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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Verifiable Credentials Working Group Charter</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.w3.org/2005/10/w3cdoc.css" type="text/css" media="screen">
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<style>
main {
max-width: 60em;
margin: 0 auto;
}
ul#navbar {
font-size: small;
}
dt.spec {
font-weight: bold;
}
dt.spec new {
background: yellow;
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color: #900;
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</style>
</head>
<body>
<header id="header">
<aside>
<ul id="navbar">
<li><a href="#background">Background</a></li>
<li><a href="#scope">Scope</a></li>
<li><a href="#deliverables">Deliverables</a></li>
<li><a href="#success-criteria">Success Criteria</a></li>
<li><a href="#coordination">Coordination</a></li>
<li><a href="#participation">Participation</a></li>
<li><a href="#communication">Communication</a></li>
<li><a href="#decisions">Decision Policy</a></li>
<li><a href="#patentpolicy">Patent Policy</a></li>
<li><a href="#licensing">Licensing</a></li>
<li><a href="#about">About this Charter</a></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<p>
<a href="https://www.w3.org/"><img alt="W3C" height="48"
src="https://www.w3.org/assets/logos/w3c/w3c-no-bars.svg" width="72"></a>
</p>
</header>
<main>
<h1 id="title">Verifiable Credentials Working Group Charter</h1>
<!-- delete PROPOSED after AC review completed -->
<p class="mission">
The <strong>mission</strong> of the <a href="https://www.w3.org/2017/vc/WG/">Verifiable Credentials
Working Group</a> is to complete and maintain the W3C Recommendations, as well as related Notes, in
the area of Verifiable Credentials, published
under the <a href="https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html">previous
charter</a> of the Working Group.
</p>
<div class="noprint">
<p class="join"><a href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/vc/join/">Join the Verifiable Credentials Working
Group.</a></p>
</div>
<!-- MARK: Overall Header -->
<section id="details">
<table class="summary-table">
<tr id="Status">
<th>
Charter Status
</th>
<td>
See the <a href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/vc/charters/">group status page</a> and <a
href="#history">detailed change history</a>.</i>
</td>
</tr>
<tr id="Duration">
<th>
Start date
</th>
<td>
2024 October 7
</td>
</tr>
<tr id="CharterEnd">
<th>
End date
</th>
<td>
2026 October 11
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>
Chairs
</th>
<td>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">Brent Zundel</a> (mesur.io)<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>
Team Contacts
</th>
<td>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">Ivan Herman</a> (0.20 <abbr
title="Full-Time Equivalent">FTE</abbr>)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>
Meeting Schedule
</th>
<td>
<strong>Teleconferences:</strong> 1-hour calls will be held weekly, plus additional
special-topic calls as needed, until the finalization of the Recommendations. As a
maintenance Working Group, meetings will be held as needed, minimally one 1-hour call a
month.
<br>
<strong>Face-to-face:</strong> We will meet during the W3C's annual Technical Plenary week;
additional face-to-face meetings may be scheduled by consent of the participants, usually no
more than 3 per year.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Background -->
<section id="background" class="background">
<h2>Motivation and Background</h2>
<p>
In the past few years the Working Group has developed a family of specifications in the area of
Verifiable Credentials.
They provide a mechanism to express "credentials"
(driver's licenses, university degrees, government-issued residence permits, etc.) on the Web in a
digital
format that is cryptographically secure, privacy respecting, and machine-verifiable.
These technologies are being gradually adopted by various institutions, governmental and otherwise,
in different
countries around the globe.
</p>
<p>
Readers that are new to this work should read the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-overview/">Verifiable Credentials Overview</a> W3C Note,
published by the Working Group. The Note explains some of the terminology used in this charter,
e.g., Verifiable Credentials and Presentations, Data Integrity, and cryptosuites. It also provides a
technical overview of how the various specifications listed as
<a href="#deliverables">deliverables</a> relate to one another.
</p>
<p>
The group should finalize all the <a href="#deliverables">specifications</a> started under <a
href="https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html">its previous
charter</a>.
