Who does what

A network works when it is clear what everyone in it does. Tamga Network has eight roles. One institution can take on more than one; a university, for example, both issues and verifies credentials. The exact rules for each role are in the Tamga ARF; here we explain each one in plain words.

Running the network

Operator

Publishes the trust lists, protects the root keys, signs every version of the lists and keeps a public log. Today Tamga takes on this role provisionally. When a state starts running its own list, that list is handed over to its operator.

Registrar

Receives applications from those who want to join: it checks that the institution really exists, its official registration number, its contact details and which credentials it wants to issue or request. If everything is in order, it enters the record into the list.

Producing credentials

Issuer

The institution that issues a credential: a university, a hospital, a professional chamber, a ticket seller. It signs the credential with its own key and revokes it when needed. The key stays with the institution; the network doesn’t hold it.

Authentic source

The system that keeps the original record of the information in a credential: a university’s student information system, a chamber’s member register. The issuer reads the information from here when it issues. Often the issuer and the authentic source are the same institution.

Using credentials

Person

The owner of the credential. They carry it in their wallet, decide what to show to whom and approve every sharing.

Verifier

The party that asks for a credential: an employer, a website, an event gate. Its European name is relying partyrelying partyThe party that asks for a credential and relies on it to provide a service.. It is registered with the network and may ask only for the information in its registration; if it asks for more, the wallet shows this to the person.

Wallet provider

The organisation that builds and runs a wallet app. It shows through conformance tests that it follows the network’s wallet rules and is then listed. The network doesn’t pick wallets; it recognises every wallet provider that follows the rules.

State

The owner of a country’s trust list. It decides which institutions are on the list and which countries’ lists it recognises. Until a state joins, the provisional operator takes on this role on its behalf, and the role passes to the state when it joins.