Welcome !🌍

What is MOSIP?

Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) is an open-source, open standards-based foundational identity platform designed to help countries build and manage their national ID systems. Anchored at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), MOSIP enables governments to conceive, develop, implement, and own secure and scalable digital identity solutions.

Built with an API-first approach, MOSIP provides ID Lifecycle Management features, covering Identity Issuance, Identity Verification, and Identity Management. The platform is designed to foster global Digital Public Goods (DPGs) in digital identification and governance. By leveraging open-source technologies, MOSIP ensures scalability, security, and privacy, adhering to best industry practices.

MOSIP’s modular and adaptable architecture gives adopting countries full ownership and flexibility to customize the system to their needs. As a transparent and human-centric initiative, MOSIP encourages global collaboration, welcoming contributions from developers, technology partners, and research institutions worldwide.

Our global team of experts and advisors supports countries throughout the adoption and implementation of their digital ID systems, ensuring that they function as a common governance infrastructure for inclusive and secure digital transformation.

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Our Mission & Objectives

At MOSIP, our mission is to empower governments worldwide to build and own secure, inclusive, and scalable digital identity systems. As an open-source, modular platform, MOSIP provides a strong foundation for nations to establish their digital public infrastructure, ensuring privacy, security, and interoperability.

Our key objectives include:

• Enabling countries to develop secure, citizen-centric ID systems by providing a robust and fully functional framework.

• Offering flexibility and customization so that nations can tailor the platform to their specific needs.

• Ensuring privacy, security, and confidentiality of individuals’ data, following global best practices.

• Upholding transparency, security, and human-centric technology to foster trust and reliability.

• Supporting global collaboration through open-source contributions, partnerships, and an ecosystem of technology providers, researchers, and developers.

• Providing a scalable and accessible solution that serves populations from a few thousand to several hundred million.

By fostering an open and collaborative ecosystem of technology partners, researchers, and developers, MOSIP enables nations to build robust, adaptable, and future-ready identity solutions tailored to their unique needs.

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Why MOSIP?

1. Modular

MOSIP’s mutually exclusive technology bundles allow adopting nations to build custom workflows instead of relying on a fixed system. Each functionality is designed as an independent microservice, ensuring flexibility and control over digital ID implementation.

2. Open Source

We are committed to developing trusted and transparent technology while contributing to global standards. Our open-source code repository is available entirely on GitHub, encouraging contributions from user communities and providing governments with full control over their ID systems. MOSIP actively collaborates with IEEE, governments, and industry partners to establish common Open Standards and Protocols, making MOSIP easy to integrate, interoperable, cost-effective, and time-efficient.

3. Vendor-Neutral

We offer governments the ability to integrate with a wide range of compliant technology partners. A foundational digital ID system requires smooth integration of platforms, biometric devices, and system integrators. MOSIP ensures vendor neutrality through the MOSIP Partner Programme and Marketplace, allowing countries to choose and update their technology solutions freely, saving both time and financial resources.

4. Secure and Private Design

We believe every individual should be in control of their own data. MOSIP ensures data security and privacy, with cryptographic encryption and zero-knowledge architecture safeguarding information both in transit and at rest. Governments retain sovereign control over their ID systems, and data sharing occurs only with the individual’s consent. Learn more about our security and privacy principles here.

5. Cost-Effective

MOSIP provides a zero-cost platform for adoption and licensing, enabling governments and organizations to build a foundational digital ID system under Mozilla’s Public License 2.0. The automation of processes within MOSIP minimizes implementation costs, allowing countries to test and establish effective digital infrastructure efficiently.

6. Human-Centric

We aim to develop technology that can cater to diverse and varying requirements around the world. The expert team at MOSIP constantly strives to learn from on-ground experiences in adopting nations, to understand their context-specific requirements and provide unique and adaptable solutions.

7. Inclusive

MOSIP is committed to inclusivity, ensuring technology remains accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, or economic status. Our ongoing collaborations with universities, research institutions, and field teams help refine our technology for unrestricted accessibility. Innovations like Inji, a digital wallet mobile app, empower residents to access their digital identities even in remote, low-connectivity areas.

To know more, click here.

Explore Key Areas

The documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All MOSIP's repositories are licensed under the terms of .

All trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Other products and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners..

What is a Foundational Identity?

A Foundational Identity System provides individuals with a unique identifier issued by the government, enabling identity assertion and verification across multiple services. Unlike functional IDs, which are designed for specific use cases such as healthcare, finance, and social services, foundational IDs serve as a universal framework that various sectors can leverage.

MOSIP empowers governments to build secure, interoperable, and inclusive foundational ID systems. With robust privacy protections and modular architecture, MOSIP ensures individuals have control over their personal information while enabling seamless access to public and private services.

Below is a diagram illustrating the relationship between Foundational IDs and Functional IDs.

• Foundational ID systems provide individuals with a unique, government-recognized identifier for identity verification. They help de-duplicate records, authenticate individuals, and verify identity attributes.

• Functional IDs are sector-specific and designed for specific use cases such as healthcare, finance, social protection, education, and voting. These IDs can leverage the foundational ID system to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and seamless service access.

This structure helps create a secure and interoperable identity ecosystem for both public and private services.

What is MOSIP?

MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform) is a secure, scalable, and open-source framework designed to help governments and organizations build foundational identity systems. It offers a flexible and configurable approach, allowing countries to tailor their national ID systems to meet specific requirements while ensuring privacy, security, and interoperability.

The below image illustrates MOSIP as a modular, open-source identity platform designed for secure and scalable digital identity systems. It highlights key features such as interoperability, open standards, security, and privacy, ensuring seamless integration without vendor lock-in.

Additionally, it showcases MOSIP’s core functionalities, including ID issuance, identity verification, and lifecycle management, making it a flexible solution for national ID implementations.

Privacy and Security

The image below highlights MOSIP’s security and privacy principles, emphasizing its "Security by Design" and "Privacy by Intent" approach.

These principles align with MOSIP’s Privacy and Security framework.

For more details, please refer to Privacy and Security section. To learn more about MOSIP’s Principles, click here.

MOSIP Modules

The image below illustrates the various MOSIP Modules:

• Pre-Registration – Enables users to provide basic demographic data and book appointments for registration.

• Registration – Facilitates registration of an individual, for availing a Unique Identification Number (UIN) by providing demographic and biometric data (fingerprint, iris, and face photograph) in online/offline mode.

• Registration Processor – Generates a Unique Identification Number (UIN) post a regulated process and enriches data.

• ID Authentication – Provides demographic and biometric authentication services, including Yes/No and E-KYC services, enabling access to a myriad of rights and services.

• Resident Services – Allows residents to update and monitor usage of their IDs, giving individuals control over their own identity.

• Partner Management – For onboarding, managing, and integrating external partners (relying parties) within the MOSIP ecosystem.

To learn more about the MOSIP modules, please refer here.

MOSIP Ecosystem

MOSIP collaborates with ecosystem partners to develop tailored identity solutions for each country.

The diagram below illustrates the MOSIP Ecosystem, highlighting how various components integrate with the MOSIP Platform to deliver a comprehensive ID solution.

To learn more about the MOSIP Ecosystem, please refer here.

MOSIP's Offerings

The diagram illustrates MOSIP’s Key Offerings in ID Lifecycle Management and ID Authentication, highlighting two main processes:

1. ID Registration Process

• Step 1: Online Pre-Registration – A resident submits demographic details online.

• Step 2: Biometric Enrollment – The resident visits a registration center for biometric data collection.

• Step 3: ID Issuance – After successful validations and processing, the resident receives a Unique Identification Number (UIN).

2. ID Authentication Process

• An ID holder requests authentication to access services.

• Authentication is performed via an authentication partner equipped with biometric or digital verification tools.

• The MOSIP Authentication System validates the identity, providing eKYC or token-based responses for service access.

These offerings enable secure, scalable, and modular identity management and authentication solutions.

Building a National ID System Using MOSIP

Countries can leverage MOSIP as the base identity platform and configure, customize, and extend it to build systems just the way needed.

The image below depicts how MOSIP provides the base layer to build a national ID platform.

