



Network Working Group                                   R. A. Fainchtein
Internet-Draft                                                   JHU/APL
Intended status: Informational                                 C. Deccio
Expires: 5 January 2026                         Brigham Young University
                                                             B. Haberman
                                                                  Fastly
                                                             B. Woodcock
                                                               A. Mankin
                                                                     PCH
                                                            A. Rosenberg
                                                                Veridigo
                                                             4 July 2025


                    Digital Emblem (DIEM) Use Cases
                   draft-diem-fainchtein-use-cases-00

Abstract

   International law defines a number of emblems, such as the blue
   helmets of United Nations peacekeeping forces, the blue and white
   shield of UNESCO, and the Red Cross of the International Committee of
   the Red Cross, as indicative of special protections under the Geneva
   Conventions.  Similar protections attach to journalists who wear
   "Press" protective emblems on the battlefield, under Article 79 of
   Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions and Resolution 2222 of the
   United Nations Security Council.  The emblems of national governments
   and inter-governmental organizations protect diplomatic pouches,
   couriers, and envoys under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
   Relations.  Other marks enjoy protections against mis-use under the
   Paris Convention, the Madrid Protocol, and the Trade-Related Aspects
   of Intellectual Property Rights.

   This document provides an initial summary of problems placing emblems
   into digital use cases and documents identified requirements from a
   number of stakeholders with active or potential interests in digital
   emblems.  TODO align abstract and document with the WG charter.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at
   https://rahelFain.github.io/diem-uses-and-requirements/draft-diem-
   fainchtein-use-cases.html.  Status information for this document may
   be found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-diem-fainchtein-
   use-cases/.




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   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/rahelFain/diem-uses-and-requirements.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Notional Requirements for Digital Emblems . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.1.  Potential Identification Requirements . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.2.  Potential Distribution Requirements . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.3.  Potential Trust model requirements  . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Use Cases for Digital Emblems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.1.  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) . . . . .   6
       4.1.1.  Labeling web servers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       4.1.2.  Labeling personal-use devices . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       4.1.3.  Labeling power-constrained devices  . . . . . . . . .   7
       4.1.4.  Labeling networks from within . . . . . . . . . . . .   7



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       4.1.5.  Labeling networks from without  . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       4.1.6.  Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.2.  United Nations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.3.  United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
            Organization (UNESCO)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.4.  Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
            (OPCW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.5.  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) . . . . . . . .   8
     4.6.  Basel Convention  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.7.  Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.8.  Ramsar Convention on the Wetlands (UNESCO)  . . . . . . .   9
     4.9.  World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) . . . . .   9
     4.10. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)  . . . .   9
     4.11. World Health Organization (WHO) . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     4.12. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  .  10
     4.13. United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) . . .  10
     4.14. World Customs Organization (WCO)  . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   Appendix A.  Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12

1.  Introduction

   International law defines a number of emblems, such as the blue
   helmets of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces [BLUEHELMET], the
   blue and white shield of UNESCO [BLUESHIELD], and the Red Cross of
   the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [REDCROSS], as
   indicative of special protections under international law.  Similar
   protections attach to journalists who wear "Press" protective emblems
   on the battlefield [PRESS].  The emblems of national governments and
   inter-governmental organizations protect diplomatic pouches,
   couriers, and envoys [DIPLOMAT], and international law protects
   certain marks against counterfeiting.

2.  Conventions and Definitions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.





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3.  Notional Requirements for Digital Emblems

   Physical emblems have served a number of key functions over hundreds
   of years and continue to do so to this day.  Traditional uses of
   physical emblems include processes and conventional use to mitigate
   potential misuse.  The contextual protections of physical emblems
   largely do not apply in the digital world.  The following describes a
   number of characteristics that are either required or desirable for
   digital emblems.  In some cases, a digital emblem could accompany a
   physical emblem to provide these additional properties.

   Because there are multiple use cases for digital emblems, some of
   which are fundamentally different from one another, it is not
   presumed that any one use of a digital emblem would necessarily have
   all or most of these requirements for a given implementation.  In
   this vein, the working group will identify a core set of baseline
   requirements for digital emblems.  Additional use cases will require
   further extensions.  TODO move potential requirements which are
   outside the initial scope of the WG to a separate section.

3.1.  Potential Identification Requirements

   A digital emblem capable of acting as an official marking of legal
   significance needs to be identifiable by its intended purpose and
   what assets it applies to.  To do this, digital emblems may have
   these requirements (identified in relation to diverse use cases).
   Requirements of particular use cases will vary.

   *  Provide a clearly detectable and unambiguous marking mappable to
      enable verification,

   *  Be machine-readable to enable automated verification,

   *  Be capable of carrying a visual representation of the physical
      emblem it represents,

   *  Carry an unambiguous indication of the international law, laws or
      agreement pertaining to the entity marked with the emblem,

   *  Be possible to associate with a range or specific quantity of
      persons or items,

   *  Be possible to associate with online services (e.g., websites,
      email servers, databases),

   *  Be possible to associate with data in transit or at rest,





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   *  Be possible to associate with network-addressable equipment (e.g.,
      routers, servers, laptops, IoT devices),

   *  Be possible to associate with a physical object (e.g., building,
      vehicle, container),

   *  Be possible to associate with a person or group of people

3.2.  Potential Distribution Requirements

   A digital emblem applicable to a variety of physical and digital
   assets will need to support discovery mechanisms to ensure emblem
   verification is a practical process.  Practicality can mean multiple
   things, including minimizing the risk that verifying emblems will
   disclose verifier presence or behavior, minimizing the cost of
   verifying digital emblems, and ensuring universal access to emblem-
   bearing for legally entitled assets.

   To accomplish practical emblem distribution, digital emblems can have
   requirements to...

   *  Not impose an undue cost to verify,

   *  Not impose an undue cost to apply to or remove from an asset,

   *  Not impose an undue cost to acquire authority to deploy,

   *  Not require verifiers of the emblem to reveal to the emblem bearer
      that existence checking is occurring,

   *  Make it possible to view an emblem via a communications network,

   *  Make it possible to view an emblem optically (e.g. QR code), or
      wirelessly (e.g. RFID) ToDo: this is an example of a potential
      requirement that will be outside the initial scope of the working
      group.

3.3.  Potential Trust model requirements

   A digital emblem needs to be trustworthy in order to provide any
   value.  This means that parties verifying the presence of emblems
   need to know that the asset bearing an emblem is entitled to do so
   for the declared asset, time frame, and other scopes.

   *  Be authorized by a party that has the legal authority to issue it,

   *  Identify the authorizing party that issued it to ensure
      accountability of emblem use,



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   *  Carry an unambiguous indication of the international law or laws
      conferring protection upon the entity marked with the emblem,

   *  Be capable of providing a reference to additional relevant
      information (e.g., photographs, unique identifiers) which can be
      used to corroborate the association of the digital emblem with the
      entity bearing it,

   *  Be revocable when they are no longer valid,

   *  Be restrictable by temporal scope,

   *  Be restrictable by geographic scope,

   *  Be robust against being replayed by invalid bearers,

   *  Be robust against forgery of its various properties.

4.  Use Cases for Digital Emblems

   Digital emblems are verifiable labels that can be associated with an
   entity so that a verifier can prove that the entity (person, place,
   or thing) has some property the digital emblem represents.  This is a
   collection of brief use cases that necessitate the creation of one or
   more standards for digital emblems to be used to express some status
   of the entity bearing them.  Each use case contains a list of
   potential attributes to associate with the entity as a part of the
   emblem.  It is assumed that each use case would contain a link or
   reference to the law, regulation, or policy that governs the
   protections granted under the emblem.

   These use cases come from discussions with the organizations
   identified.  This is a representative (not exhaustive) list of use
   cases for digital emblems.

4.1.  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

   The ICRC is responsible for the visual Red Cross, Red Crescent, and
   Red Crystal emblems used to label physical assets such as buildings
   and vehicles so that wartime combatants know that International
   Humanitarian Law (IHL) forbids attacking that asset.  The ICRC has
   been challenging private industry and academic researchers to create
   a digital equivalent to these visual emblems that can be used to
   label digital assets as protected under IHL the same way they can
   label physical assets today.

   *  Indication of location




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   *  Textual description

   The ICRC has shared the following concrete use cases as part of their
   industry and academic research engagement.

4.1.1.  Labeling web servers

   Ensuring that attackers targeting a server hosting websites the
   attacker wishes to compromise know that the server hosting those
   sites is IHL protected.

4.1.2.  Labeling personal-use devices

   Doctors use laptops to process IHL protected data both on hospital
   premises and on the move.

4.1.3.  Labeling power-constrained devices

   IoT devices are used to manage various equipment within hospitals,
   and their power constraints may pose unique limitations on digital
   emblem solutions.

4.1.4.  Labeling networks from within

   A device on a network that was compromised by a non-network path
   (such as malware loaded from a USB device) needs to discover that it
   compromised a network that is IHL protected (distinct from
   discovering the compromised device is protected).

4.1.5.  Labeling networks from without

   Attackers trying to compromise a network through a network path can
   discover an emblem for an IP address for a NAT or gateway behind
   which are IHL protected assets.

4.1.6.  Miscellaneous

   Other valuable use cases may exist across the following areas:
   protections of buildings (e.g., hospitals), people (e.g., aid
   workers), vehicles (e.g., ambulances), objects (e.g., medical
   devices), digital services (e.g., family reunification services), and
   data at-rest & in-transit.  Permission to use an emblem is delegated
   to each UN member nation.

4.2.  United Nations

   UN Peacekeepers may require protective markings in theater as well as
   facilities associated with the mission.



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4.3.  United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
      (UNESCO)

   Requires protections for items of cultural heritage, both physical
   and digital.  Priority is on buildings and physical artworks.  These
   can be denoted with location information, descriptions, and linked
   images.  There is a special concern with repatriating stolen works,
   which would benefit from a provenance trail via an emblem.  Their is
   also an interest in ensuring that a physical instantiation of an
   emblem accompany each artwork and leverage the digital emblem to
   track the current location and any special handling needed.

   *  Indication of location

   *  Image(s)

   *  Textual description

   *  Chain-of-custody / provenance

4.4.  Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

   Requires protection of Schedule 1 chemicals in transit between
   signatory countries for research, medical, pharmaceutical, or
   protective purposes.  Emblem would identify place, date, and volume
   of production.  Also a need to encrypt the description/
   characteristics of the items for access only by the receiving customs
   agencies and material handlers.  This encryption precludes other
   actors from determining the contents being transported.

   *  Indication of location (dynamic as materials are moved)

   *  Indication of quantity

   *  Textual description

4.5.  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

   IAEA administers several treaties, especially related to the
   controlled shipment of atomic fuels and wastes across borders.
   Similar use case as OPCW.

4.6.  Basel Convention

   Regulates the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes.  Use cases
   are functionally identical to OPCW and IAEA.





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4.7.  Press

   Journalists in conflict zones require protective markings that
   indicate their status as a non-combatant.

4.8.  Ramsar Convention on the Wetlands (UNESCO)

   The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as
   Waterfowl Habitat "providees the single most global framework for
   intergovernmental cooperation on wetland issues" and it features a
   list of geographic areas designated by Member States.  A digital
   emblem for the geographic areas potentially requires * Indication of
   location * Access to presence or absence of Ramsar designation of a
   specified location * Textual description * Ability to validate the
   presence or absence of Ramsar designation

4.9.  World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

   WIPO administers 26+ treaties with different protections for
   different things.  Brands that are protected under international law
   (e.g., Madrid Protocol) can mark their shipments with an emblem
   allowing customs agents to positively identify legitimate products.

   *  Copyright/Brand image

   *  Textual description

   *  Chain-of-custody / provenance

4.10.  International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

   Requires protection of civil aviation flights and the ability to
   assert that they are not dual-use (i.e., not carrying military
   cargo).  Digital emblem would carry a geographic description of the
   flight plan, its current location, and an indicator of its identity
   (i.e., tail number).  Potential need for the emblem to reference a
   flight manifest.

   *  Indication of location

      -  Flight plan is static

      -  Current location is dynamic

   *  Textual description (i.e., manifest, identifying characteristics
      such as tail number)





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4.11.  World Health Organization (WHO)

   Similar use case as the ICRC.

