National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2026. It is identical to ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2025. It supersedes BS EN ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2022, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee IST/33/5, Identity Management and Privacy Technologies.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 September 2026.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 7 September 2026.

CEN and CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN and CENELEC member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN and CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN and CENELEC members are the national standards bodies and national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

The text of ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2025 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1 "Information technology” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been taken over as EN ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2026 by Technical Committee CEN-CENELEC/ JTC 13 “Cybersecurity and Data Protection” the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by March 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by March 2027.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN-CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2022.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN and CENELEC websites.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2025 has been approved by CEN-CENELEC as EN ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2026 without any modification.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).

ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 27, Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection.

This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2019), which has been technically revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO/IEC 24760‑1:2019/Amd 1:2023.

The main changes are as follows:

title has been updated;
the document has been editorially revised.

A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 24760 series can be found on the ISO website.

This document has been given the status of a horizontal document in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and www.iec.ch/national-committees.

Introduction

Data processing systems commonly gather a range of information on their users, be it a person, piece of equipment, or piece of software connected to them, and make decisions based on the gathered information. Such identity-based decisions can concern access to applications or other resources.

To address the need to efficiently and effectively implement systems that make identity-based decisions, the ISO/IEC 24760 series specifies a framework for the issuance, administration, and use of data that serves to characterize individuals, organizations or information technology components which operate on behalf of individuals or organizations.

For many organizations, the proper management of identity information is crucial for maintaining security within organizational processes. For individuals, correct identity management is important for protecting privacy.

The ISO/IEC 24760 series specifies fundamental concepts and operational structures for identity management and provides a framework on which information systems can meet business, contractual, regulatory, and legal obligations.

This document specifies the terminology and concepts for identity management, in order to promote a common understanding in the field of identity management.

This document is intended to provide a foundation for the terminology and concepts in other international standards related to identity information processing including other parts of the ISO/IEC 24760 series, ISO/IEC 29100, ISO/IEC 29101, ISO/IEC 29115, and ISO/IEC 29146.

1 Scope

This document:

defines terms for identity management and specifies core concepts of identity and identity management, and their relationships;
is applicable to any information system where information relating to identity is processed or stored;
is considered to be a horizontal document for the following reasons:
- it applies concepts such as distinguishing the term “identity” from the term “identifier” on the implementation of systems for the management of identity information and on the requirements for the implementation and operation of a framework for identity management,
- it provides an important contribution to assess identity management systems with regard to their privacy-friendliness and their ability to assure the relevant attributes of an identity, and consequently it provides a foundation and a common understanding for any other standard addressing identity, identity information, and identity management.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 General terms

3.2 Identification

3.3 Authenticating identity information

3.4 Management of identity

3.5 Federation

3.6 Privacy protection

4 Symbols and abbreviated terms

5 Identity

5.1 General

5.2 Identity information

5.3 Identifier

5.4 Credential

6 Attributes

6.1 General

6.2 Types of attributes

6.3 Domain of origin

7 Managing identity information

7.1 General

7.2 Identity lifecycle

8 Identification

8.1 General

8.2 Verification

8.3 Enrolment

8.4 Registration

8.5 Identity proofing

9 Authentication

10 Maintenance

11 Implementation aspects

12 Privacy

Bibliography