In today’s digital-first world, most services are transitioning online, making a secure and trusted digital identity more important than ever. A secure and trusted digital identity is crucial to facilitate personalized access to these online services.

eSignet strives to provide a user-friendly and effective method for individuals to authenticate themselves and utilize online services while also having the option to share their profile information. Moreover, eSignet supports multiple modes of identity verification to ensure inclusivity and broaden access, thereby reducing potential digital barriers.

Additionally, eSignet offers a seamless and straightforward solution for incorporating an existing trusted identity database into the digital realm. By enabling digital identities and providing identity verification and service access, eSignet delivers a sophisticated and user-friendly experience.

About Inji

In today's fast-paced, interconnected world, ensuring seamless access to essential services—such as healthcare, financial inclusion, global mobility, and social support has never been more critical. The need for trusted identity authentication and secure data exchange is at the heart of accessing these services.

To address this, Inji offers a transformative solution – enabling the secure issuance, digitalization, storage, exchange, and seamless verification of trusted data as verifiable credentials, through a comprehensive set of tools.

Inji, meaning "knowing" or "recognizance" in Korean, is evolving into a comprehensive digital credential stack with a strong focus on user empowerment. Inji simplifies the management and verification of credentials by providing secure solutions that work across multiple interfaces. It aims to streamline creating, sharing, and verifying all types of digital and physical credentials.

MOSIP's fundamental architecture and design incorporate the highest levels of privacy and security.

Security by design

Key security features:

• Encryption of data in-flight or rest. (See )

• Integration with trusted applications only.

• Fraud avoidance - association of authentication only with specific transactions.

• Misuse prevention - user can lock or unlock their authentication.

• Virtual ID and Tokens to prevent identity theft.

• All data sent out of MOSIP will be digitally signed.

• All incoming data will be signed by the respective entity.

• Any data sent to a relying party will be encrypted.

• Protection against internal attacks with every record in DB protected with integrity.

• Centralized key management.

• All API's are protected with OAUTH 2.0.

Privacy by intent

Key privacy features:

• Minimal data with selective disclosure on a need-to-know basis.

• Sensitive data protected (not stored or logged in clear form).

• Consent support – the user decides who can receive what credentials & what attributes.

• No search on the database (You can find a record only if you know the ID).

• Clear segregation of Biometric & Demographic data.

• De-centralised ID usage and data (cannot profile based on usage).

• Users are not limited to one permenant ID - Virtual ID.

• All relying party gets a privacy enabled tokens to prevent profiling across transactions. Permenant ID is never shared.

• Supports Wallet based decentralized ID issuance and usage.

• Face data is not sent to ABIS for deduplication.

With the mission of empowering lives all over the world, MOSIP continues to take steps towards being an inclusive platform. Ongoing collaborations with global universities, research organizations, and strong on-ground teams have sharpened our focus on developing technology that is unrestricted by gender, race, and economic status. Additionally, technology features allow individuals to access services with digital identities through multiple channels, and even in remote areas with low connectivity, ensuring no one is left behind.

Some mechanisms through which the MOSIP platform supports inclusivity is illustrated below:

• Introducer Support For The Undocumented

  • The Introducer concept in MOSIP allows individuals without formal identity documents to be enrolled into the digital identity system. A trusted and verified Introducer, such as a community leader or an authorized individual, vouches for the person’s identity. This ensures that marginalized populations, including refugees, nomadic groups, and those lacking paperwork, can still obtain a digital identity. By enabling inclusion through trust-based verification, the Introducer mechanism helps governments provide identity access to all, promoting social and financial inclusion.

• Multi-Language Support for Linguistically Diverse Communities

  • Multi-language support in MOSIP enhances inclusivity by ensuring individuals can interact with digital identity systems in their native or preferred languages. This helps bridge linguistic barriers, making identity services accessible to diverse populations, including those with limited literacy in dominant languages. By supporting localization, MOSIP enables governments to customize the platform to suit national needs, fostering greater adoption, trust, and usability. This approach aligns with the goal of creating inclusive and equitable digital identity ecosystems worldwide.

• Biometric Exception Handling for Individuals with Difficult-to-Capture Biometrics

  • MOSIP’s biometric exception handling ensures that individuals with difficult-to-capture biometrics, such as worn fingerprints or missing biometrics like finger or eyes, are not excluded from digital identity systems. When biometrics cannot be collected, MOSIP provides alternative methods, such as marking the biometric modality as an exception and capturing a photograph as evidence, thereby allowing inclusive identity registration for all. This approach ensures that elderly individuals, manual laborers, and persons with disabilities can still obtain a secure and verifiable identity, reinforcing inclusivity and accessibility in digital identity.

• Enabling In-Home registration with Android Registration Client

  • The (ARC) enhances inclusivity by enabling in-home registration for individuals who are unable to visit physical registration centers. This portable solution ensures that residents, especially in remote locations, can access identity registration services at their convenience. By providing mobility for registration agents and allowing remote registrations, ARC significantly expands coverage and accessibility, ensuring that even those in underserved or hard-to-reach areas are included in national identity systems.

• Ensuring Gender Inclusivity with MOSIP's GenderMag Collaboration

  • MOSIP’s collaboration with ensures inclusivity by integrating gender-sensitive design principles into the User Interface (UI) and Design. This approach helps identify and address barriers that may disproportionately affect users based on gender, ensuring that the digital identity platform is accessible and effective for all users, regardless of gender. This approach emphasizes on creating interfaces that are intuitive and equitable, thus ensuring an inclusive user experience for diverse populations.

• Multi-Modal Verification with Inji and eSignet

  • MOSIP ensures inclusivity by offering multiple verification modalities through and . These solutions provide secure and convenient citizen verification across various channels, including online/offline, self-service/assisted modes, and accessible even with smartphones, feature phones, or no phones. This flexibility allows individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those with limited access to technology or support, to easily access and benefit from the services.

Through its inclusive mechanisms, MOSIP continues to push boundaries in providing accessible and equitable digital identity solutions. By focusing on universal access and adaptability, MOSIP ensures that everyone—regardless of their background, location, or physical limitations—can benefit from the services enabled by the platform. These efforts reflect MOSIP's commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable digital future for all.

At MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform), we are committed to building a secure, interoperable, and privacy-centric identity system for nations worldwide. MOSIP adheres to internationally recognized standards in biometric authentication, security, cryptography, privacy, and interoperability to ensure the highest levels of security, efficiency, and compliance.

1. Why Standards Matters?

By following these global standards, MOSIP ensures that our identity platform is: ✅ Secure – Protecting citizens’ data from cyber threats. ✅ Privacy-First – Upholding the highest standards of data protection. ✅ Scalable & Future-Ready – Enabling nations to build robust digital identity programs. ✅ Interoperable – Seamlessly integrating with digital identity solutions worldwide.

2. Our Adherence to Global Standards

1. Biometric Standards for Secure Identity Verification

To ensure seamless biometric interoperability and security, MOSIP follows:

• ISO/IEC 19794 – Standardized biometric data formats for fingerprints, iris, and facial recognition.

• (Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework) – Facilitates interoperability and efficient biometric data exchange.

• IEEE P3167 (DRAFT) – Strengthening the trustworthiness of biometric devices and their captured data while ensuring overall data security.

2. Security & Cryptography Standards for Data Protection

To guarantee robust data security and encryption, MOSIP aligns with:

• NIST Cybersecurity Framework – Provides guidelines for IT security evaluation and risk management.

• RSA, EC, JSE – Implements industry-standard cryptographic algorithms for secure encryption and data integrity.

3. Open Standards for Seamless Interoperability

To enable effortless integration with national and global identity ecosystems, MOSIP adopts:

• OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect – Providing secure and scalable authentication mechanisms.

• REST, OpenAPI Standards – Ensuring standardized communication across different platforms.

• JMS (Java Message Service) & WebSub – Facilitating real-time messaging and event-driven architecture.

4. MOSIP Standards

• Claim 169 – A globally registered specification under the , developed by It allows demographic and biometric data (like a low-res face image) to be embedded in a digitally signed QR code, enabling reliable offline identity verification. to know more.

MOSIP is designed, developed, and implemented based on core principles that drive its effectiveness and adaptability. These principles ensure that MOSIP remains open, secure, interoperable, scalable, and inclusive, allowing it to meet the needs of diverse users and support the creation of accessible, digital identity systems globally.

