Entity
Status:
Definition
- A named thing that exists, e.g., a person, organization, device, software application or service.
- Any named digital end-point providing or using identity services. Also known as a Digital Entity. (This definition is used by the IDEF registry.)
Notes
An entity may have an identifier that can be verified.
Example: Entities include individuals and organizations as well as devices and logical artifacts such as data and software. The term Non Person Entity (NPE) can refer to organizations as well as devices, software components (application, operating system or firmware) or services (web sites, validation services, etc.)
Sources
N/A
Status
- MC Approved
- BFR Approved
Commentary
- By this definition a real-world organization is know by its digital Identifier(s) on the web.
- Note that other presences on the web, including transient sessions, or named documents, can have Identifiers.
- However, an Entity is assumed to be represented by an active web end point(s).
- In RFC 3986 "Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax" an entity is a message, archive or representation (aka structured name) of what this wiki page calls an Entity.
- See also Entity Statement for the way that an entity can acquire trust.
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