Privacy Technology Donated Under Open Source

The Mar. 2010 release of a Community Technology Preview (CTP) for U-Prove privacy technology, together with the cryptographic specification for its foundation, enhances developers’ access to Microsoft’s online identity and privacy solutions and gives developers tools to make online applications more secure and private. Microsoft has announced plans to release C# and Java SDKs featuring U-Prove technology under the BSD open-source license.

U-Prove Patented Privacy Technology

U-Prove provides security and privacy solutions for applications in categories such as enterprise identity and access management, digital rights management, electronic health record systems, electronic voting systems, and electronic commerce. The U-Prove technology underlies these solutions and allows users to provide digital credentials that make assertions about identity, status, or rights they have been assigned without revealing their identities. For example, to purchase liquor or over-the-counter medications with U-Prove solutions, a user needs only to verify that he is over a certain age and that he has valid purchasing credentials, and doesn’t have to reveal his full identity or attributes, such as his name or date of birth, that are not needed for the transaction.