• Modular: Identity systems that serve unique needs with mutually exclusive technology bundles. Rather than a stand-alone solution offered to every adopting nation, MOSIP technology allows user countries to build custom workflows. Each functionality is built with independent microservices to provide flexibility and control.\

• Open Source: Trusted & transparent technology, adhering to global standards. An open-source code repository, available on GitHub, encourages contributions from user communities and offers governments control over their ID systems. MOSIP also works with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), governments, and a commercial ecosystem to arrive at common Open Standards and Protocols. This makes MOSIP easy to integrate, interoperable, cost- and time-efficient.\

• Vendor-Neutral: Offering the ability to integrate with a wide range of compliant technologies. In the setting up of a foundational digital ID system, it is critical that the platform, biometric devices, and system integrators, are able to integrate and function smoothly. Vendor-neutrality, maintained through the MOSIP Partner Programme and the establishment of the MOSIP Marketplace offers countries the ability to choose and change their technology solutions at any time and save precious time and financial resources.\

• Private and Secure: Ensuring every individual is in control of their data. MOSIP is designed to keep data security and privacy in mind, ensuring that data is protected in flight and rest. Cryptographic encryption and zero knowledge architecture ensure that no sensitive data is stored on the MOSIP system. Governments of adopting nations have sovereign control over their ID systems, and data sharing only happens with the individual’s consent.\

• Scalable: Designed to accommodate growth and changing needs. The platform is designed to be scalable, accommodating the growth of users and services. It can cater to large populations, support various regions, and integrate with multiple systems securely, without compromising performance. Its modular architecture allows it to easily expand and adapt to new requirements, making it suitable for both small-scale deployments and national level rollouts. This scalability ensures that MOSIP can serve diverse countries and populations with varying technological and infrastructural capabilities.\

• Human-Centric: Technology for all. We aim to develop technology that can cater to diverse and varying requirements around the world, yet being human-centric. The team at MOSIP constantly strives to learn from on-ground experiences in adopting nations, to understand their context-specific requirements and provide adaptable solutions.\

• Inclusive: Technology that leaves no one behind. With the mission of empowering lives all over the world, MOSIP continues to take steps toward being an inclusive platform. Ongoing collaborations with global universities, research organizations, and strong on-ground teams have sharpened our focus on developing technology that is unrestricted by gender, race, and economic status. Additionally, technology features allow residents to access their digital identities even in remote areas with low connectivity. Please refer for more details.

This reference blueprint provides a comprehensive vision for designing and implementing a Digital ID-led DPI infrastructure. It outlines how foundational identity systems can be leveraged alongside key DPI components, enabling various use cases across both the public and private sectors. The blueprint is structured in layers of technology, governance, and service delivery, ensuring scalability, inclusivity, and compliance with legal frameworks.

Below is an explanation of its core components and their roles within the ecosystem.

1. Unique Digital Identity

At the core of the system is the Unique Digital Identity, which establishes a singular, definitive identity for every individual. This digital identity forms the backbone of all operations, ensuring secure identification and verification across diverse domains.

2. ID Project Custodian

The ID Project Custodian, whether a designated authority, ministry, or department, oversees this infrastructure. This custodian is crucial for maintaining governance, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency, ensuring that all identity services align with national policies and frameworks.

3. Infrastructure Layer

Supporting the ecosystem is a robust Infrastructure Layer, consisting of cloud infrastructure and connectivity. The cloud ensures scalability, resilience, and the ability to manage large volumes of identity data. The connectivity layer ensures the system's accessibility, making it functional in both urban and remote areas.

4. Foundational ID Platform

At the heart of the blueprint is the Foundational ID Platform, a centralized framework for issuing and managing foundational IDs. This platform underpins all identity-related services, ensuring secure identity handling and enabling core functions like registration, lifecycle management, verification, authentication, and e-KYC (Electronic Know Your Customer). These services are essential for building trusted interactions across all sectors.

5. Core & Augmented Services

Now that we have established the core layers to anchor trust, we can expand functionality through augmented services, such as eSignature capabilities. These enable secure digital transactions and help governments transition from traditional in-person signatures. These added features enhance the system's utility, which is especially crucial for enabling paperless workflows.

6. Accessibility and Inclusivity

To ensure widespread adoption and accessibility, the system features a Multi-Channel Access Layer that enables interaction through web, mobile (Apps, USSD), and physical interfaces(QR). This design ensures inclusivity by accommodating individuals with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of technological proficiency, to interact with the system effortlessly.

7. Consent Management, Data Exchange and Payments

In addition to its core and augmented services, consent management and data exchange capabilities are crucial for advancing digitization and digital development. These capabilities facilitate the regulated sharing of information across both public and private platforms. Moreover, the integration of payment systems adds significant value to Government-to-People (G2P) use cases. Additionally, data exchange can be further enhanced through the use of Verifiable Credentials.

8. Use Cases and Benefits Delivery

This blueprint is designed to act as a catalyst for seamless service delivery and impactful use cases across both the private and public sectors. It is essential to involve the private sector in the digitization process, as it plays a key role in enabling services such as banking, e-commerce, and telecommunications, thereby streamlining operations. In the public sector, this blueprint enhances service delivery in areas like social welfare, healthcare, taxation, and education, contributing to better governance and increased citizen engagement. By adopting an overall ID-led approach, it not only accelerates the adoption of digital identity but also ensures improved governance, streamlined operations, and enhanced citizen participation.

9. Legal and Regulatory Framework

Finally, the framework operates within a robust legal and regulatory environment, complying with key legislation such as the Data Protection Act, the Cybersecurity Act, and the Electronic Transactions Act. These laws safeguard data privacy and security, ensuring that the system operates transparently, trustworthy, and in full legal compliance.

Are you interested in integrating with MOSIP as a partner? We invite you to connect with us by completing the form. This will assist us in facilitating a seamless integration with our designated sandbox environments.

Please find below the two sandbox environments available for your use.

Collab

Collab is our development integration environment that has QA-tested dockers deployed. Our partners and contributors can use this to build on the platform or integrate with the QA-certified version of the latest platform code.

Regular nightly builds from engineering are deployed here and this environment is used for continuous development.

The link to access the Collab environment is available here.

Looking to collaborate with us? Click here to get started with the Collab environment!

Synergy

Synergy is our stable environment where the latest released version of the MOSIP platform and applications are deployed for partners to integrate and test.

The link to access the Synergy environment is available here.

MOSIP is built on a modular, microservices-based architecture. Its modularity enables seamless adoption even in complex scenarios. Most MOSIP modules are designed as robust foundational infrastructure components, making them suitable for integration into various projects.

MOSIP is designed with the following architectural principles. These architecture principles are core to the development of the system's features and have a great influence on how and why specific software design patterns are used within.

• Data Privacy

• No Vendor Lock-in

• Open Standards

• Async/ Offline First

• Commodity Computing

• Fault tolerant

• Manageable

• Secure By Default

Architecture Overview

The diagram below provides an architectural overview, visually representing the components of the MOSIP Identity framework and its associated technology stack.

High Level Functional Architecture

The High Level Reference Functional Architecture serves as a blueprint outlining the system's high-level functioning and interactions, providing a structured framework.

To know how MOSIP can be deployed, refer to Getting Started. The different installation models are detailed in the Deployment section.

MOSIP Security Practices

This document provides a comprehensive analysis of security implementations across multiple levels. Additionally, it clearly delineates the boundaries of responsibility between MOSIP and the countries implementing the system.

Within this document, we have categorized security practices into 'Internal Practices' and 'Operational Protection'.

Internal security practices are integrated into the MOSIP development lifecycle to build security within the system from the ground up. These include rigorous threat modeling, secure coding practices, comprehensive code reviews, and continuous vulnerability assessments to ensure that potential risks are identified and mitigated early. By embedding these security measures during development MOSIP fosters a proactive security culture that not only minimizes vulnerabilities but also supports a robust defense strategy throughout the system's lifecycle.

On the other hand, operational security practices include firewall rules, intrusion detection systems, continuous monitoring, and incident response strategies. These measures focus on maintaining the security and integrity of the system during its operational phase, addressing runtime threats and ensuring compliance with best practices. Operational practices are outside of MOSIP development stage and to be taken up by the implementing countries.

