GLEP 80: Identity verification via OpenPGP WoT

Author Michał Górny <[email protected]>
Type Standards Track
Status Deferred
Version 1
Created 2019-03-04
Last modified 2021-05-31
Posting history 2019-03-04
GLEP source glep-0080.rst

Status

Marked as deferred by GLEP editor Ulrich Müller on 2021-05-31, due to inactivity.

Abstract

This GLEP proposes establishing a non-obligatory, distributed identity verification procedure that is compatible with OpenPGP web of trust. It could be used whenever an explicit need for verifying the real name occurs, enforced on groups of developers with elevated privileges via a separate policy or serve as guidelines for building web of trust. Three methods of verifying the identity are proposed: face-to-face, via webcam or via government-controlled identification services.

Motivation

GLEP 76 (Copyright Policy) specifies that all commits made to Gentoo repositories must include a sign-off with a person's real name. However, it does not specify any particular method of verifying it. It is a standing policy that it is sufficient for contributor to acknowledge the legitimacy of the provided name. [1]

At the same time, developers are asked not to accept contributions if they have justified concerns as to the authenticity of the name provided. In particular, this could happen if the developer happens to know the contributor personally, the contributor indicated that he is using a pseudonym or arbitrarily changed his name under the policy. In this case, we lack a clear policy allowing the contributor to reattain trust.

Furthermore, enforcing higher standards for identity verification may make sense for groups having elevated privileges or specific legal responsibility, e.g. the Infrastructure team or Trustees.

If a centralized identity verification model was to be introduced in Gentoo, it would probably be necessary to perform most of the verifications remotely. This would require transferring sensitive personal data to a single entity which is undesirable.

On the other hand, a distributed identity verification model is readily provided by OpenPGP Web of Trust. In this case, verification can be performed between individual pairs of developers, reducing the amount of sensitive information at the disposal of a single entity and increasing the chances of performing the verification face-to-face.

Specification

Purpose and scope

This specification does not enforce identity verification anywhere. Instead, it aims to provide clear rules for whenever developers establish such a process is necessary. Identity verification may be enforced in specific groups of developers separately, via internal project policies or Council-approved policies.

If a identity is verified according to this specification, this fact should be recorded via signing UIDs matching the verified data on the person's OpenPGP key. Such signature cryptographically confirms that the signer has verified that the specific signee's UID provides legitimate real name and e-mail address of the key owner. Furthermore, it is recommended that the signer includes the URL of this GLEP as the certification policy URL (--cert-policy-url in gpg(1)), and appropriately indicates certification level (see --default-cert-level in gpg(1)).

The certification level of signatures following this specification must be either 2 or 3, depending on how minutely the signer verified signee's identification documents.

Identity verification

Face-to-face verification

The recommended procedure for identity verification is for the signer to meet signee face-to-face. The signer must:

  1. Obtain the signee's OpenPGP key fingerprint, the complete public key data or a stronger digest of it over a tamper-resistant channel (preferably on paper). The signer must reliably compare this data to verify the authenticity of the key being signed.
  2. Verify the signee's identity using a government-issued identification document with a photograph. The verification must include, to the best of signer's abilities:
    1. Verifying that the counter-forgery features of the verified document are present and are correct.
    2. Verifying that the signee's face resembles the photograph on the document.
    3. Verifying that the signee is able to issue a signature similar to the one on the document (if present).
  3. Verify the signee's e-mail address(es), through sending an e-mail encrypted using signee's OpenPGP key, containing either randomly generated data, or an exported signature for the UID in question. Each mail sent must contain unique data.

Only once all three factors are positively verified may the particular UID be signed according to this policy.

Remote webcam verification

Alternatively to face-to-face verification, it is acceptable to perform the verification using high-resolution real-time video stream. In this case, the signee should perform all the actions necessary for the signer to be able to verify the identity document in front of the camera.

Verification via government identity services

Finally, it is acceptable to use one of the identity proof forms that are considered legally meaningful in a particular country, and guarantee the signee's identity has been verified by an official. This could include e.g.:

  • public notaries,
  • government identity services (provided that the signer is able to obtain a cryptographically secured proof of identity),
  • bank wire transfers.

