News
GlobalPlatform Releases Consumer-Centric Model Configuration
January 2017 by Marc Jacob
Industry association GlobalPlatform has released its Consumer-Centric Model Configuration. This framework enables consumers to have ultimate control over which secure applications they want to use from the Secure Elements (SE) housed within their trusted devices. This configuration is of particular interest to service providers of applications such as loyalty, couponing and temporary physical access, as well as wearables and device manufacturers.
The GlobalPlatform Consumer Centric Model Configuration v1.0 defines a new type of security domain: the end user security domain and opens up this isolated area of the SE for end user controlled activity. It achieves this without compromising security for the SE as a whole. This enables issuers to give end users control over value added services on their device through a PIN-protected interface module that allows them to download and maintain apps. This new model is in contrast to traditional approaches where only the issuer or authorized service provider can manage an application in the SE.
The model focuses on a trusted token onto which applications are downloaded; a secure chip-based object, owned by the consumer, that adopts the role of a personal security container. Such hardware tokens will be supplied by trusted token providers - entities that can provide security assurances, allowing a service provider to verify the security of a consumer’s token. These tokens can take the form of a device such as a USB stick or micro SD card. Additionally, the configuration is flexible, allowing the token to also be embedded hardware.
The consumer centric approach can also work in collaboration with other application management models – like issuer centric or dual mode – that have already been defined by GlobalPlatform. A single SE can therefore host multiple trusted applications, each of which can be managed in a range of different ways.
The configuration document is available to download free to members from the members only section of the GlobalPlatform website. Non-members wishing to purchase the configuration should buy it from the GlobalPlatform online store.
