identity-canon/terminology/TerminologyInventory.md

Terminology Inventory

Status: draft. Updated after IDENTITY-WP-0003 corpus backfill. Mappings remain candidate until reviewed against canon/CanonicalGlossary.md and scenario tests.

Use

Use this file to collect source terms and their current candidate canonical home. Use terminology/TerminologyConflictMap.md when a term is overloaded or has incompatible meanings across source families.

Inventory

Term	Candidate canonical concept	Source families	Notes
actor	Actor	ActivityPub, FOAF, Cedar, proposal	Participation root. ActivityPub actor is server-hosted; FOAF Agent includes persons.
natural person	Natural Person	FOAF, Schema.org, NIST, GDPR	Human being; FOAF Person and Schema.org Person align strongly.
user	Convenience label only	SCIM, LDAP, Keycloak, ZITADEL, apps	Overloaded. Map by context: SCIM/LDAP User → Identity Record; Keycloak/ZITADEL User → Account.
account	Account	SCIM, LDAP posixAccount, FOAF OnlineAccount, Keycloak	Operational access record in a scope. FOAF separates account from person explicitly.
identity	Identity Record or Claim	Kratos, OIDC, DID, VC, apps	Kratos Identity = traits + credentials. Avoid bare identity as root noun.
identifier	Identifier	OIDC sub, SAML NameID, LDAP DN, DID, WebID	Value referring within or across scopes. See Scoped Identifier when correlation is limited.
scoped identifier	Scoped Identifier	OIDC pairwise, SAML transient, pseudonyms	Meaning limited to RP, sector, tenant, or session.
credential	Credential	NIST, Kratos, OIDC token, VC, DID keys	Proof material. Distinguish VC (claim container) from password/WebAuthn.
subject	Authenticated Subject	OIDC, SAML, SSF events	Protocol/security view after issuer identification. Not Actor or Principal.
principal	Authorization Principal	Cedar, Cerbos, Zanzibar, OpenFGA	Decision-engine participant. OpenFGA user: prefix is not a human user.
end-user	Natural Person (inferred)	OIDC	OIDC names the human implicitly; does not model as entity.
profile	Profile	FOAF, WebID/Solid, SCIM attrs, ActivityPub	Presentation or attribute surface. Solid profile is user-controlled data.
persona	Persona	proposal, privacy patterns	Contextual presentation; pairwise/pseudonymous profiles map here.
agent	Actor or Artificial Agent	FOAF, ActivityPub, WebID	FOAF Agent includes humans; ActivityPub Service = Artificial Agent.
bot	Artificial Agent	ActivityPub Service, apps	Automated actor; may use Service Account.
service account	Service Account	Keycloak, ZITADEL machine user, Kratos	Non-human login or API identity. ZITADEL machine user, Kratos service patterns.
machine user	Service Account	ZITADEL	Product term for non-human org identity.
organization	Organization	Schema.org, Keycloak Orgs, ZITADEL, SCIM ext	Collective actor. SCIM organization attribute is not an Organization actor.
legal entity	Legal Entity	business, compliance	Organization recognized under law; separate from tenant.
customer	Customer (relationship role)	SaaS, vendor models	B2B subscriber org → Organization + Customer role + Tenant. Not Stripe Customer.
vendor	Vendor (relationship role)	SaaS, multi-vendor	Provider role; not realm or tenant.
subscriber	Organization + Customer role	Auth0 B2B SaaS	Convenience label only; not canonical.
stripe customer	Commercial Record	Stripe, billing	Billing object; link to Tenant via metadata. Not Account.
crm account	Commercial Record	Salesforce, CRM	Commercial record; not login Account.
customer account	Resolve by layer	billing, IAM, CRM	Not canonical — see TerminologyConflictMap.
commercial record	Commercial Record	Stripe, CRM, billing	Record layer; payment/subscription/commerce state.
commercial relationship	Commercial Relationship	vendor/customer SaaS	Vendor-to-customer typed relationship.
tenant	Tenant	ZITADEL org, SaaS, Keycloak (informal)	Administrative/isolation scope. Keycloak realm sometimes called tenant.
realm	Realm	Keycloak	Hard identity/admin namespace. Candidate Scope specialization.
scope	Scope	OIDC, Cerbos, OpenFGA store, proposal	Boundary for meaning, policy, or correlation.
namespace	Scope	LDAP dc, Keto/OpenFGA, DID method	Naming or authorization partition.
instance	Scope	ZITADEL	Deployment-level boundary above organizations.
project	Application Scope	ZITADEL	Application/product container within org.
community	Community	ActivityPub Group, proposal	Participation-oriented collective. ActivityPub Group may be Community or Group.
family	Family or Household	proposal, GDPR-sensitive	Guardian/dependent semantics; privacy-sensitive.
household	Family or Household	family accounts	Co-residence unit; may differ from legal family.
group	Group	LDAP, SCIM, FOAF, ActivityPub, Cedar	Named collection. LDAP/SCIM group ≠ social community without context.
team	Group or Organization Unit	Schema.org, collaboration	Collaboration unit; may be org sub-unit.
role	Role	Keycloak, ZITADEL, Cedar, Cerbos, Schema.org OrganizationRole	Capability bundle or relationship label. Cerbos derived role may hide Ownership.
grant	Role assignment	ZITADEL	Project role assignment; map to Delegation-like relationship.
member	Membership Relationship	SCIM, LDAP, FOAF, Schema.org, Zanzibar	Relationship edge, not a noun for the participant.