Internal Practices

Internal security practices encompass measures such as security requirement elicitation, design, adherence to the MOSIP Principles, Platform development, static and dynamic code analysis, dependency scanning, code signing, and vulnerability management. These practices ensure that potential threats are identified and mitigated early in the development lifecycle.

Platform Design

MOSIP's fundamental architecture and design incorporate high levels of privacy and security.

(Table to be updated soon)

Development and Release Practices

This section details the measures taken during the development, testing, and release phases to ensure maximum security. Multiple checks are enforced at each stage through the use of various tools, tests, and scans. Key practices include:

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) is a cornerstone of our security strategy. Tools like SonarCloud are used to perform in-depth code analysis during the development phase, identifying vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and insecure coding practices. SAST provides developers with real-time feedback, enabling them to address security flaws early, thereby reducing the cost and effort of remediation later in the software lifecycle. These tools integrate seamlessly into our CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that security is addressed continuously and early. Dependency scanning tools like Dependabot, CodeQL, and others further enhance this layer of protection by monitoring and updating vulnerable dependencies.

• Sonar Cloud - Development Phase - SonarCloud is integrated with Github actions, offering developers actionable insights directly within the workflow. By highlighting security hotspots and technical debt, it enables teams to prioritize and address critical issues efficiently.

MOSIP Sonar cloud Link : https://sonarcloud.io/organizations/mosip/projects

• CodeQL (Java and Python) - Development Phase - CodeQL performs semantic code analysis, enabling the detection of complex vulnerabilities

• Github Dependabot (Vulnerability assessment and Version upgrade suggestions) - Development Phase - Dependabot simplifies the process of updating dependencies by creating pull requests with the necessary upgrades reducing manual effort and ensuring the codebase remains secure against known vulnerabilities. Its integration into GitHub workflows ensures timely updates and fosters a proactive approach to dependency management.

• Open source compliance scanning - Ensures that all open-source components in use comply with licensing requirements and security best practices. This scanning helps in identifying potential legal or security risks associated with third-party libraries. Automated tools are used to track, analyze, and flag issues related to incompatible or outdated licenses, ensuring smooth and compliant project operations.

• Github scan - Provides robust scanning capabilities integrated directly into GitHub repositories. It includes features such as secret scanning, dependency graph analysis, and vulnerability alerts, helping developers proactively detect and fix security issues within their workflows.

• Data Breach Detector - It is a prodcution grade tool/script which goes through the DB and utilizes Deduce library to find out anomalies in various places such as names, address or numbers in plaintext etc.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

DAST focuses on identifying security vulnerabilities in a running application by simulating real-world attack scenarios. Unlike SAST, which examines static code, DAST tests live applications, analyzing responses to detect flaws such as authentication issues, session management vulnerabilities, and exposure of sensitive data. Tools like Burp Suite Professional and ZED Attack Proxy (ZAP) are leveraged to conduct automated and manual penetration tests. These tools allow testers to evaluate application behavior under various conditions, ensuring robust protection against runtime threats. By integrating DAST into the release process, vulnerabilities can be identified and mitigated before applications are deployed into production.

• Burp Suite Professional : This tool is used for automated and manual penetration testing . It provides features such as intercepting proxy, web vulnerability scanner, and advanced debugging capabilities. Burp Suite enables testers to identify vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and insecure session management. It also supports extensions for customized scanning and integrates seamlessly into security workflows.

• ZED Attack Proxy: This tool is used for finding vulnerabilities in web applications during the development and testing phases.

Release Practices

Release practices are essential for ensuring the security, authenticity, and traceability of software releases. Here is an overview of the components used in MOSIP releases.

• Image Signing: ASC (ASCII-armored PGP) signing is typically used to ensure the authenticity and integrity of software artifacts, including Docker images, by attaching a digital signature. When signing software images, MOSIP uses the private key to sign the image, and users can verify the signature using the corresponding public key.

• JAR (Java Archive) Signing is the practice of signing Java archive files to ensure that the contents of the JAR haven't been tampered with and to provide a way to verify the source of the file. This is currently not implemented in MOSIP.

Operational Practices

These recommendations provide a robust framework to ensure the security and integrity of production systems for MOSIP implementing countries, helping to mitigate risks and enhance overall cybersecurity posture.

• SBI Compliant Devices: Ensure that all devices used in the production environment are compliant with the latest Secure Biometric Interface (SBI) standards to ensure a highest level of security.

• Trusted Platform Module: A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a specialized chip on a local machines that stores cryptographic keys specific to the host system for hardware authentication. The private key is maintained inside the chip and can't be extracted out. By leveraging this security feature every individual machine would be uniquely registered and identified by the MOSIP server component with it's TPM public key.

• Compliance Tool Kit: MOSIP Provides Compliance Tool Kit (CTK) to help the device vendors to check if their products comply with SBI specifications.

• Access and Audit Logs: Enables detailed access and audit logging for all critical systems and services in the production environment.

• Patch Management (Host/Machines): Implement a robust patch management policy to ensure that all production systems are up-to-date with the latest security patches.

• Safe Data Centers: Ensure that data centers housing production systems are designed and operated with a focus on security, availability and operational safety.

• International standards: Stay compliant on international standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and relevant national regulations. Better to validate the compliance using third party assessments.

• Ensuring Data Protection: Enforce robust data protection measures to safeguard sensitive information at rest and in transit.

• Consent-Based Data Handling: Ensure that data is only collected, processed, and stored with the explicit consent of the individuals it pertains to, in accordance with privacy laws and regulations.

• Regular Security Audits: Perform regular security audits to assess the effectiveness of security measures and identify potential vulnerabilities in production systems.

• Principle of Least Privilege: Ensure that users and systems are granted only the minimum level of access necessary to perform their tasks, reducing the risk of accidental or malicious misuse.

• Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting to protect services from abuse, such as brute force attacks or denial-of-service (DoS) attempts.

The security of user data is given the highest priority in MOSIP. Data is protected in flight and rest using strong cryptographic techniques. All operations on decrypted data are done in memory.

Various flows with encryption are illustrated below. Refer to Keys for all references of the type 'Kx' and 'KPx'.

Registration data flow

The below diagram represents a registration data flow system for biometric authentication and identity management.

1. Biometric Capture:

   • A biometric device captures and signs biometric data before sending it to the Registration Client (PK2). Then registration client verifies the signature

2. Registration & Encryption:

   • The Registration Client, running on the operator’s system, receives biometric data and securely encrypts it into packets.

   • The client always refers to Keycloak for authentication, ensuring that only authorized operators can access the system.

   • Registration Client signs the packet using the TPM key of the machine (K10) and encrypts the packet using MOSIP public key specific to (the registration centre, machine id) combination (K11).

3. Data Processing & Storage:

   • The encrypted packets are transmitted to the Registration Processor, which processes and signs the data.

   • The processed data is then stored in the Object Store and ID Repository for further use.

4. Secure Storage of Biometric Data:

   • ID Repository encrypts biometrics, demographics, and documents and stores them in the Object Store. (K7.1,K7.2,K7.3)

5. Hashed UIN Storage:

   • The UINs are hashed, encrypted, and stored in uin the table of mosip_idrepo DB. (K7.4)

6. Data Sharing & Policy Enforcement:

   • When encrypted biometric data needs to be shared, it is sent to ABIS for authentication.

   • The system consults the Partner/Policy Management System to verify partner details and enforce data-sharing policies.

   • Only partners who have registered and authenticated via Keycloak can access the Partner Management System, where they must subscribe to specific policies to receive data.

7. Demographic Data Storage:

   • Encrypted demographic data is stored in the Registration Processor Database. (K11)

8. Credential Issuance:

   • Encrypted resident data is shared with credential requestors and printers based on the subscribed policies. (K12)

9. Operator Authentication:

   • The Registration Client checks Keycloak to ensure that only authenticated operators can perform registrations.

10. Policy Validation for Data Transfer:

• Before transferring encrypted data to ABIS, partners, or credential requestors, the system refers to the Partner/Policy Management System to validate policies.

