U-Prove

U-Prove is a free and open-source^[1] technology and accompanying SDK^[2] for user-centric identity management. The underlying cryptographic protocols were designed by Dr. Stefan Brands^[3] and further developed by Credentica and, subsequently, Microsoft.^[4] The technology was developed to allow internet users to disclose only the minimum amount of personal data when making electronic transactions as a way to reduce the likelihood of privacy violations.^[5] Security expert Bruce Schneier praised the cryptography behind U-Prove.^[6]

Overview[]

U-Prove enables application developers to reconcile seemingly conflicting security and privacy objectives (including anonymity), and allows for digital identity claims to be efficiently tied to the use of tamper-resistant devices such as smart cards. Application areas of particular interest include cross-domain enterprise identity and access management, e-government SSO and data sharing, electronic health records, anonymous electronic voting, policy-based digital rights management, social networking data portability, and electronic payments.

In 2008, Microsoft committed to opening up the U-Prove technology.^[1] As the first step, in March 2010 the company released a cryptographic specification and open-source API implementation code for part of the U-Prove technology as a Community Technology Preview under Microsoft's Open Specification Promise.^[7] Since then, several extensions have been released under the same terms and the technology has been tested in real-life applications.

In 2010, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) honored U-Prove with the 2010 Privacy Innovation Award for Technology.^[8][6] Microsoft also won the in European Identity Award in the Best Innovation category for U-Prove at the European Identity Conference 2010.^[9]

The U-Prove Crypto SDK for C# is licensed under Apache License 2.0 and the source code is available on GitHub.^[10]

Microsoft also provides a JavaScript SDK that implements the client-side of the U-Prove Cryptographic Specification.^[11]

See also[]

• Blind signature
• Zero-knowledge proof
• Identity metasystem
• Adam Back's opensource credlib library implementing U-prove credentials

References[]

Further reading[]

• Dr. Stefan Brands (2000). Rethinking Public Key Infrastructures and Digital Certificates; Building in Privacy (1 ed.). The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-02491-8.
• Christian Paquin, Greg Zaverucha (2013). "U-Prove Cryptographic Specification V1.1 (Revision 3)" (PDF). Microsoft Corporation. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
• Christian Paquin (2013). "U-Prove Technology Overview V1.1 (Revision 2)" (PDF). Microsoft Corporation. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links[]

• U-Prove on Credentica.com
• U-Prove on Microsoft website
• uprove-csharp-sdk on GitHub

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