Attribute Certificates for Anonymous E-Marketplace Identity Verification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current E-marketplace systems face limitations in maintaining anonymity and verifying identity, leading to restricted participant options and reduced public negotiation benefits due to inadequate identity concealment and verification methods.
Innovation Solution
The use of attribute certificates to define transaction-specific attributes and conditional criteria for buyers and sellers, allowing the E-marketplace to verify and match parties' requirements, thereby facilitating anonymous transactions and ensuring compliance with strict purchase/sale conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If public-key encryption is used to verify identity, then identity verification is improved, but anonymity is lost and all information becomes open to the public
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments identity verification into two separate certificate types: public-key certificates for cryptographic identity verification and attribute certificates for transaction-specific attribute verification. This segmentation allows anonymity to be preserved by separating the verification of cryptographic identity from the disclosure of personal attributes, enabling parties to verify each other's capabilities without revealing unnecessary personal information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces attribute certificates as an intermediary mechanism between public-key certificates and transaction information. Attribute certificates act as a mediator that carries verified attributes (such as credit ratings, certifications, or qualifications) without exposing the underlying personal identity information, thus enabling verification while maintaining anonymity through this intermediate layer.
2Reliability
If strict purchase and sale requirements are imposed, then transaction compliance is improved, but participant options are reduced and public negotiation benefits are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic attribute certificates that can be created, modified, and revoked based on transaction requirements. Attributes are not fixed but can be dynamically added or removed to match specific transaction needs, allowing strict compliance verification for required attributes while maintaining flexibility for optional attributes, thus preserving participant options even under strict requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of identity verification from static public-key certificates to dynamic attribute certificates with configurable attributes. This allows the verification requirements to be adjusted per transaction - strict attributes can be enforced while non-strict attributes remain flexible, enabling compliance with necessary requirements without unnecessarily limiting participant options.
3Loss of information
If total security is implemented to conceal identities, then anonymity is improved, but public negotiation and multi-vendor marketplace benefits are prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making anonymity selective rather than universal. Public-key certificates provide local anonymity for cryptographic operations, while attribute certificates provide local verification of specific transaction-relevant attributes. This localized approach to information disclosure allows public negotiation to proceed with verified attributes visible while maintaining anonymity for unrelated personal information.
Data Source
AI summary
Parties involved in a transaction in an E-marketplace identify characteristics of a transaction that they are willing to accept and/or that they can provide. To do this, an attribute certificate is created for each party that contains the attributes of a buyer, seller, or third-party participant who will be transacting business in the particular E-marketplace. The attributes pertain to specifics of the transaction. The party submitting the attribute also identifies alternative conditions which, if they exist would be acceptable for conducting the transaction. Once these criteria, in the form of the attribute certificates, are received by the E-marketplace, the E-marketplace verifies the attributes. A server in the E-marketplace is configured to determine various combinations of participants that can match the deal criteria. In this manner, the E-marketplace “choreographs” the transaction to meet the needs of all.