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• Regulatory Compliance: Adhering to laws like GDPR, or other data protection regulations (outside of EU). For example, ensuring that a distributed identity system allows users to control their data as per GDPR’s “right to be forgotten.”forgotten”. In R&E processes, this involves ensuring that credentials issued by universities or research institutions, such as digital diplomas or researcher IDs, comply with data protection laws. For instance, R&E institutions must implement mechanisms to allow students or researchers to revoke or update their credentials, ensuring compliance with GDPR’s data subject rights, such as the right to erasure or rectification. 
• Cross-Border Recognition: Enabling legal recognition of digital identities across countries, such as mutual recognition agreements for eID credentials between nations. In R&E, this includes ensuring that digital credentials, like academic degrees or certifications issued by a university in one country, are legally recognised by institutions or employers in another country. This will require agreements between NRENs or other bodies to establish trust frameworks that validate the authenticity and legal standing of credentials across borders.
• Liability Frameworks: Defining who is responsible in case of identity misuse or data breaches, especially in decentralised systems where accountability can be unclear. In R&E processes, liability considerations arise when determining who applies an e-seal to a credential, such as a digital diploma. For example, an NREN or a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) under eIDAS may be responsible for applying the e-seal to ensure its authenticity. Legal implications include defining liability for misuse of the e-seal, ensuring compliance with eIDAS requirements for electronic signatures and seals, and establishing accountability in case of fraudulent credential issuance or verification failures in R&E systems.

Semantic Interoperability

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