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Cornerstone ID — Schema Documentation

Table of Contents

1. About this Document

This document defines the Cornerstone ID schema — a structured data model for the foundational person-level identity credential in the Cornerstone Network. It is intended for governance reviewers, schema implementers, credential issuers, and verifier application developers evaluating whether this schema meets their requirements.

The Cornerstone ID schema captures verified identity attributes for an individual, serving as the base credential that all other Cornerstone credentials reference via cornerstone_id. It contains only what it uniquely attests to — verified identity — with no role, property, employment, or derived data.

1.1 Version History

Ver. Date Notes Author(s)
1.0 18-Mar-2026 Rewritten as schema documentation; governance body perspective Mathieu Glaude
0.9 26-Feb-2026 JSON-LD format; replaced birthdate_dateint with ISO 8601 birthdate; removed fsa_code; added verified_phone and cornerstone_user_id Mathieu Glaude

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2. Schema Overview

The Cornerstone ID schema defines the data structure for the foundational identity credential in the Cornerstone Network. Every participant holds a Cornerstone ID, which is referenced by all other credentials in the ecosystem via the cornerstone_id attribute. This schema captures only verified identity — no role, property, employment, or derived data is included. Selective disclosure is handled via BBS+ data integrity cryptosuites at the credential layer.
Schema: Cornerstone ID v1.0
Format: W3C Verifiable Credentials (JSON-LD)
Governance Body: Cornerstone Network
Schema URI: https://trustinfrastructure.com/cornerstone/schemas/cornerstone-id.json

2.1 Attribute Summary

# Name Attribute Data Type Required
001 Given Names given_names String Yes
002 Family Name family_name String Yes
003 Date of Birth birthdate String (date) Yes
004 Verified Email verified_email String Yes
005 Verified Phone verified_phone String Yes
006 Postal Address postal_address JSON object No
007 Cornerstone User ID cornerstone_user_id String (UUID) Yes
008 Identity Evidence identity_evidence String / URI Yes

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3. Schema Definition

3.1 Attributes

Given Names (001)

Attributegiven_names
DescriptionLegal given names, may include middle names.
Data TypeString
RequiredYes
ExamplesJohn Michael

Family Name (002)

Attributefamily_name
DescriptionLegal family name / surname.
Data TypeString
RequiredYes
ExamplesSmith

Date of Birth (003)

Attributebirthdate
DescriptionDate of birth in ISO 8601 format. Replaces the earlier birthdate_dateint integer format used for AnonCreds ZK proofs.
Data TypeString (YYYY-MM-DD)
RequiredYes
Examples1985-06-21

Verified Email (004)

Attributeverified_email
DescriptionEmail address verified via OTP during onboarding.
Data TypeString
RequiredYes
Examplesjohn.smith@example.com

Verified Phone (005)

Attributeverified_phone
DescriptionPhone number verified through Interac or SMS OTP.
Data TypeString
RequiredYes
Examples+1-604-555-0123

Postal Address (006)

Attributepostal_address
DescriptionResidential or mailing address from the identity verification source. Includes street_address, locality, region, postal_code, country.
Data TypeJSON object
RequiredNo
Examples{"street_address": "123 Main St", "locality": "Vancouver", "region": "BC", "postal_code": "V6B 1A1", "country": "CA"}

Cornerstone User ID (007)

Attributecornerstone_user_id
DescriptionPlatform-generated opaque identifier. Does NOT encode role information.
Data TypeString (UUID)
RequiredYes
Examples550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

Identity Evidence (008)

Attributeidentity_evidence
DescriptionUUID or URI referencing the identity verification evidence record — includes verification source(s), author, and date. Retained five years for regulatory compliance.
Data TypeString / URI
RequiredYes
Examplesurn:uuid:a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

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4. Data Source Requirements

Credentials issued under this schema are expected to draw from the following authoritative sources.

4.1 Identity Verification Sources

Only high-assurance identity verification sources are accepted:

  • Interac Bank Verification Service — Canada-wide, high-assurance through banking relationships
  • BC Person Credential — British Columbia provincial digital identity credential

If a holder verifies through multiple sources, the evidence array contains multiple objects documenting each source.