11. Partner & Policy Control:

• The Partner Management System is controlled by Keycloak, ensuring that only registered partners with valid credentials can subscribe to and enforce policies for data access. (11,12,13)

Datashare

Data shared with all partners like ABIS, Print, Adjudication, IDA, etc. is encrypted using partners' public key. Note that IDA is also a partner, however, a special partner in the sense that data is additionally zero-knowledge encrypted before sending to IDA (see the section below).

Zero-knowledge encryption

The ID Authentication module (IDA) is independent and may be hosted by several providers. IDA hosts all the biometric templates and demographic data. Unique additional protection is provided here to make sure that mass decryption of user data is very difficult to achieve. The data can only be decrypted if the user's UIN is provided. Here is the encryption scheme:

Encryption and sharing by Credential Service

1. Generate master symmetric encryption key K9.

2. Generate a 10,000 symmetric keys pool (ZKn). Encrypt each ZKn with K9 and store it in DB. (K12)

3. Randomly select one key from ZKn, and decrypt using K9.

4. Derive new key ZKn' = ZKn + UIN/VID/APPID.

5. Encrypt biometric templates and demographics.

   • BIO = encrypt(bio/demo with ZKn').

6. Encrypt ZKn (this is done to share ZKn with IDA).

   • ZKn-IDA = encrypt(ZKn with K22)

7. Share the following with IDA:

   1. ZKn-IDA

   2. BIO

   3. Random index (0 - 9999)

   4. SHA-256 hash of UIN/VID/APPID

8. Share data in step 7 via standard Datashare encryption (which encrypts entire data with PK8).

Decryption by IDA

1. Generate master symmetric encryption key K18.

2. Decrypt data in Step 8 above using PK8.

3. Decrypt ZKn-IDA with K22 to get ZKn.

4. Encrypt ZKn with K18 and store it at a random index.

5. Bio-data is stored as is.

ID authentication flow

1. L1 devices contain FTM to encrypt (DE1, K21) and sign (FK1) biometrics at the source and send them to the authentication client.

2. The authentication client further encrypts the auth request with the IDA-PARTNER public key.

3. IDA decrypts zero-knowledge data as given in Step 4 and then performs a demographic and/or biometric authentication.

4. The match result is returned to the Auth client. In the case of KYC, the KYC attributes are encrypted with the Partner's public key (as in Datashare).

Overview

The right to privacy is a fundamental right in many contexts. Privacy protection or preservation can be ensured in an application by adopting a privacy friendly design stance.

What is privacy and privacy protection?

Privacy takes many forms. From an identity system perspective, the confidentiality of identity information and anonymity when using the identity offers privacy.

MOSIP views the identity system as a custodian of the individual's data. This data has to be protected in order to protect the individual from privacy and security risks. Privacy protection measures include data protection, transparency, user control, confidentiality, selective disclosure, user anonymity and intrusion protection.

Privacy design elements

MOSIP addresses privacy design at four levels.

1. Functional Privacy

Functional Privacy ensures the system is designed to process and expose only the data necessary for a specific function. It embodies data minimization and protects individuals from unnecessary data collection and exposure.

By embedding this principle, MOSIP achieves:

• 📉 Minimal data exposure across system components

• 🔒 Robust protection against unauthorized access and misuse

• 🛡️ Compliance with privacy principles like data minimization and purpose limitation

• 🌐 Alignment with standards and specifications. (refer here to know more about the standards and specification)

MOSIP achieves Functional Privacy through the following key mechanisms:

• Selective Disclosure

  • What it is -Selective disclosure is the principle of limiting the data shared with different system components or relying parties to only what they strictly require.

  • Purpose -To prevent over-sharing of personal data across services and ensure privacy at every step of the identity lifecycle.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP’s modular architecture ensures that different modules (e.g., Registration, ID Authentication) only access and process the subset of identity data they need for their specific tasks. For example:

    • The Registration Client only collects demographic and biometric data required for enrolment.

    • Authentication services only verify the attributes requested by the relying party without exposing the full identity.

• Anonymization

  • What it is -Anonymization removes or masks personal identifiers to make it impossible to link data back to an individual.

  • Purpose -To ensure privacy in scenarios like analytics, system monitoring, and reporting where identification isn’t necessary.

  • How MOSIP implements it -Audit logs and analytics data in MOSIP are anonymized by stripping or pseudonymizing personally identifiable information (PII), ensuring privacy even in post-processing environments.

• Need to Know

  • What it is -This principle limits access to personal data only to the individuals, modules, or systems that require it for their roles.

  • Purpose -To reduce the risk of unauthorized access and exposure of sensitive information.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP enforces Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and fine-grained permissions across modules. For example:

    • Biometric data is accessible only to the modules responsible for deduplication and authentication.

    • Administrative users can only view logs relevant to their operational scope.

• Encryption

  • What it is -Encryption secures sensitive data by converting it into an unreadable format accessible only with the right cryptographic keys.

  • Purpose -To safeguard sensitive identity data from unauthorized access, breaches, or interception during storage and transmission.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • MOSIP uses encryption algorithms such as: RSA,Elliptic Curve Cryptography (EC),JSON Web Encryption (JWE)

    • Secure key management is enforced through Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) for cryptographic key storage and usage.

• Tokenization

  • What it is -Tokenization substitutes sensitive data elements with randomly generated tokens to reduce direct exposure of real identifiers during system operations.

  • Purpose -To protect sensitive identifiers like UINs during processing and interaction between modules.

  • How MOSIP implements it -In MOSIP, sensitive identifiers (such as UIN) are tokenized during authentication or API interactions to ensure the original identifiers are not exposed to external systems.

2. Security

Security is a foundational principle ensuring the protection of the system, user data, and transactions from unauthorized access, breaches, and malicious attacks.

By embedding strong security practices, MOSIP achieves:

• 🔒 Protection of sensitive identity data from external and internal threats

• 🧑‍💻 Resilience against cyberattacks and unauthorized system usage

• 🌐 Trust and confidence for governments, system integrators, and end-users

• 🛠️ Compliance with global security standards and frameworks

This robust security framework enables MOSIP to function as a reliable backbone for national ID systems deployed worldwide.

MOSIP implements its security framework through the following key sub-elements:

• Data Security

  • What it is -Data security ensures that all data handled by MOSIP—whether in storage or while processing—is safeguarded against unauthorized access, tampering, or breaches.

  • Purpose -To prevent data leaks, ensure confidentiality and integrity, and protect user identities throughout their lifecycle.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP adopts a multi-layered security approach to protect sensitive data:

    • Encryption & Decryption – Encryption is achieved using algorithms such as RSA, EC, and JWE.

    • Hashing – Sensitive elements like biometric templates are hashed with secure algorithms.

    • HSM-backed Key Management – Cryptographic keys are securely managed using Hardware Security Modules.

    • Database Security – Role-based permissions and audit trails monitor access. refer this link to know more about how MOSIP Identity Platform supports data security

• Trusted Applications

  • What it is -Trusted applications refer to MOSIP’s mechanism to ensure that only verified and authorized software can interact with core modules and services.

  • Purpose -To prevent unverified, potentially malicious applications from accessing sensitive APIs or data within MOSIP.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP uses several mechanisms to ensure only authorized applications interact with the identity system:

    • API Key Management – Each external application accessing MOSIP APIs is registered and issued secure API keys.

    • Digital Certificates – Mutual TLS (mTLS) ensures both MOSIP and external applications verify each other’s identity.

    • Sandbox Environments – Applications are tested and validated in a sandbox before production deployment.

• Access Control

  • What it is -Access control manages who can view, modify, or use specific data and system functions within MOSIP.

  • Purpose -To ensure that only authorized personnel and system components can access sensitive data or perform privileged operations.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP enforces strict access policies through:

    • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) – Defines roles (e.g., admin, registrar, operator) with precise permissions.

    • Principle of Least Privilege – Grants users/modules only the minimum access necessary for their tasks.

    • Audit Trails – Tracks and logs all access attempts and changes for monitoring and compliance.

    • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) – Adds an additional layer of protection for administrative access.

3. User Centricity

User Centricity means putting individuals at the heart of the identity system. It ensures that users are empowered to control their data, understand how it’s used, and interact with the system in ways that are inclusive, usable, and respectful of their privacy.

