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Secure
The symbol that we use of the two locks is no accident
The Authenticated Data process secures data by requiring that two keys are presented in order to unlock data.
The conventions used in this discussion are
Data Provider is the source of the data, in effect the owner of the data
Data Consumer is the use of the data
Data Application is the process that uses the data
Think of a National Weather Report. The group that collects and compiles the weather reports is the Data Provider. In this example they have a web site that allows the user to log on and get the weather report. The user is the Data Consumer and the web site itself is the Data Application that is being used to deliver the weather data.
Expand this example and imagine a company that builds a device that is fixed to boats that detects the boats geographic location and retrieves very specific information about the weather events in the immediate vicinity. The boat now has a Data Application that helps the user navigate the waterways safely. We can easily imagine many different Data Applications that serve different purposes aircraft, oil rigs land transport, farmers etc may all buy new Data Applications.
The Authenticated Data process use a method where the Data Provider agrees to provide data to a Data Consumer to be used in a specific Data Application. The Data Consumer cannot access the data without the Data Application that is specified.
In our weather example where a weather report is needed for a boat to survive in a storm on the water will have no use for a weather report that is better applied to an aircraft. It is important that the Data Application identify itself and the purpose of the data it needs.
Using the Authenticated Data process in commercial trading arrangements mean that the data is being used for the intention that the Data Provider intended. This level of security is quite profound as we identify the Data Application consuming data as well as the User that is entitled to the data. If a Data Provider questions the security of the Data Application they can deny access to that Application.