"The innovative U-Prove cryptographic technology can be used to reconcile seemingly conflicting security and privacy requirements in electronic communication and transaction systems."
Related Efforts
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS
Microsoft U-Prove CTP Release 2
Microsoft Corporation, February 2011
Microsoft is releasing a new version of the U-Prove technology community technical preview (CTP). CTP Release 2 is the latest step toward offering customers a scenario in which identity information can be shared in a safer, more controlled manner. This labs release is aimed at customers who want to develop a proof of concept, and consists of a set of Azure cloud services, download components, and developer toolkits.
The U-Prove technology provides cryptographic techniques for strong security with additional privacy protection capabilities that include minimal disclosure, unlinkability, and untraceability.
The innovations in this preview release include:
- Cloud-based hosting of claims agent services for rapid adoption on popular browsers
- Cloud-based test services for relying parties and claims providers to enable policymakers, end-users, and developers to try out the new labs release for exchanging identity information
- Storage of U-Prove tokens on a user’s device for additional convenience
- Use of a smart card for two-factor protection of the user’s information in their U-Prove tokens to help enforce security policies such as lending and theft prevention
This technology preview supports Microsoft's vision for digital identities, a vision that includes an identity metasystem for open, standards-based access to services based on sound security and privacy principles.
Industry Working Group for a Claims Agent
To further the practical collaboration on privacy protecting solutions among open source and commercial partners, Microsoft is working within the Identity Commons to form a new working group. The charter for the Claims Agent Working Group includes sponsoring open source variants of a claims agent, testing for interoperability among common browsers and platforms, and testing specific scenarios in an end-to-end manner in order to build confidence in the identity and privacy ecosystem.
Further Information
For more information about the Microsoft U-Prove Community Technology Preview R2, visit the Microsoft Connect website.
Testing the Microsoft Claims Agent
For testing purposes, Microsoft has created several sample websites, representing organizations in public and private sectors that can issue verified information or consume this information. These sample sites have been set up with fictitious user accounts and fictitious user data.
You can try:
Instructions for using these sample websites are available on the sample websites page.