social interactions form the basis of much online activity...
- Zooko's triangleZooko's triangleZooko's triangle is a diagram named after Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn which sets out the possible tradeoffs for a system for giving names to participants in a network protocol. At the vertices of the triangle are three properties that are generally considered desirable for such names:* Secure: The...