Once all Recommendations are published, this Working Group will maintain the complete family of
specifications and related notes.
</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Scope -->
<section id="scope" class="scope">
<h2>Scope</h2>
<p>
The Working Group will complete the Recommendations listed <a href="#deliverables">below</a>, if
applicable.
Once all the planned Recommendations have been published, the Working Group will continue in
maintenance mode to handle errata. No new Recommendations are planned.
<a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/20231103/#class-4">Class 4 changes</a> for these
Recommendations
are <strong>out of scope</strong>, <em><strong>except</strong></em>:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Features that had been listed as <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/#reserved-extension-points">Reserved Extension
Points</a> in the Verifiable Data Model
specification, but have been developed further by the community, providing a possibly
adequate consensus supporting their addition to the Recommendation.
At the time of writing this charter, these terms are:
the <code>confidenceMethod</code> and <code>renderMethod</code> properties; as well as the
related
<code>ConfidenceMethod</code> and <code>RenderMethod</code> classes.
</li>
<li>
Serious security issues that arise, requiring changes in a Recommendation.
</li>
</ul>
<section id="section-out-of-scope">
<h3 id="out-of-scope">Out of Scope</h3>
<p>The following features are out of scope, and will not be addressed by this Working Group:</p>
<ul class="out-of-scope">
<li>The mandate of any specific style of supporting infrastructure, such as a Distributed Ledger
(DLT), for a Verifiable Credentials ecosystem</li>
<li>The specification of new cryptographic primitives</li>
<li>The normative specification of APIs or protocols</li>
</ul>
</section>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Deliverables -->
<section id="deliverables">
<h2>
Deliverables
</h2>
<p>Updated document status is available on the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/vc/publications/">group publication status page</a>.</p>
<p><i>Draft state</i> indicates the state of the deliverable at the time of the charter approval.
<i>Expected completion</i> indicates when the deliverable is projected to become a Recommendation,
or otherwise reach a stable state.</p>
<section id="normative">
<h3>
Normative Specifications
</h3>
<p>
The Working Group will deliver the following W3C normative specifications:
</p>
<dl>
<dt id="verifiable-credentials-data-model-2" class="spec">Verifiable Credentials Data Model
(VCDM) 2.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification defines the Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0 along with
serializations of that
data model. It will replace the current <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model/">Verifiable
Credentials Data Model 1.1 Recommendation</a>.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/">Candidate
Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/'>Verifiable
Credentials Data
Model v2.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2024/CR-vc-data-model-2.0-20240201/'>Verifiable
Credentials Data Model
2.0 (CR Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2024-02-01; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-04-01.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="data-integrity-1" class="spec">Verifiable Credential Data Integrity 1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification is a general framework to associate proofs of integrity for
Verifiable Credentials
and concrete serializations for each of the defined syntaxes.
The Working Group would welcome the usage of these techniques for data in general, but
its scope will be to solve Verifiable Credentials use cases. The specific set of
concrete serializations and cryptosuites appear as separate
specification, all part of the same family of specifications.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-integrity/">Candidate
Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-integrity/'>Verifiable
Credential Data Integrity
1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2023/CR-vc-data-integrity-20231121/'>Verifiable
Credential Data Integrity 1.0 (CR
Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2023-11-21; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-01-20.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="json-schema" class="spec">Verifiable Credentials JSON Schema Specification</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification provides a mechanism to make use of a Credential Schema in Verifiable
Credential,
leveraging the existing Data Schemas concept.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-json-schema/">Candidate
Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-json-schema/'>Verifiable
Credentials JSON Schema
Specification</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2023/CR-vc-json-schema-20231121/'>Verifiable Credentials
JSON Schema
Specification (CR Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2023-11-21; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-01-20.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="ecdsa" class="spec">Data Integrity ECDSA Cryptosuites v1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification describes a Data Integrity Cryptosuite for use when generating a
digital signature
using the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA).
