SENT ON BEHALF OF ELEEZA AGOPIAN
Dear Amr and GNSO Council members,
We are writing to follow up on the question Amr posed during our 20 Dec. 2021 meeting updating the GNSO Council on the SSAD ODP. I captured the following question from Amr in the chat: “I recall that webinar and the three levels of verification you highlighted (and the middle ground). I’m asking about details on these verification standards. Could you share what you’re thinking/what you’re looking at?”
As you noted, the SSAD ODP project team provided details on each of these levels during our webinar on 28 Oct. 2021. I would suggest reviewing those presentation materials again. In addition, as was noted in that presentation, there are levels of risk associated with identity verification. Generally, the greater the value associated with an identity, the more value there is in higher cost methods of identification to reduce risk.
The levels presented represent a conceptual continuum of effort, cost and risk. The high level definition is helpful to design real-world methods specific to a particular situation or system. For example, at higher levels there might be a requirement for in-person certification, multiple forms of official identification, etc. While the team did not develop specific models for each of the levels, the analysis led the team to propose a moderate level. It offers a degree of comfort related to the level of confidence that an identified person is who they say they are. Regardless, it’s important to note that no system is ever perfect with regard to verification of identification. However, the team felt that a moderate level offers a reasonable degree of assurance that an individual has been identified relative to the nature of the data sought and related requirements
As we noted in the 20 Dec. discussion, the team is working to finalize the Operational Design Assessment, which contains our detailed findings, and plans to publish it in February 2022. In mid-January, we also plan to host a community webinar that delves into greater depth regarding the costs and fee structure. We’d welcome your participation in that webinar.
If you have further questions or we can clarify any of these points, please feel free to write to the team at odp-ssad(a)icann.org. We will be happy to reply to you in the new year.
Best,
Eleeza Agopian
Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives
