Device and Method for Digital Utilization of Certificate Data, and Program Therefor

A program for causing a server to execute a method for providing certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, the method comprising:

• generating, by the server, the certificate data in response to a request for the certificate data from a terminal capable of communicating with the server, and
• sending, by the server, the certificate data and verification data corresponding to the certificate data to the terminal,
• wherein the certificate data includes a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and a sign by a secret key of the institution is added to the certificate data,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes that are the contents of certification, and
• wherein the validation data includes (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes that are contents of certification accessible by the server, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of the plurality of pieces of attribute data, or hash values of a portion thereof.

An apparatus for providing certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, which:

• generate the certificate data in response to a request for the certificate data from a terminal capable of communicating with the apparatus, and
• send the certificate data and verification data corresponding to the certificate data to the terminal,
• wherein the certificate data includes a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and a sign by a secret key of the institution is added to the certificate data,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes that are the contents of certification, and
• wherein the validation data includes (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes that are contents of certification accessible by the server, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of the plurality of pieces of attribute data, or hash values of a portion thereof.

A method for certifying at least part of a plurality of attributes using certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, comprising:

• receiving verification data including (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof,
• sending the certificate data including a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and
• sending one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of one or more attributes to be certified, one or more hash values obtained by using respective pieces of data obtained by excluding the one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of the one or more attributes to be certified from the verification data, and a sign by a secret key corresponding to the public key,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes.

A program for causing a computer to execute a method for certifying at least part of a plurality of attributes using certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, the method comprising:

• receiving verification data including (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof,
• sending the certificate data including a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and
• sending one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of one or more attributes to be certified, one or more hash values obtained by using respective pieces of data obtained by excluding the one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of the one or more attributes to be certified from the verification data, and a sign by a secret key corresponding to the public key,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes.

An apparatus for certifying at least part of a plurality of attributes using certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, which:

• receive verification data including (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof,
• send the certificate data including a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and
• send one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of one or more attributes to be certified, one or more hash values obtained by using respective pieces of data obtained by excluding the one or more pieces of attribute data or corrected attribute data of the one or more attributes to be certified from the verification data, and a sign by a secret key corresponding to the public key,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes.

A method for certifying existence of at least part of a plurality of attributes using certificate data for a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes of an entity that have been confirmed by an institution, comprising:

• receiving verification data including (a) a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof, or (b) a plurality of pieces of data including corrected attribute data obtained by adding additional data to at least part of a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes, or hash values of a portion thereof,
• sending the certificate data including a name of a certifying institution, a public key which is a subject of certification, and a hash value associated with contents of certification, and
• sending hash values of all pieces of attribute data of the plurality of attributes obtained by using the verification data, and a sign by a secret key corresponding to the public key,
• wherein the hash value associated with the contents of certification is a Merkle root of a Merkle tree obtained by using a plurality of pieces of attribute data representing the plurality of attributes.