4.2 Evidence Requirements

Each evidence object in the credential's evidence array must include:

Field Description Required
type Type of evidence (e.g., "IdentityProofing") Yes
method Verification method (e.g., "InteracBankVerification") Yes
verificationDate ISO 8601 timestamp of verification Yes
matchFields Array of verified fields (e.g., ["name", "dob"]) Yes
recordLocator Reference to stored evidence record (UUID or URI) Yes
verifier Entity performing verification (e.g., "Interac Corp.") Yes

Forbidden in evidence: Assurance level indicators, role or persona indicators, property or employment references, derived predicates.

4.3 Data Currency

  • A credential reflects the state of identity verification at issuance time.
  • Identity changes (name change, contact updates) require revocation and re-issuance.
  • Expiration period: 3–5 years after issuance (per operational policy).
  • Evidence is retained for five years in compliance with FINTRAC requirements.

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5. Status Management

This schema requires credentials to implement W3C Bitstring Status List v1.1 for lifecycle management, with separate bitstrings for revocation and suspension.

Event Action Status Handling
Identity verified Issue credential Index set to 0 (valid)
Account closed Revoke Revocation bit = 1 (permanent)
Fraud detected Revoke Revocation bit = 1 (permanent)
Investigation pending Suspend Suspension bit = 1 (reversible)
Investigation cleared Reinstate Suspension bit = 0
Identity change (name) Revoke + re-issue Old revoked; new credential index = 0
Verification source expired Revoke + re-issue Old revoked; new credential index = 0

Cascade rule: The Cornerstone ID is the foundational credential referenced by all others. When revoked, the platform operationally reviews and revokes all dependent credentials: Home Credentials, Professional Credentials, Accreditation Credentials, Portfolio Issuer Credentials, and PAACs.

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6. Design Rationale

birthdate (ISO 8601) replaces birthdate_dateint: The integer format (YYYYMMDD) supported AnonCreds ZK predicate proofs. Since this ecosystem uses W3C JSON-LD format exclusively, selective disclosure is handled via BBS+ data integrity cryptosuites. Standard ISO 8601 dates are appropriate.

fsa_code removed: Forward Sortation Area existed for AnonCreds geographic predicates. In JSON-LD with BBS+ selective disclosure, verifiers can derive FSA from postal code when needed.

Email+Phone OTP verification path removed: Only two high-assurance sources are accepted — Interac Bank Verification and BC Person Credential — simplifying the assurance model.

Foundational credential principle: Following the vLEI model, the most mature production credential ecosystems use minimal foundational identity credentials. The Cornerstone ID contains only what it uniquely attests to — verified identity — enabling all other credentials to reference it rather than duplicating identity claims.

Forbidden data: This schema explicitly excludes property/homeownership data, employment/professional data, role/persona information, predicates, assurance level indicators, and financial data. These belong in domain-specific credential schemas.

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7. Governance

  • Governance Body: Cornerstone Network
  • Schema Owner: Cornerstone Network
  • Review Cycle: Annual, or upon breaking schema changes
  • Change Process: Schema updates follow a change-managed governance process to ensure interoperability across all adopting organizations
  • Evidence Retention: Five years (FINTRAC compliance)

Schema Versioning

Level Change Type Example
Major (v1 → v2) Breaking changes Removing attributes, changing data types
Minor (v1.0 → v1.1) Backward-compatible additions New optional attributes
Patch (v1.0.0 → v1.0.1) Non-breaking fixes Documentation updates

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8. Implementation References

Reference Value
Technical Format W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model (JSON-LD)
Schema URI https://trustinfrastructure.com/cornerstone/schemas/cornerstone-id.json
Context URLs https://www.w3.org/ns/credentials/v2
https://trustinfrastructure.com/cornerstone/contexts/cornerstone-id-v1.0.json
Schema Registry https://trustinfrastructure.com/cornerstone/schemas/
Governance Doc https://openpropertyassociation.ca/credential-governance/cornerstone-id/

Required Envelope Fields

Credentials issued under this schema must include: - issuer — DID of the issuing organization (must be Cornerstone Network DID) - validFrom and validUntil — temporal bounds (3–5 year expiration) - credentialSchema — reference to this schema - credentialStatus — revocation and suspension bitstring entries - evidence — at least one evidence object documenting the identity verification

Credential Relationships

Relationship Credential
Prerequisites None (foundational credential)
Referenced by Home Credential, Professional Credential, Accreditation Credential, Portfolio Issuer, PAAC

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