By adopting user-centric principles, MOSIP achieves:

• 👤 Empowerment of individuals over their personal data

• ✅ Transparency and informed decision-making through consent

• 🌍 Inclusivity for diverse populations, including the marginalized

• 📱 Usability to support users with varying levels of digital literacy

This approach ensures MOSIP supports privacy rights and accessibility for all users, making identity systems fair and equitable.

MOSIP integrates User Centricity through the following sub-elements:

• User Control

  • What it is -User Control means enabling individuals to manage how their identity data is collected, used, and shared within the system.

  • Purpose -To empower users with autonomy over their data, preventing misuse or overreach by third parties.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Users can update certain attributes through designated update mechanisms. For example, if a user wishes to update their address, they can log in to the resident portal and make the change directly. If they require assistance, they may visit a registration center, where an operator will update the address on their behalf. Once the update is successful, the new information will be reflected in the user’s records.

    • Authentication requests disclose what data is being accessed, giving users the choice to proceed or decline.

• Consent

  • What it is -Consent is the process of obtaining explicit and informed agreement from individuals before accessing or using their personal data.

  • Purpose -To respect individual privacy rights and comply with global data protection regulations.

  • How MOSIP implements it -MOSIP integrates consent mechanisms at multiple stages:

    • During registration – Presents clear information about data usage and requires explicit consent before proceeding.

    • During authentication – Displays prompts specifying which identity attributes are being requested.

    • User decision – Individuals can approve or deny data-sharing requests before information is transmitted.

    • Auditing – Consent actions are securely recorded for transparency and accountability.

• Usability

  • What it is -Usability ensures the system is designed to be simple, intuitive, and accessible to people of varying education levels and digital literacy.

  • Purpose -To make MOSIP approachable and effective for all users, including those unfamiliar with technology.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Multilingual support in registration and authentication modules.

    • Simple, clear UI/UX design in client applications.

    • Offline capabilities for areas with low connectivity.

    • Assisted user journeys for vulnerable individuals.

    • Incorporation of GenderMag principles to evaluate and improve usability across diverse cognitive styles and gender-inclusive perspectives

• Inclusion

  • What it is -Inclusion ensures that the identity system accommodates all segments of society, including marginalized groups, persons with disabilities, and those in remote areas.

  • Purpose -To prevent exclusion and ensure equitable access to identity for every individual.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Supports biometric exceptions for individuals unable to provide fingerprints.

    • Allows demographic-only registration when biometrics cannot be captured.

    • Provides accessibility features for people with disabilities.

    • Designed for multilingual, multi-cultural, and resource-constrained environments.

  You can refer to this link to know more about how MOSIP Identity Platform supports inclusivity

4. Transparency

Transparency ensures that all stakeholders—governments, system integrators, and end users—have clear visibility into how the system works, how decisions are made, and how data is handled.

By embedding transparency into its architecture and processes, MOSIP achieves:

• 🏛️ Trust through openness and accountability

• 📜 Verifiability of system behavior and outputs

• 👥 Governance structures that ensure fair and ethical use of the platform

This fosters confidence in MOSIP as a public good and aligns it with international best practices for open and transparent digital systems.

MOSIP enables Transparency through the following sub-elements:

• Openness

  • What it is -Openness means making MOSIP’s design, codebase, and operational principles publicly accessible to encourage trust, collaboration, and innovation.

  • Purpose -To promote community participation, allow peer review, and ensure the platform evolves securely and inclusively.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Open-source architecture – Entire codebase is published under an open-source license on GitHub.

    • Open APIs and standards – API documentation and integration standards are freely available.

    • Community engagement – Feedback and contributions from global experts are encouraged.

• Verifiability

  • What it is -Verifiability ensures that the system’s actions and outputs can be independently audited for correctness and compliance.

  • Purpose -To build stakeholder confidence that the system operates as intended without hidden processes or biases.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Audit trails – All critical system actions are logged for compliance and monitoring.

    • Deterministic algorithms – Processes yield consistent, predictable results for identical inputs.

    • Third-party assessments – Encourages independent audits of MOSIP deployments.

• Governance

  • What it is -Governance refers to the frameworks and policies defining how MOSIP is managed, maintained, and deployed responsibly.

  • Purpose -To ensure fair, ethical, and lawful operation of MOSIP-based identity systems, protecting individuals’ rights.

  • How MOSIP implements it

    • Strong governance model – Managed by IIIT-Bangalore for independence and neutrality.

    • Advisory boards – Include global experts guiding MOSIP’s evolution.

    • Policy frameworks – Guidance for governments on privacy, security, and ethical deployment.

These design principles have resulted in features as well as development practices in MOSIP that enhance privacy protection. A typical example for a practice is how PII (Personally Identifiable Information) is dealt with when creating application or audit logs. An example of a feature is how our Datashare policies allow selective sharing of information.

CBOR Identity Data in QR Code

Tag: 169 (identity-data)

Data Item: JSON Object

Semantics: Identity Data of a Person in QR-Code

Point of Contact: Resham Chugani ([email protected])

IANA Registration: IANA CWT Registry (Search Key: 169)

Version: 1.0.0

1. Introduction

This document specifies a generic data structure and encoding mechanism for storing the Identity Data of a registered person using any ID platform. It also provides a transport encoding mechanism in a machine-readable optical format (QR).

2. Rationale

Once a person is registered in an identity system, their data serves as the foundation for identification, granting them access to social benefits and government services. The level of assurance in this identification process varies depending on the authentication methods employed. Low assurance is achieved through basic identifiers like ID numbers, demographic data, passwords, or PINs. Conversely, higher assurance levels are attained through one-time passwords (OTP) and biometrics.

Among these methods, biometric-based authentication, such as facial authentication, offers the highest level of assurance as it assures the presence of the individual. While this is effective for online systems & personal phones where verification is conducted on a server or a personal device; offline authentication presents challenges in maintaining a similarly high level of assurance. The offline authentication mechanism should work for people with no phone.

For instance, in a cross-border scenario, remote areas often face significant internet connectivity issues. Even when internet access is available, server reliability may be inconsistent. In such circumstances, scanning a standard QR code containing the person's facial photograph and identity information, alongside assurance that the data is country-signed, provides an additional layer of security and affirmation for the countries involved.

Please note: The trust layers required to sync the country's key are beyond the scope of this document. We assume the app scanning the QR code already has the country's key to verify.

To tackle the aforementioned challenge, we propose a standard CBOR-based QR Code that involves embedding a low-resolution image of the person with a minimal demographic dataset within the QR code. This QR code would be digitally signed by the ID authorities (Issuer) and then printed on a physical card. Subsequently, the signed data within the QR code can be utilized for facial authentication. This approach also helps enhance interoperability. Note: It is essential to recognize that QR codes have limitations regarding size. We suggest leveraging CBOR Web Token (CWT) with ED25519/ECC keys to generate a smaller signature and more condensed data.

3. Semantics

Claim 169 represents a JSON Object that includes the following ID attributes, as outlined in the table. You can find an illustration of the ID structure contained within Claim 169, as stated below:

3.1 CBOR Map Structure Overview

Note:

• All the fields here are optional.

• The issuer of IDClaim169 is expected to host the JWKS file at the standard .well-known URL. This allows relying parties to verify the signature of the issued IDClaim169.

3.2 CBOR Map Structure Example

{
   "1":"COUN",
   "6":1665980929,
   "8":{
      "3":"dfd1aa976d8d4575a0fe34b96de2bfad"
   },
   "169":{
        "1": "11110000324013",
        "2": "1.0",
        "3": "eng",
        "4": "Peter M Jhon",
        "5": "Peter",
        "6": "M",
        "7": "Jhon",
        "8": "19880102",
        "9": 1,
        "10": "New City, METRO LINE, PA",
        "11": "[email protected]",
        "12": "+1 234-567",
        "13": "US",
        "14": 2,
        "15": "Jhon Honai",
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
        "17": 2,
        "18": [1,2],
}

4. IANA Considerations

4.1 Registry Contents

Claim Name: identity-data

Claim Description: Registering the claim for storing identity data of a person, which could be personally identifiable data (PII) mostly used in Foundational/National ID for cross-border interoperability.