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-ecdsa/">Candidate
Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-ecdsa/'>Data Integrity ECDSA
Cryptosuites v1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2023/CR-vc-di-ecdsa-20231121/'>Data Integrity ECDSA
Cryptosuites v1.0 (CR
Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2023-11-21; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-01-20.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="eddsa" class="spec">Data Integrity EdDSA Cryptosuites v1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification describes a Data Integrity cryptographic suite for use when creating
or verifying a digital
signature
using the twisted Edwards Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (EdDSA) and Curve25519
(ed25519).
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-eddsa/">Candidate
Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-eddsa/'>Data Integrity EdDSA
Cryptosuites
v1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2023/CR-vc-di-eddsa-20231121/'>Data Integrity EdDSA
Cryptosuites v1.0 (CR
Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2023-11-21; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-01-20.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="bbs" class="spec">Data Integrity BBS Cryptosuites v1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification describes a Data Integrity Cryptosuite for use when generating
digital signatures
using the BBS signature scheme. The Signature Suite utilizes BBS signatures to provide
selective
disclosure and unlinkable derived proofs.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-bbs/">Candidate Recommendation</a> </p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-di-bbs/'>Data Integrity BBS
Cryptosuites
v1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2024/CR-vc-di-bbs-20240404/'>BBS Cryptosuite v2023 (CR
Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2024-04-04; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-06-03.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="jose-cose" class="spec">Securing Verifiable Credentials using JOSE and COSE</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification defines how to secure credentials and presentations conforming to the
Verifiable Credential
data model with JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE), Selective Disclosure for
JWTs, and
CBOR Object Signing and Encryption (COSE).
</p>
<p class="draft-status"><b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-jose-cose/">Candidate Recommendation</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-jose-cose/'>Securing Verifiable
Credentials using JOSE and
COSE</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2024/CR-vc-jose-cose-20240425/'>Securing Verifiable
Credentials using JSON Web Tokens
(CR Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2024-04-25; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-06-24.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="bitstring" class="spec">Bitstring Status List v1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This specification describes a privacy-preserving, space-efficient, and high-performance
mechanism for
publishing status information such as suspension or revocation of Verifiable Credentials
through use of
bitstrings.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"> <b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-bitstring-status-list/">Candidate Recommendation</a>
</p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a
href='https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-bitstring-status-list/'>Bitstring Status List
v1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2023/WD-vc-status-list-20230427/'>Verifiable Credentials
Status List v1.0 (CR Snapshot)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2024-05-21; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-07-20.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt id="controller" class="spec">Controller Documents 1.0</dt>
<dd>
<p>
A controller document is a set of data that specifies one or more relationships between
a controller and a set of data,
such as a set of public cryptographic keys.
</p>
<p class="draft-status"> <b>Draft state:</b> <a
href="https://www.w3.org/TR/controller-document/">Working
Draft</a></p>
<p class="milestone"><b>Expected completion:</b> 2025-01-31</p>
<p>
<b>Adopted Draft:</b> <a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/controller-document/'>Controller
Documents v1.0</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft:</b>
<a href='https://www.w3.org/TR/2024/WD-controller-document-20240523/'>Controller
Document v1.0 (First
Public Working Draft)</a>
Exclusion period <b>began</b> 2024-05-23; Exclusion period <b>ended</b> 2024-07-22.
</p>
<p>
<b>Exclusion Draft Charter:</b>
https://www.w3.org/2022/06/verifiable-credentials-wg-charter.html</b>
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</section>
<section id="ig-other-deliverables">
<h3>
Other Deliverables
</h3>
<p>
Other non-normative documents may be created, such as:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Test suites for all normative deliverables</li>
<li>Presentation Request Data Model</li>
<li>Storage and Sharing of Verifiable Credentials</li>
<li>Privacy Guidance for Verifiable Credentials</li>
<li>Extensions for binding multilingual resources for localized user interfaces</li>
<li>A Developer Guide consisting of one or more notes related to general implementation guidance
and best practices for working with Verifiable Credentials, including but not limited to:
<ul>
<li>Guidance on Verifiable Credential Exchange over <a
href="https://openid.net/specs/openid-connect-core-1_0.html">OpenID Connect</a>
</li>
<li>Verifiable Credential Exchange over <a
href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-gnap-core-protocol">Grant
Negotiation and Authorization Protocol (GNAP)</a></li>
<li>Other protocols as time, attention, and resources permit.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Guidance to enhance Verifiable Credential interoperability:
<ul>
<li>Verifiable Credential Extension Vocabularies (e.g., ISO 18013-5 Mobile Driver's
License)</li>
<li>Implementation Guides</li>
<li>Test Suites</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
The Working Group may also update Notes published under previous charters.
