idPer

IdPer is a conceptual framework for mapping digital identities to a set of permissions within computer systems. It aims to provide fine-grained access control by associating identity attributes with resources and actions.

In IdPer, access decisions are made by evaluating policies against the identity's attributes and the context of the request. Core elements include an identity provider (IdP) that asserts identities, a policy engine that encodes permissions, a policy information point that sources attributes, and enforcement points that enforce decisions in applications or services. Permissions are represented independently of applications to ease policy management.

IdPer draws on and generalizes established models such as RBAC and ABAC, enabling role-based, attribute-based, or hybrid policies. It supports dynamic attribute updates, session-based attributes, and context considerations like time, location, or device type.

Implementation considerations include data privacy, attribute provenance, scalability, and auditability. A typical lifecycle includes definition of policies, attribute schemas, integration with IdP, policy deployment, and monitoring. Trade-offs include increased complexity and potential performance overhead.

History and usage: Conceptually introduced in security literature and in some vendor references as a framework for IAM modernization. Adopted in some enterprise and cloud environments as a named approach to policy-driven access control.

See also: identity provider, attribute-based access control, role-based access control, policy-based access control, IAM.