A Trust Assertion is more than a claim. It carries the context required to determine whether that claim can be relied upon.
A validated claim originating from an authoritative source and carrying sufficient context to determine whether it can be relied upon. A Trust Assertion is not simply a digital identity credential — an identity credential answers who someone is; a Trust Assertion carries the fuller context needed to decide whether a specific claim, in a specific context, can be relied upon.
The organisation making the assertion.
The identity the assertion concerns.
The specific fact being asserted — e.g. "Subject holds Certification X."
The supporting data or records behind the claim.
The origin chain and history of the claim.
The basis of the issuer's right to assert this claim.
Why the assertion was created.
What contexts the assertion applies to.
Start and end dates, and the cryptographic signature confirming integrity.
Whether the assertion is active, suspended or revoked.
The rules, policies and standards governing issuance.
Together, these elements are what let a Trust Consumer evaluate an assertion on its own terms — without needing a separate relationship with the issuer, and without needing the underlying information the assertion is based on. Removing any one of them (authority, scope or validity, for example) turns the assertion back into an unverifiable claim.