</p>
</section>
<section id="timeline">
<h3>Timeline</h3>
<ul>
<li>February 2025: Publication of all Recommendation Track documents</li>
<li>March 2025: Working Group starts operating in maintenance mode.</li>
</ul>
</section>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Success Criteria -->
<section id="success-criteria">
<h2>Success Criteria</h2>
<p>
In order to advance to <a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#RecsPR"
title="Proposed Recommendation">Proposed Recommendation</a>,
each normative specification is expected to have <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#implementation-experience">at
least two independent interoperable implementations</a> of every feature defined in the
specification, where interoperability can be
verified by passing open test suites.
</p>
<p>
There should be testing plans for each specification, starting from the earliest drafts.
</p>
<p>
In order to advance to Proposed Recommendation, each normative specification must have an open test
suite
that tests every feature defined in the specification.
Additionally, two or more implementations should demonstrate interoperability for each feature
by passing these open test suites, and by showing that these implementations may interoperate with
each other.
For example Verifiable Credentials produced by implementations must be consumed by other
implementations and behave as specified.
</p>
<p>
A feature should be understood as a property or set of properties that are normatively required.
</p>
<p>
Each specification should contain separate sections detailing all known security and privacy
implications for
implementers, Web authors, and end users.
</p>
<p>
This Working Group expects to follow the <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/design-principles/">TAG Web
Platform Design Principles</a>.
</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Coordination -->
<section id="coordination">
<h2>Coordination</h2>
<p>
For all specifications, this Working Group will seek
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Guide/documentreview/#how_to_get_horizontal_review">horizontal
review</a> for accessibility,
internationalization, privacy, and security with the relevant Working and Interest Groups, and with
the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/groups/other/tag/" title="Technical Architecture Group">TAG</a>.
Invitation
for review must be issued during each major standards-track document transition, including
<a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#RecsWD" title="First Public Working Draft">FPWD</a>.
The Working
Group is encouraged to engage collaboratively with the horizontal review groups throughout
development of each
specification. The Working Group is advised to seek a review at least 3 months before first entering
<a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#RecsCR" title="Candidate Recommendation">CR</a> and
is encouraged to proactively notify the horizontal review groups when major changes occur in a
specification following a
review.
</p>
<p>Additional technical coordination with the following Groups will be made, per the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#WGCharter">W3C Process Document</a>:</p>
<section>
<h3 id="w3c-coordination">W3C Groups</h3>
<dl>
<dt><a href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/did/">Decentralized Identifier Working Group</a></dt>
<dd>
To synchronize on cryptography-related vocabularies and definitions.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.w3.org/WoT/wg/">Web of Things Working Group</a></dt>
<dd>
To synchronize on the needs and requirements of the WoT community, in particular on the
subject of WoT Thing Descriptions, regarding digital signatures.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://w3c-ccg.github.io/">Credentials Community Group</a></dt>
<dd>
Coordination on other specifications incubated by the Credentials Community Group that might
utilize the output of this Working Group.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/about/groups/apawg/">Accessible Platform Architecture (APA)
Working Group</a></dt>
<dd>
Coordinate on accessibility use cases for verifiable credentials, and work jointly on a
successor publication to inaccessible CAPTCHAs.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/fedid/">Federated Identity Working Group</a></dt>
<dd>
Contribute to the development, by that group, of a Threat Model of Digital
Credentials-related technologies.
