[jose] WG Action: Rechartered Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (jose)

[The IESG <[e-mail]>]

The Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (jose) WG in the Security Area
of the IETF has been rechartered. For additional information, please contact
the Area Directors or the WG Chairs.

Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (jose)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Current status: Proposed WG

Chairs:
  Karen O'Donoghue <[e-mail]>
  John Bradley <[e-mail]>

Assigned Area Director:
  Roman Danyliw <[e-mail]>

Security Area Directors:
  Roman Danyliw <[e-mail]>
  Paul Wouters <[e-mail]>

Mailing list:
  Address: [e-mail]
  To subscribe: https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/jose
  Archive: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/jose/

Group page: https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/jose/

Charter: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/charter-ietf-jose/

The original [JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) working
group](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/charter-ietf-jose/02/) standardized
JSON-based representations for: - Integrity-protected objects – JSON Web
Signatures (JWS) [[RFC 7515](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7515.html)] -
Encrypted objects – JSON Web Encryption (JWE) [[RFC
7516](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7516.html)] - Key representations –
JSON Web Key (JWK) [[RFC 7517](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7517.html)]
- Algorithm definitions – JSON Web Algorithms (JWA) [[RFC
7518](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7518.html)] - Test vectors for the
above – Examples of Protecting Content Using JSON Object Signing and
Encryption [[RFC 7520](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7520.html)]

These were used to define the JSON Web Token (JWT) [[RFC
7519](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7519.html)], which in turn, has seen
widespread deployment in areas as diverse as [digital
identity](https://openid.net/connect/) and [secure
telephony](https://www.ietf.org/blog/stir-action/).

Concurrent to the growth of adoption of these standards to express and
communicate sensitive data has been an increasing societal focus on privacy.
Common privacy themes in identity solutions are user consent, minimal
disclosure, and unlinkability.

A multi-decade research activity for a sizeable academic and applied
cryptography community, often referred to as anonymous credentials, targets
privacy and knowledge protection. Some of the cryptographic techniques
developed in this space involve pairing-friendly curves and zero-knowledge
proofs (ZKPs) (to name just a few).  Some of the benefits of zero-knowledge
proof algorithms include unlinkability, selective disclosure, and the ability
to use predicate proofs.

The current container formats defined by JOSE and JWT are not able to
represent data using zero-knowledge proof algorithms. Among the reasons are
that most require an additional transform or finalize step, many are designed
to operate on sets and not single messages, and the interface to ZKP
algorithms has more inputs than conventional signing algorithms. The
reconstituted JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) working group will
address these new needs, while reusing aspects of JOSE and JWT, where
applicable.

This group is chartered to work on the following deliverables:

- An Informational document detailing Use Cases and Requirements for new
specifications enabling JSON-based selective disclosure and zero-knowledge
proofs.

- Standards Track document(s) specifying representation(s) of
independently-disclosable integrity-protected sets of data and/or proofs
using JSON-based data structures, which also aims to prevent the ability to
correlate by different verifiers.

- Standards Track document(s) specifying representation(s) of JSON-based
claims and/or proofs enabling selective disclosure of these claims and/or
proofs, and that also aims to prevent the ability to correlate by different
verifiers.

- Standards Track document(s) specifying how to use existing cryptographic
algorithms and defining their algorithm identifiers.  The working group will
not invent new cryptographic algorithms.

- Standards Track document(s) specifying how to represent keys for these new
algorithms as JSON Web Keys (JWKs).

- An Informational document defining test vectors for these new
specifications.

- Standards Track document(s) defining CBOR-based representations
corresponding to all the above, building upon the COSE and CWT specifications
in the same way that the above build on JOSE and JWT.

One or more of these goals may be combined into a single document, in which
case the concrete milestones for these goals will be satisfied by the
consolidated document(s).

An informal goal of the working group is close coordination with the
[rechartered W3C Verifiable Credentials
WG](https://www.w3.org/2022/05/proposed-vc-wg-charter.html), which has taken
a dependency on this work for the second version of its Verifiable
Credentials specification.  The working group will also coordinate with the
[Selective Disclosure
JWT](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-oauth-selective-disclosure-jwt/)
work in the [OAuth](https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/oauth/about/) working
group, the [Privacy Pass](https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/privacypass/about/)
working group, and the [CFRG](https://datatracker.ietf.org/rg/cfrg/about/).

Milestones:

TBD