Tagging use of Pseudonym in CN

[srdavidson]

It was discussed that there is a common use case to tag Pseudonyms when used in the SubjectDN commonName with a prefix like Pseudo: or PN:

See also digicert/pkilint#155

[srdavidson]

Draft text at srdavidson/smime@c809220...3fb0275

[defacto64]

What is the rationale for making the prefix mandatory after a certain date?

[srdavidson]

On one of our calls, a root program representative voiced a preference for consistency in the use of such tags, if they were to be adopted.

[XolphinMartijn]

If we are not requiring the Tag for this, I would request we discuss banning the use of an email address within a the subject:pseudonum attribute field

[srdavidson]

See 8c8fab7...e335fe4

[defacto64]

I reword my question: why should we provide for the "pseudo:" prefix at all? Just to accomodate one particular existing use case?

[AdrianMueller-sws]

Hi Adriano, chiming in late but happy to answer your question: The "pseudo: * prefix is set in the Common Name (only). With this practise you avoid confusion when applications show only the content of the Common Name (or any other attribute) and omit the rest of the Subject Distinguished Name (e.g. new Outlook). Therefore, the prefix marks the pseudonym as such, even if the Pseudonym attribute is not visible.