</dd>
</dl>
</section>
<section>
<h3 id="external-coordination">External Organizations</h3>
<dl>
<dt><a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/">Internet Engineering Task Force</a> </dt>
<dd>
The Working Group will seek security review from the IETF, coordinated through the Liaison.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/rg/cfrg/about/">Internet Engineering Task Force Crypto
Forum Research Group </a> </dt>
<dd>
To perform broad horizontal reviews on the output of the Working Group and to ensure that
new pairing-based and post-quantum cryptographic algorithms and parameters can be integrated
into the Data Integrity ecosystem.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/spice/about/">Internet Engineering Task Force
Secure Patterns for Internet CrEdentials </a> </dt>
<dd>
Ensure that the draft standards being modeled and expressed by the IETF SPICE WG are
compatible with the work of the W3C Verifiable Credentials WG.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.nist.gov/"> National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S.
Department of Commerce </a></dt>
<dd>
To coordinate in ensuring that new pairing-based and post-quantum cryptographic algorithms
and parameters can be integrated into the Data Integrity ecosystem.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.hyperledger.org/projects/aries"> Hyperledger Aries</a></dt>
<dd>
To coordinate on broad horizontal reviews and implementations related to the specifications
developed by the Working Group.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.aclu.org/">The American Civil Liberties Union</a> </dt>
<dd>
To coordinate on ensuring that the deliverables of the Working Group are a net positive for
civil liberties.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://identity.foundation/interop/"> Decentralized Identity Foundation
Interoperability Working Group </a> </dt>
<dd>
To coordinate on broad horizontal review and integration of the specifications developed by
the Working Group into the Decentralized Identity Foundation's ecosystem.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.etsi.org/committee/esi">European Telecommunications Standards Institute
- Electronic Signatures and Infrastructure Technical Committee</a> </dt>
<dd>
To coordinate in ensuring that <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EIDAS">eIDAS</a>-compliant systems can be built on
top of the specifications developed by the Working Group.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.1edtech.org/">1EDTECH</a> (formerly IMS Global)</dt>
<dd>
Ensure that the badges being modeled and expressed by the Open Badges community are
compatible with the Verifiable Credentials WG.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.iso.org/committee/45144.html">ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 17/WG 10</a>
<dt>
<dd>
Ensure that the mobile driving licenses being modeled and expressed by the ISO SC17 WG10
community are compatible with the work of the Verifiable Credentials WG.
</dd>
<dt><a href="https://www.iso.org/committee/45144.html">ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 17/WG 4</a>
<dt>
<dd>
Ensure that the 23220-2 data model expressed by the ISO SC17 WG4 community is compatible
with the work of the Verifiable Credentials WG.
</dd>
</dl>
</section>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Participation -->
<section class="participation">
<h2 id="participation">
Participation
</h2>
<p>
To be successful, this Working Group is expected to have 6 or more active participants for its
duration, including representatives from the key implementors of this specification, and active
Editors and Test Leads for each specification. The Chairs, specification Editors, and Test Leads are
expected to contribute half of a working day per week towards the Working Group. There is no minimum
requirement for other Participants.
</p>
<p>
The group encourages questions, comments and issues on its public mailing lists and document
repositories, as described in <a href='#communication'>Communication</a>.
</p>
<p>
The group also welcomes non-Members to contribute technical submissions for consideration upon their
agreement to the terms of the <a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/patent-policy/">W3C Patent
Policy</a>.
</p>
<p>Participants in the group are required (by the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#ParticipationCriteria">W3C Process</a>) to follow the
W3C <a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/code-of-conduct/">Code of Conduct</a>.</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Communication -->
<section id="communication">
<h2>
Communication
</h2>
<p id="public">
Technical discussions for this Working Group are conducted in <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#confidentiality-levels">public</a>: the meeting
minutes from teleconference and face-to-face meetings will be archived for public review, and
technical discussions and issue tracking will be conducted in a manner that can be both read and
written to by the general public. Working Drafts and Editor's Drafts of specifications will be
developed in public repositories and may permit direct public contribution requests.