affiliation	Affiliation Relationship	Schema.org, FOAF knows	Looser than membership. FOAF knows is weak social affiliation.
follower	Following Relationship	ActivityPub	Directed social subscription; not membership or authz.
follow	Following Relationship	ActivityPub	Activity establishing follower edge.
owner	Ownership Relationship	Zanzibar, Cerbos derived	Control/responsibility. Cerbos may encode as attribute not relationship.
administrator	Administration Relationship	IAM, ZITADEL grants	Delegated management in scope.
delegation	Delegation Relationship	Cedar context, agents	Bounded authority grant. Cedar context may carry delegatedBy.
representation	Representation Relationship	SCIM manager, DID controller	Acting on behalf of another. DID controller may differ from subject.
trust	Trust Relationship	federation, VC, DID	Reliance on issuer/verifier; federation metadata trust.
claim	Claim	OIDC, SAML attributes, VC	Statement by issuer. SAML AttributeStatement → Claim.
evidence	Evidence Source	NIST proofing, entity resolution, SSF	Supports claims and synonymity. SSF SET = event Evidence Source.
assurance	Assurance Level	NIST IAL/AAL/FAL	Orthogonal identity, authentication, federation confidence.
identifier binding	Identifier Binding	OIDC iss+sub, WebID-OIDC, SAML	Assertion that identifier refers to target in scope.
synonymity	Synonymity Assertion	entity resolution, OIDC linking, schema.org sameAs	Scoped evidenced equivalence. sameAs is weak by default.
weak match	Weak Synonymity Assertion	probabilistic matching	Probabilistic link; never destructive merge.
strong link	Strong Synonymity Assertion	deterministic match, verified linking	Authoritative or verified; still scoped.
same_as	Synonymity Assertion (strong)	synonymity model	High-confidence equivalence relation type.
probably_same_as	Synonymity Assertion (weak)	probabilistic matching	Probabilistic equivalence relation type.
linked_to	Synonymity Assertion (operational)	account linking	Convenience link without semantic sameness claim.
pseudonym	Pseudonymous Identifier	GDPR, OIDC pairwise	Limits cross-scope correlation.
pairwise subject	Scoped Identifier	OIDC	RP-specific sub preventing global correlation.
relationship tuple	Relationship Tuple	Zanzibar, OpenFGA, Keto	Authz projection: subject#relation@object.
policy	Authorization Projection	Cedar, Cerbos	Rule artifact; downstream of canon model.
lifecycle state	Lifecycle State	SCIM active, SSF/RISC events, VC status	Applies to records, credentials, relationships, assertions.
subscriber	Account / Identity Record	NIST	Enrolled party at CSP; not synonymous with Natural Person until IAL binding.
issuer	Scope + Trust Relationship	OIDC iss, VC issuer, SAML IdP	Namespace authority for identifiers and claims.
relying party	Scope	OIDC RP, SAML SP, NIST	Consumer of assertions; RP-local account binding.
nameid	Identifier	SAML	Format attribute determines persistence and privacy semantics.
distinguished name	Identifier	LDAP	Compound locator in directory namespace.
externalid	Identifier	SCIM	Client-supplied cross-system correlation key.
traits	Profile attributes	Kratos	Schema-validated identity attributes.
verification method	Credential	DID Core	Cryptographic key in DID document.
verifiable credential	Credential + Claim	VC Data Model	Signed claim set; distinct from login credential.
holder	Actor (custody role)	VC, OpenID4VC	Party possessing VC; may differ from subject.
verifier	Scope (evaluation role)	VC, OpenID4VC	Validates presentations.
did	Identifier	DID Core	Decentralized identifier with method-specific resolution.
webid	Identifier	WebID/Solid	HTTP URI identifying agent with dereferenceable profile.
data subject	Natural Person	GDPR	Identifiable natural person for privacy regulation.
pseudonymization	Processing pattern	GDPR	Technique; maps to Scoped Identifier + separated re-id key.
controller	Organization (legal role)	GDPR	Downstream legal role; not canonical identity root.
tuple (authz)	Relationship Tuple	Zanzibar	Authorization fact, not social relationship.
userset	Authorization Principal (indirect)	Zanzibar, OpenFGA	Subject referenced via relation chain.
derived role	Role (computed)	Cerbos	Role from attributes; should trace to Relationship when possible.
contextual tuple	Delegation context	OpenFGA	Ephemeral authz fact at check time.
sameas	Weak Synonymity Assertion	Schema.org	Informal web equivalence; not strong link without evidence.
organizationrole	Role + Membership	Schema.org	Temporal role with start/end dates.
assurance level change	Assurance Level update	SSF/CAEP	Event affecting IAL/AAL/FAL metadata.

Source Note Citations

Terms above are grounded in backfilled notes under:

• research/identity-provisioning/ (5 notes)
• research/authentication-federation/ (4 notes)
• research/authorization-relationships/ (4 notes)
• research/social-community-graphs/ (4 notes)
• research/verifiable-claims/ (3 notes)
• research/entity-resolution-privacy/ (3 notes)
• research/commercial-subscription/ (2 notes)

Remaining Backfill Needs

• Split group into authorization group vs. social collective where sources disagree (OpenFGA member vs. ActivityPub follower).
• Add product-version qualifiers when Keycloak/ZITADEL models evolve.
• Promote stable mappings to canon/CanonicalGlossary.md after scenario review.