CIAM Glossary
Key Terms and Definitions for Customer Identity and Access Management
This comprehensive glossary is designed to provide you with a clear understanding of the key terms and concepts related to Customer Identity and Access Management, and serves as a valuable reference in navigating the CIAM landscape.
In this glossary, you will find concise explanations of essential CIAM terms, ranging from authentication and authorization to consent management, personalization, and data privacy. Whether you’re new to CIAM or seeking to deepen your knowledge, our glossary provides a solid foundation for understanding the intricacies of managing customer identities securely and effectively.
Feel free to browse through the alphabetical listing of terms, each accompanied by a clear explanation. Should you have any additional questions or require further assistance, our expert team is ready to provide personalized guidance and support.
A
Access Request Workflow: A defined process for requesting and granting access permissions, typically involving approvals, authentication, and authorization checks.
Adaptive Access Control: A dynamic access control mechanism that adjusts the level of security and authentication requirements based on real-time risk assessment and contextual factors.
Anomaly Detection: The identification of unusual or suspicious patterns or behavior that deviates from the norm, often used for detecting fraudulent activities.
API (Application Programming Interface): A set of rules and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other.
API Economy: The ecosystem and practices surrounding the development, distribution, and utilization of application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable seamless integration and interoperability between different systems and services.
Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC): A method of access control that grants or denies access based on the attributes associated with a user, such as their role, location, or other user-defined attributes.
Authentication: The process of verifying the identity of a user, typically through credentials like usernames, passwords, or other factors such as biometrics.
Authorization: The process of granting or denying access rights and permissions to authenticated users based on their roles, privileges, or other attributes.
B
C
Consent Management: The practice of obtaining, recording, and managing user consent for data processing activities, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.
Consent Receipt: A standardized digital document that captures relevant information regarding user consent, including the purpose, scope, and timestamp of consent given by the user.
Consent Transparency: The practice of providing clear and easily understandable information to users about how their personal data will be used, shared, and stored by an organization.
Customer Data Platform (CDP): A unified database that collects, integrates, and manages customer data from multiple sources, providing a comprehensive view of customers for analysis and engagement purposes.
Customer Engagement: The level of interaction, involvement, and emotional connection that customers have with a brand, product, or service.
Customer Journey: The entire process and touchpoints through which a customer interacts with a brand or business, encompassing awareness, consideration, purchase, and post-purchase stages.
D
Data Breach: Unauthorized access or exposure of sensitive user data, potentially leading to its misuse or compromise.
Data Erasure: The permanent deletion or removal of user data from systems and databases, as per user requests or data protection regulations.
Data Privacy: The protection of individuals’ personal information, ensuring that it is collected, stored, and processed in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations.
Data Protection Officer (DPO): A designated person within an organization responsible for overseeing data protection strategies, compliance, and handling data protection-related queries.
Digital Identity: The representation of an individual’s identity in the digital realm, encompassing attributes, credentials, and authentication mechanisms used to establish and verify their online presence.
E
F
Federated Identity: The practice of linking and sharing user identities across multiple organizations or domains to enable seamless authentication and access.
G
H
I
Identity Analytics: The practice of analyzing user identity data and behavior patterns to gain insights for improving security, personalization, and user experiences.
Identity Federation: The practice of establishing trust and enabling the sharing of user identities and attributes across different organizations or domains, often facilitated through standard protocols like SAML or OAuth.
Identity Governance and Administration (IGA): The discipline and technology used to manage and govern user identities, roles, and access rights within an organization.
J
K
L
M
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): A security measure that requires users to provide multiple forms of authentication, such as passwords, SMS codes, or biometrics, to access a system or service.
N
O
P
Passwordless Authentication: An authentication method that eliminates the use of passwords, relying instead on alternative factors such as biometrics, hardware tokens, or email-based verification codes.
Personalization Engine: A component or system that utilizes user data, preferences, and behavior to deliver personalized experiences, content, and recommendations.
Profile Management: The capability to manage and update user profiles, including personal information, contact details, and preferences.
Q
R
Risk-Based Authentication: An authentication approach that assesses the risk level of a user’s access request based on factors like location, device, behavior and applies appropriate security measures accordingly.
S
Secure Token Service (STS): A service that issues security tokens and manages the exchange of authentication and authorization information between different systems or domains.
Session Management: The process of managing user sessions, including their initiation, maintenance, and termination, ensuring secure and controlled access to applications and services.
Single Sign-On (SSO): A feature that allows users to log in once and gain access to multiple applications or services without having to authenticate separately for each one.
Social Login: A feature that allows users to authenticate using their existing social media accounts, eliminating the need to create new credentials.
T
U
User Consent Revocation: The process of users withdrawing their previously given consent for data processing, requiring organizations to stop processing their data accordingly.
User-Initiated Identity Proofing: A process where users provide verification or proof of their identity, typically during user registration or when accessing sensitive information or services.
User Lifecycle Management: The end-to-end management of a user’s journey, including onboarding, access changes, and offboarding, throughout their relationship with an organization.
User Consent Transparency: The practice of providing clear and easily understandable information to users regarding the purposes, scope, and duration of data processing activities, ensuring transparency and informed consent.
User Deactivation: The process of disabling or suspending a user account, typically done when a user no longer requires access to a system or service.
User Managed Access (UMA): An authorization framework that empowers users to control and manage access to their personal data by specifying policies and permissions for sharing it with third parties.
User Provisioning: The process of creating, updating, and managing user accounts and associated access rights across various systems and applications.
User Registration: The process of collecting and storing user information during account creation, including personal details, preferences, and consent.
User Segmentation: The process of categorizing users into distinct groups based on specific attributes or behaviors, often used for targeted marketing campaigns.
User Experience (UX): The overall experience and satisfaction that users have when interacting with a system, application, or service.
User Consent Management: The practice of obtaining, recording, and managing user consent for data processing activities, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.
User-Managed Access (UMA): An authorization framework that empowers users to control and manage access to their personal data by specifying policies and permissions for sharing it with third parties.
User Consent Transparency: The practice of providing clear and easily understandable information to users about how their personal data will be used, shared, and stored by an organization.
User-Initiated Identity Proofing: A process where users provide verification or proof of their identity, typically during user registration or when accessing sensitive information or services.
V
W
X
Y
Z
Zero Trust Architecture: A security framework that assumes no implicit trust and requires continuous verification and validation of user identities and access attempts, regardless of their network location.
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Meet Arno, a Business Analyst that was fairly unfamiliar with the world of (C)IAM before he started the IdentIT Academy. As an Analyst he doesn’t really need be able to develop anything, but getting to know all the concepts and procedures of (C)IAM and has definitely helped him in his current job. He feels he’s now able to give better advice to the developers in his team.