The meetings themselves are not open to public participation, however.
</p>
<p>
Information about the group (including details about deliverables, issues, actions, status,
participants, and meetings) will be available from the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/vc">Verifiable Credentials Working Group home page.</a>
</p>
<p>
Most Verifiable Credentials Working Group teleconferences will focus on discussion of particular
specifications, and will be conducted on an as-needed basis.
</p>
<p>
This group primarily conducts its technical work on the public mailing list
<a id="public-name" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>
(<a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-vc-wg/">archive</a>) or on
<a id="public-github" href="https://github.com/w3c/verifiable-credentials">GitHub issues</a>
(and specification-specific GitHub repositories and issue trackers). The public
is invited to review, discuss and contribute to this work.
</p>
<p>
The group may use a Member-confidential mailing list for administrative purposes and, at the
discretion of the Chairs and members of the group, for member-only discussions in special cases when
a participant requests such a discussion.
</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Decision Policy -->
<section id="decisions">
<h2>
Decision Policy
</h2>
<p>
This group will seek to make decisions through consensus and due process, per the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#Consensus"> W3C Process Document (section 5.2.1
Consensus)</a>. Typically, an editor or other participant makes an initial proposal, which is
then refined in discussion with members of the group and other reviewers, and consensus emerges with
little formal voting being required.</p>
<p>
However, if a decision is necessary for timely progress and consensus is not achieved after careful
consideration of the range of views presented, the Chairs may call for a group vote and record a
decision along with any objections.
</p>
<p>
To afford asynchronous decisions and organizational deliberation, any resolution (including
publication decisions) taken in a face-to-face meeting or teleconference will be considered
provisional.
A call for consensus (CfC) will be issued for all resolutions (for example, via email, GitHub issue
or web-based survey), with a response period of 1 week, depending on the chair's evaluation of the
group consensus on the issue.
If no objections are raised by the end of the response period, the resolution will be considered to
have consensus as a resolution of the Working Group.
</p>
<p>
All decisions made by the group should be considered resolved unless and until new information
becomes available or unless reopened at the discretion of the Chairs.
</p>
<p>
This charter is written in accordance with the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#Votes">W3C Process Document (Section 5.2.3, Deciding
by Vote)</a> and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.
</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Patent Policy -->
<section id="patentpolicy">
<h2>
Patent Policy
</h2>
<p>
This Working Group operates under the <a href="https://www.w3.org/policies/patent-policy/">W3C
Patent Policy</a> (Version of 15 September 2020). To promote the widest adoption of Web
standards, W3C seeks to issue Web specifications that can be implemented, according to this policy,
on a Royalty-Free basis.
For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/vc/ipr/">licensing information</a>.
</p>
</section>
<!-- MARK: Licensing -->
<section id="licensing">
<h2>Licensing</h2>
<p>This Working Group will use the <a href="https://www.w3.org/copyright/software-license-2023/">W3C
Software and Document license</a> for all its deliverables.</p>
</section>
<section id="about">
<h2>
About this Charter
</h2>
<p>
This charter has been created according to <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#GAGeneral">section 3.4</a> of the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/">Process Document</a>. In the event of a conflict
between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall
take precedence.
</p>
<!-- MARK: Charter History -->
<section id="history">
<h3>
Charter History
</h3>
<p>The following table lists details of all changes from the initial charter, per the <a
href="https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#CharterReview">W3C Process Document (section 4.3,
Advisory Committee Review of a Charter)</a>:</p>
<table class="history">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Charter Period</th>
<th>Start Date</th>
<th>End Date</th>
<th>Changes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><a href="https://www.w3.org/2017/vc/WG/charter.html">Initial Charter</a></th>
<td>14 April 2017</td>
<td>31 March 2019</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Update</th>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>2018-08-01 (plh): Updated Chairs and Team Contacts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Update</th>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>2018-09-12 (coralie): Updated Chairs</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/w3c-ac-members/2019JanMar/0051.html">Charter
Extension</a></th>
<td>1 April 2019</td>
<td>30 September 2019</td>