!!! Overview
[{$pagename}] is a [Claim] that can be [verified|Verification].[{$pagename}] when [verified|Verification] is then a [Verified Claim][{$pagename}] typically refers to the ([W3C]) [Working Group] focusing on standardizing a number of signed [claims] or [assertions] regarding a person, [entity] or [thing]. 

[{$pagename}] has a close [relationship] to the [Verifiable Credentials] Working Groups' work although the [relationship] is not well defined.

[{$pagename}] is an [Architecture] and not a specific [Design] or [Implementation]

[{$pagename}] is a draft specification proposes a data model for [claims] about entities having to do with identity profiles.
 
A [claim] in the [{$pagename}] system has these elements:
* [Issuer] - The entity that creates the [claim]
* [Subject] - the [entity] named in a [claim]
* [Inspector-verifier] - the [entity] who can perform [Validation] of the [claim]
* [Holder] - [Identity Provider (IDP)] or the [entity] who controls a [claim], which may or may not be the subject [entity] stated in the [claim]
* [Context] - A mapping to a globally defined semantic in a machine-readable data format
* [Identifier registry] - Mediates the [creation|Create] and [verification] of [subject] [identifiers]. [Examples] of identifier registries include corporate [LDAP] or [employee] [databases], [Government Data Stores], and [Distributed Ledger Technology].

[Verifiable Claims/vc-ecosystem-overview.png]
[{Image src='/images/vc-ecosystem-overview.png' caption='vc-ecosystem-overview' align ='left' style='font-size: 120%;'}]
 
The proposed charter states: “It is currently difficult to express banking account information, education qualifications, [healthcare data|patient Data], and other sorts of machine-readable personal information that has been verified by a 3rd party on the Web.”

The specification discusses [self-sovereignty|Self-Sovereign Identity] briefly but does not provide a solution for this element at this time. The [{$pagename}] architecture document calls for a registry of globally unique identifiers but the specification does not provide a solution for this element at this time.

There is discussion ongoing in the [{$pagename}] community about a formal role for [Linked Data].

A "[{$pagename}]" is a trusted [assertion] an [issuer] makes about an [subject] to an [Inspector-verifier] who is authorized to request such n. More specifically, it is machine-readable statement made by an [entity] that is [Cryptographically|Cryptographic] authentic ([non-Repudiation]). A "[credential]" (aka [attestation]) is defined to be a set of [{$pagename}]s that refer to a qualification, achievement, personal quality, aspect of an [subject] such as a name, [Government Identity], preferred [Payment Processor], home [address], or university degree typically used to indicate suitability.
 
The VCWG was established on the notion that there is currently no widely used [User-centric|User-centric Identity] standard for expressing and transacting [{$pagename}] via the [Web]. As such the aspects to be standardized by the VCWG are the set of [{$pagename}] that consists of the [Subject] [Identifier], the Claims (about the subject), and the Claims Set [Metadata].  All [claims] are digitally signed by its [issuer].
 
The [architecture] of the proposed [{$pagename}] ecosystem follows that of the classic “four-corners” model used in the [Payment Card] industry.  
* An [Issuer] [entity] creates a signed [claim] about a [Subject], that is then provided to 
* a [Holder] [entity] (which could be the [subject] itself). 
* The [entity] that seeks to obtain [assurances] (regarding a Subject) is referred to as the [Inspector-verifier].  
* The [Holder] presents claims to the [Inspector-verifier] who has the option to validate its correct [ownership] against an [Identifier registry]. This registry maintains the set of recognized [identifiers] in the [Architecture].

!! [Data Provenance]
[{$pagename}] is essentially a method to relay information on [Data Provenance]

!! More Information
There might be more information for this subject on one of the following:
[{ReferringPagesPlugin before='*' after='\n' }]
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* [#1] - [BSC-DG Report (Draft)|https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HOVJ3lKqOIjwCqPt5jFxfLr7wEoJ0ZVNbMGsdsWzCKQ/edit#|target='_blank'] - based on information obtained 2017-04-14- 
* [#2] - [Verifiable Claims Data Model and Representations|https://www.w3.org/TR/verifiable-claims-data-model/|target='_blank'] - based on information obtained 2018-10-14-