Overview#
Verifiable Credentials is a WC3 defined framework that provides a mechanism to express these sorts of credentials on the Web in a way that is cryptographically secure, privacy respecting, and machine-verifiable.Verifiable Credentials has a close relationship to the Verifiable Claims Working Groups' work although the relationship is not well defined.Verifiable Credentials framework is composed of four primary roles:
- The Issuer, who issues verifiable credentials about a specific Subject.
- The Holder stores credentials on behalf of a Subject. Holders are typically also the Subject of a credential.
- The Verifier requests a profile of the Subject. A profile contains a specific set of credentials. The verifier verifies that the credentials provided in the profile are fit-for-purpose.
- The Identifier Registry is a mechanism that is used to issue identifiers for Subjects.