Claim Key: 169

Claim Value Type(s): map

Change Controller: MOSIP

Specification Document(s): Section 3, Section 4

5. References

[1] C. Bormann, and P. Hoffman. "Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR)". RFC 7049, October 2013.

[2] Mike Jones, Hannes Tschofenig, Ludwig Seitz "CBOR Web Token (CWT)". RFC 8392, March 2018.

6. Author(s)

Mahammed Taheer ([email protected])

Resham Chugani ([email protected])

Rounak Nayak ([email protected])

Sasikumar G ([email protected])

Sreenadh S ([email protected])

CBOR Identity Data in QR Code

Tag: 169 (identity-data)

Data Item: JSON Object

Semantics: Identity Data of a Person in QR-Code

Point of Contact: Resham Chugani ([email protected])

IANA Registration: IANA CWT Registry (Search for: 169)

Version: 1.1.0

1. Introduction

This document specifies an updated version of the generic data structure and encoding mechanism for storing the Identity Data of a registered person using any ID platform. It also provides a transport encoding mechanism in a machine-readable optical format (QR).

2. Rationale

Once a person is registered in an identity system, their data serves as the foundation for identification, granting them access to social benefits and government services. The level of assurance in this identification process varies depending on the authentication methods employed. Low assurance is achieved through basic identifiers like ID numbers, demographic data, passwords, or PINs. Conversely, higher assurance levels are attained through one-time passwords (OTP) and biometrics.

Among these methods, biometric-based authentication, such as facial authentication, offers the highest level of assurance as it assures the presence of the individual. While this is effective for online systems & personal phones where verification is conducted on a server or a personal device; offline authentication presents challenges in maintaining a similarly high level of assurance. The offline authentication mechanism should work for people with no phone.

For instance, in a cross-border scenario remote areas often face significant internet connectivity issues. Even when internet access is available, server reliability may be inconsistent. In such circumstances, scanning a QR code containing the person's facial photograph and identity information, alongside assurance that the data is country-signed, provides an additional layer of security and affirmation for the countries involved.

Please note: The trust layers required to sync the country's key are beyond the scope of this document. We assume the app scanning the QR code already has the country's key to verify.

To tackle the challenge above, we propose a standard CBOR-based QR Code that involves embedding a low-resolution image of the person with a minimal demographic dataset within the QR code. This QR code would be digitally signed by the ID authorities (Issuer) and then printed on a physical card. Subsequently, the signed data within the QR code can be utilized for facial authentication. However, it's essential to recognize that QR codes have limitations regarding size. We suggest leveraging CBOR Web Token (CWT) with ED25519/ECC keys to generate a smaller signature and more condensed data.

Claim 169 represents a JSON Object that includes the below table as ID attributes. You can find an illustration of the ID structure contained within Claim 169, where:

3. Semantics

3.1 CBOR Map Structure Overview

Note:

• All the fields here are optional.

• The issuer of IDClaim169 is expected to host the JWKS file at the standard .well-known URL. This allows relying parties to verify the signature of the issued IDClaim169.

• Please ensure to review the Guidelines stated below.

Biometrics

Data formats

Data sub formats

Image

Template

Sound

3.2 CBOR Map Structure Example

1: www.mosip.io # iss
4: 1787912445 # exp
5: 1756376445 # nbf 
6: 1756376445 # iat
169: # identity-data
  1: 3918592438 # ID
  2: 1.0 # Version
  3: eng # Language
  4: Janardhan BS # Full name
  8: 19880102 # Date of birth
  9: 1 # Gender: Male
  10: New House, Near Metro Line, Bengaluru, KA # Address
  11: [email protected] # Email ID
  12: "+919876543210" # Phone number
  13: IN # Nationality
  14: 2 # Marital status: Married
  16: 03CBABDF83D068ACB5DE65B3CDF25E0036F2C54(...)E54D23D8EC7DC9BB9F69FD7B7B23383B64F22E25F # Binary image
  17: 2 # Binary image format: JPEG
  18: [1, 2] # Best quality fingers
  50: # Right Thumb Biometrics
    # Right Thumb image
    - 0: 03CBA(...)0378C58 # Data
      1: 0 # Image
      2: 1 # JPEG
    # Right Thumb template
    - 0: 03CBA(...)0378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 100 # Vendor specific
      3: VendorA # Biometric data issuer
  51: # Right Pointer Finger Biometrics
    # Right Pointer Finger image
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Image
      2: 6 # WSQ
      3: VendorA # Biometric data issuer
    # Right Pointer Finger template
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 1 # Fingerprint Template ISO 19794-2
      3: VendorA # Biometric data issuer
  58: # Left Ring Finger Biometrics
    # Left Ring Finger image
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Image
      2: 6 # WSQ
      3: VendorA # Biometric data issuer   
    # Left Ring Finger template
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 1 # Fingerprint Template ISO 19794-2
      3: VendorA # Biometric data issuer
   60: # Right Iris Biometrics
    # Right Iris image
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Image
      2: 6 # WSQ
      3: VendorX # Biometric data issuer
    # Right Iris image 
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Image
      2: 6 # WSQ
      3: VendorY # Biometric data issuer
   61: # Left Iris Biometrics
    # Left Iris template
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 100 # Vendor specific
      3: VendorX # Biometric data issuer
    # Left Iris image
    - 0: 36F2C546(...)CB90378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 100 # Vendor specific
      3: VendorY # Biometric data issuer
   65: # Voice Biometrics   
    # Voice sound
    - 0: 03CBA(...)0378C58 # Data
      1: 2 # Sound
      2: 1 # MP3
    # Voice template
    - 0: 03CBA(...)0378C58 # Data
      1: 1 # Template
      2: 100 # Vendor specific
      3: VendorZ # Biometric data issuer

3.2.1 Steps for Claim 169 Compliant QR Code Generation

• Prepare Identity Data: Start with the sample JSON identity data provided for conversion into Claim 169 format.

{
  "id": "3918592438",
  "fullName": "Janardhan BS",
  "dob": "1984-04-18",
  "gender": "1",
  "address": "New House, Near Metro Line, Bengaluru, KA",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "phone": "+919876543210",
  "nationality": "IN",
  "face": {
    "data": "52494646dc0100005745425056503820d0010000b00d009d012a400040003e913c9b4925
    a322a12a1ccae8b01209690013e295b2585d5ee72395f7fe4a35103d1894a549b58a4febe751ae9a3
    d00cb96f016fc35075f892786b3bcce1deffb2b3e55e3598b7d4913c80a237f1d9e51be7f271cc971
    d63fda0c2c3c34b27a574ec1bbd7752969c56c8c0000fefeffce44d1e6b7ad2535538b4cc7a3cf016
    f5b7d160c4e7202269bc041f0609efdf8e687702cdd6bd64e90b2931c9210f095f3c3bef00a954bfe
    f4e70c76948b9eedf20e5be9e885edbcceada8f6fbdb9037490fa2eecaeaa62de8123028505f9f2eb
    2f781fdfc9b55ff127f12cb657cdc5927866e650426e3032500af838514711241395bfb130fda3c29
    d836527eeb82d92121b5a6f3b951d4ecc51ae1566c58266227b0f02ced0050fe35e0e42a33026a2c4
    4c581fc65ddd135b6a7e5bc888ef852f6c477ccd817b850b90fa3565e11b61e7fe46f965abe210d09
    7ef03eaaf028c4ff9dff5f55ad472464b4920a5958b8c98ef0e0029160f20a8f4d1a02ad3b5ad0c43
    c0b03dc549576cafb6c3d6c36f1014c57d94f6985f8a328dc7aef8df3507041dc440e99fe9acd90cd
    3ede4381d5b3d64064bce4bb8d05113fd901b158698312bdf8a21049288d6006a2c944dae7bc3e240
    00000",
    "dataFormat": "image",
    "dataSubFormat": "png"
  }
}

• Convert to Claim 169 Format

  • Transform the JSON data into the required Claim 169 structure.

  • Refer to the sample converted data for guidance.

