Authorization Envelope

A Technical Reference

Overview

An Authorization Envelope is a specialized form of Trust Envelope generated at authorization time to record the outcome of an authorization decision together with the trust-state conditions under which it was produced.

Authorization Envelopes enable independent verification of authorization outcomes without reliance on implicit trust in the issuing enforcement system.

Purpose

• Independent verification of authorization outcomes
• Evidence portability across systems and domains
• Audit and compliance workflows
• Non-repudiation of enforcement decisions

Relationship to Trust Envelopes

All Authorization Envelopes are Trust Envelopes. Not all Trust Envelopes are Authorization Envelopes.

An Authorization Envelope binds a specific decision to a contemporaneous trust-state reference, enabling independent evaluation by external verifiers.