GnuPG command line (informational)

In order to create a signature following this specification, the following command-line arguments can be used:

gpg --cert-policy-url 'https://www.gentoo.org/glep/glep-0080.rst' \
    --ask-cert-level --cert-digest-algo SHA512 \
    --edit-key <key-fingerprint>

Alternatively, if those options should apply to all certifications made, they can be included in the configuration file ~/.gnupg/gpg.conf:

cert-policy-url https://www.gentoo.org/glep/glep-0080.rst
ask-cert-level
cert-digest-algo SHA512

cert-policy-url specifies the policy to which the certification complies (as recommended above). ask-cert-level requests GnuPG to query certification level interactively when signing every key. cert-digest-algo enables stronger SHA-2 512-bit digests on certifications.

Rationale

Non-obligatory nature

The previous WoT proposal made signatures obligatory. This has met with resistance of developers, including claims that there are individuals within Gentoo who are unable to get their key signed using any of the proposed methods and outright rejection of real name verification. [2]

Therefore, this proposal avoids making keysigning obligatory for everyone. However, it does aim to provide official rule set for keysigning that can be used by developers at their discretion, or whenever there is a valid need of verifying contributor's identity.

The GLEP also makes provisions for enforcing identity verification separately, as a matter of policy. While it could propose establishing such a policy for particular projects such as Infra, it makes little sense to maintain a list of such projects in a GLEP, and update it whenever it changes. Instead, individual projects can enforce name verification on their members, or Council can enforce wider policies if there is an agreement on them.

Face-to-face verification rules

The verification rules follow common keysigning practices. Notably, they are based on assumption that a single signature confirms the combination of three elements: the signee's primary key, real name and an e-mail address.

Verifying the primary key fingerprint is important to ensure that the authentic key belonging to the signee is being used. Otherwise, a malicious third party could create a key with matching UID and signer could sign it instead of the authentic key.

Verifying the real name is the specific purpose of this GLEP, as well as a standard practice for OpenPGP web of trust. The name should be verified against documents that are expectedly hard to forge, and that include photograph that could be used to verify the owner. Since photograph verification is non-trivial and in some cases documents contain outdated photos, it is supplemented with signature verification whenever possible. In any case, this part is considered best effort.

Verifying the e-mail address is necessary since OpenPGP does not provide any proof of address ownership, and arbitrary user identifiers can be added to a key. Unique data needs to be used in order to verify each address separately. The data is encrypted to additionally confirm that the e-mail address' owner actually has access to the key, and to avoid accidental mistakes.

Traditionally, it is considered sufficient to export a signature for each e-mail address, and send it. Then, the signee can decrypt it, import and publish the update to his key afterwards without the necessity of any further action from the signer. Doing this manually is non-trivial; the caff tool can help. [3]

Alternatively, a simple encrypted e-mail exchange with random data can be used instead. Afterwards, the signer signs all confirmed UIDs and publishes the signature. This method does not require special tooling and has the additional advantage of verifying that the signee can send mail from claimed address.

Allowing webcam identification

There are conflicting opinions as to whether remote identity verification is valid. However, this method can prove helpful whenever the signee does not live near any developer.

The use of live, high-resolution stream aims to both reduce the risk of forgery and copying signee's identification documents. The ability to move freely is also necessary to provide at least partial verification of counter-forgery measures.

Allowing government identification services

Finally, whenever direct verification is inconvenient, it could be acceptable to rely on government officials and institutions that are expected to verify the identity of citizens. The most common case of this are public notaries who can provide appropriate proofs of identity for a fee.

Besides those, if the signer and signee live in the same country, additional national verification mechanisms may be used as long as special care is taken to perform an authenticated exchange.

In some cases, randomly-generated data exchange via wire transfer may be considered sufficient, provided that the signee's bank is known to verify identity of its customers.

Backwards Compatibility

The policy is non-obligatory, and therefore does not affect existing developers.

Existing developer signatures may be incompatible with the policy. In order to make policy conformance clear, the GLEP recommends including appropriate policy URL in signatures.

References

[1]GLEP 76: Copyright Policy (https://www.gentoo.org/glep/glep-0076.html)
[2]Michał Górny. "pre-GLEP: Gentoo OpenPGP web of trust". gentoo-project mailing list, 2019-01-31, Message-ID 1548943008.796.1.camel@gentoo.org (https://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-project/message/d05ae93cac6fbac0eea07fc597519382)
[3]caff - Debian Wiki (https://wiki.debian.org/caff)