{
	1: "3918592438",
	4: "Janardhan BS",
	8: "1984-04-18",
	9: "1",
	10: "New House, Near Metro Line, Bengaluru, KA",
	11: "[email protected]",
	12: "+919876543210",
	13: "IN",
	62: {
			0: "52494646dc0100005745425056503820d0010000b00d009d012a40004
			0003e913c9b4925a322a12a1ccae8b01209690013e295b2585d5ee72395f7
			fe4a35103d1894a549b58a4febe751ae9a3d00cb96f016fc35075f892786b
			3bcce1deffb2b3e55e3598b7d4913c80a237f1d9e51be7f271cc971d63fda
			0c2c3c34b27a574ec1bbd7752969c56c8c0000fefeffce44d1e6b7ad25355
			38b4cc7a3cf016f5b7d160c4e7202269bc041f0609efdf8e687702cdd6bd6
			4e90b2931c9210f095f3c3bef00a954bfef4e70c76948b9eedf20e5be9e88
			5edbcceada8f6fbdb9037490fa2eecaeaa62de8123028505f9f2eb2f781fd
			fc9b55ff127f12cb657cdc5927866e650426e3032500af838514711241395
			bfb130fda3c29d836527eeb82d92121b5a6f3b951d4ecc51ae1566c582662
			27b0f02ced0050fe35e0e42a33026a2c44c581fc65ddd135b6a7e5bc888ef
			852f6c477ccd817b850b90fa3565e11b61e7fe46f965abe210d097ef03eaa
			f028c4ff9dff5f55ad472464b4920a5958b8c98ef0e0029160f20a8f4d1a0
			2ad3b5ad0c43c0b03dc549576cafb6c3d6c36f1014c57d94f6985f8a328dc
			7aef8df3507041dc440e99fe9acd90cd3ede4381d5b3d64064bce4bb8d051
			13fd901b158698312bdf8a21049288d6006a2c944dae7bc3e24000000",
			1: 0,
			2: 4
	}
}

• Generate CWT Data

  • Use the Claim 169–formatted data to create the CBOR Web Token (CWT) for QR code generation.

61 / CWT Tag / (
 		18 / COSE_Sign1 Tag  / ( 
				[
				 	h'A10127', / Protected Header /
				  {4: h'6B2D31313031'}, / Unprotected Header / 
				  h'A5016C7777772E6D6F7369702E696F041A6A9160FD051A68B02D7D061A68B02D7D18A95902
				  6DA9016A33393138353932343338046C4A616E61726468616E20425308683139383430343138
				  0961310A78294E657720486F7573652C204E656172204D6574726F204C696E652C2042656E67
				  616C7572752C204B410B756A616E61726468616E406578616D706C652E636F6D0C6D2B393139
				  3837363534333231300D62494E183EA3005901E452494646DC0100005745425056503820D001
				  0000B00D009D012A400040003E913C9B4925A322A12A1CCAE8B01209690013E295B2585D5EE7
				  2395F7FE4A35103D1894A549B58A4FEBE751AE9A3D00CB96F016FC35075F892786B3BCCE1DEF
				  FB2B3E55E3598B7D4913C80A237F1D9E51BE7F271CC971D63FDA0C2C3C34B27A574EC1BBD775
				  2969C56C8C0000FEFEFFCE44D1E6B7AD2535538B4CC7A3CF016F5B7D160C4E7202269BC041F0
				  609EFDF8E687702CDD6BD64E90B2931C9210F095F3C3BEF00A954BFEF4E70C76948B9EEDF20E
				  5BE9E885EDBCCEADA8F6FBDB9037490FA2EECAEAA62DE8123028505F9F2EB2F781FDFC9B55FF
				  127F12CB657CDC5927866E650426E3032500AF838514711241395BFB130FDA3C29D836527EEB
				  82D92121B5A6F3B951D4ECC51AE1566C58266227B0F02CED0050FE35E0E42A33026A2C44C581
				  FC65DDD135B6A7E5BC888EF852F6C477CCD817B850B90FA3565E11B61E7FE46F965ABE210D09
				  7EF03EAAF028C4FF9DFF5F55AD472464B4920A5958B8C98EF0E0029160F20A8F4D1A02AD3B5A
				  D0C43C0B03DC549576CAFB6C3D6C36F1014C57D94F6985F8A328DC7AEF8DF3507041DC440E99
				  FE9ACD90CD3EDE4381D5B3D64064BCE4BB8D05113FD901B158698312BDF8A21049288D6006A2
				  C944DAE7BC3E2400000001000204', / Payload with claim 169 tag /
				  h'74E64803A946B30EC091D138433DD6A288CCBB44A8614DFA6094695B998FBCC9D8AD3EEB56
				  8B3360FA67EEAD58B89F924DB5F58781A80E501E908231EDEE1C05' / Signature / 
				]
		)
)

• Compress the CWT

  • Apply zlib compression to the generated CWT data.

• Encode to Base45 and Generate QR Code

  • Encode the compressed CWT using Base45.

  • Use this encoded string to generate the final QR code.

4. Security Considerations

TODO:

1. Current map structure is in plain text and its not the recommended way to handle privacy. Adoption of SD-JWT or equivalent can be considered.

2. CWT MUST be signed, create a COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1 object using the Message as the COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1 Payload; all steps specified in RFC8152 for creating a COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1 object MUST be followed.

3. If the CWT is a COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 object,create a COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 using the Message as the plaintext for the COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 object; all steps specified in RFC8152 for creating a COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 object MUST be followed.

4. To verify the claims the CWT is a COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1, follow the steps specified in Section 4 of RFC8152 ("Signing Objects") for validating a COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1 object. Let the Message be the COSE_Sign/COSE_Sign1 payload. Once signature is valid we SHOULD validate the public key against a preconfigured key. In case encrypted Else, if the CWT is a COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 object, follow the steps specified in Section 5 of [RFC8152] ("Encryption Objects") for validating a COSE_Encrypt/COSE_Encrypt0 object. Let the Message be the resulting plaintext.

The security of the CWT relies upon on the protections offered by COSE. Unless the claims in a CWT are protected, an adversary can modify, add, or remove claims.

Since the claims conveyed in a CWT is used to make identity claim decisions, it is not only important to protect the CWT but also to ensure that the recipient can authenticate the party that assembled the claims and created the CWT. Without trust of the recipient in the party that created the CWT, no sensible identity verification can be made. Furthermore, the creator of the CWT needs to carefully evaluate each claim value prior to including it in the CWT so that the recipient can be assured of the validity of the information provided.

Syntactically, the signing and encryption operations for Nested CWTs may be applied in any order; however, if encryption is necessary, producers normally should sign the message and then encrypt the result (thus encrypting the signature). This prevents attacks in which the signature is stripped, leaving just an encrypted message, as well as providing privacy for the signer. Furthermore, signatures over encrypted text are not considered valid in many jurisdictions.

5. IANA Considerations:

5.1 Registry Content

Claim Name: identity-data Claim Description: Registering the claim for storing identity data of a person, which could be Personally Identifiable Data (PII) mostly used in Foundational/National ID for cross-border interoperability. Claim Key: 169 Claim Value Type(s): map Change Controller: MOSIP Specification Document(s): Section 3, Section 4

6. Acknowledgments

This work is the result of the dedicated efforts of contributors who recognize the critical importance of interoperability and a consistent QR code specification. The revised version has been shaped significantly by the input of our working group committee, comprising members from the following organizations: GetGroup, PWC and Tech 5.

We extend our gratitude to the committee members for their invaluable time and insights throughout the evaluation phase.

6.1 Working Group Committee Members:

GetGroup: Aiman Tarek

PWC: Chaitanya Giri

Tech 5: Bejoy Ak, Nelson Branco, Rahul Parthe

MOSIP: Harini Sampathkumar, Janardhan BS, Mahammed Taheer, Ramesh Narayanan, Resham Chugani, Reeba Thomas, Sanchi Singh, Sasikumar Ganesan, Sreenadh S, Swati Goel, Vishwanath V

7. Authors

Mahammed Taheer ([email protected])

Resham Chugani ([email protected])

Rounak Nayak ([email protected])

Sasikumar G ([email protected])

Sreenadh S ([email protected])

Technologies and Tools Used

This page lists all the technologies used in building MOSIP. Free and open-source software with clear long-term support availability has been chosen. For a deployment, certain choices can be replaced with other free or commercial options.