4.12.  United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

   Among other things is responsible for the International Plant
   Protection Convention (IPPC) and International Standards for
   Phytosanitary Measures standards including ISPM 15 [ISPM15] that
   requires wood packaging materials (pallets, crates, dunnages) to be
   debarked, heat-treated or fumigated with methyl-bromide, and stamped
   or branded with a compliance mark known as a "wheat stamp."

4.13.  United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

   UN Model Regulations [UNMODELREGS] includes "Recommendations on the
   Transport of Dangerous Goods."  This includes labeling of items with
   a four digit "UN Number" that indicates the comounds contained
   within, such as chemicals, explosives, flammable liquids, etc.  For
   example, items containing lithium-based batteries are labeled with
   3480 or 3481 and accompanied by a specific "battery mark" emblem.

4.14.  World Customs Organization (WCO)

   Specifies "Harmonized Systems" codes [HARMONIZED] that classify items
   such as livestock, arms and ammunition, chemicals, plastics,
   machinery, foodstuffs, etc.  They also provide a system for labeling
   origin of items and valuation of items, all enforced by numerous
   international trade agreements between individual nations and groups
   of nations.

5.  Security Considerations

   Technical implementations of digital emblems will undoubtedly incur
   their own security considerations.  However, this document does not
   propose technical solutions; it enumerates use cases that justify
   creating technical solutions and potential requirements.  Many of the
   potential requirements pertain to possible security and privacy
   directions.

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References




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   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [BLUEHELMET]
              Doctors Without Borders, "The Practical Guide to
              Humanitarian Law", n.d., <https://guide-humanitarian-
              law.org/content/article/3/peacekeeping/>.

   [BLUESHIELD]
              United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
              Organization, "Enhanced Protection - Cultural Property of
              Highest Importance to Humanity", n.d.,
              <https://www.unesco.org/en/heritage-armed-conflicts/
              enhanced-protection-cultural-property-highest-importance-
              humanity>.

   [DIPLOMAT] Cornell Law School - Legal Information Institute,
              "Personnel of Foreign Governments and International
              Organizations and Special Treatment for Returning
              Individuals", n.d.,
              <https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/19/148.83>.

   [HARMONIZED]
              World Customs Organization, "Harmonized System", n.d.,
              <https://www.wcotradetools.org/en/harmonized-system>.

   [ISPM15]   International Plant Protection Convention, Food and
              Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
              "International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No.
              15: Regulation of Wood Packaging Material in International
              Trade", n.d.,
              <https://www.ippc.int/static/media/files/publication/
              en/2019/02/ISPM_15_2018_En_WoodPackaging_Post-
              CPM13_Rev_Annex1and2_Fixed_2019-02-01.pdf>.

   [PRESS]    Reporters Without Borders, "RSF Resource for Journalists'
              Safety", n.d., <https://safety.rsf.org/appendix-i-
              protection-of-journalists-in-war-zones/>.





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   [RAMSAR]   Convention on Wetlands Secretariat, "The Convention on
              Wetlands", n.d., <https://www.ramsar.org>.

   [REDCROSS] International Committee of the Red Cross, "The Protection
              of the Red Cross / Red Crescent Emblems", n.d.,
              <https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/
              protection_emblems.pdf>.

   [UNMODELREGS]
              United Nations Economic and Social Council, "UN Model
              Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods", n.d.,
              <https://unece.org/transport/dangerous-goods/un-model-
              regulations-rev-23>.

Appendix A.  Contributors

   Tony DeSimone, Kerstin Vignard, and Erin Hahn provided insight into
   the legal and policy issues surrounding emblems.  Tommy Jensen, Felix
   Linker and Mauro Vignati provided many of the requirements that
   derive from digital asset use cases.

Acknowledgments

   Rohan Mahy provided insightful review.

Authors' Addresses

   Rahel A. Fainchtein
   JHU/APL
   Email: rahel.fainchtein@jhuapl.edu


   Casey Deccio
   Brigham Young University
   Email: casey@deccio.net


   Brian Haberman
   Fastly
   Email: brian@innovationslab.net


   Bill Woodcock
   PCH
   Email: woody@pch.net






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   Allison Mankin
   PCH
   Email: allison.mankin@gmail.com


   Alex Rosenberg
   Veridigo
   Email: alexr@veridigo.com











































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