What is TrueNamePath?

A university final project (CM3035 Advanced Web Design) that demonstrates context-aware identity management, allowing users to control how their names are presented to different applications.

The Problem We Solve

Research shows this creates real discrimination. Bertrand and Mullainathan's study found that resumes with “White-sounding” names received 50% more callbacks than identical resumes with “African-American-sounding” names.

McKenzie (2010) catalogued over 40 false assumptions that software systems make about names, yet traditional identity systems continue to enforce a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to accommodate how names are used in different contexts.

Technical Implementation: Context-Aware Identity Resolution

This project implements context-aware name resolution as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating how existing OAuth infrastructure can be extended to provide user-configurable name selection based on requesting application context.

Technical Approach: The system leverages existing OAuth infrastructure, implementing context-aware identity resolution as a layer on top of standard OAuth flows. Applications receive contextually appropriate identity information through standard OAuth protocols.

Core Algorithm: The resolve_oauth_oidc_claims() function implements a three-layer decision process: consent verification, visibility filtering, and context-specific name selection based on the requesting application.

Implementation Features

• User-Defined Contexts: Users create custom contexts (e.g., “Work Colleagues,” “Gaming Friends,” “HR Systems”) and assign specific name variants to each context through a dashboard interface.
• Privacy Controls: Implements data minimization by automatically selecting contextually appropriate names, with comprehensive audit logging and consent management for GDPR compliance.
• Context-Aware Selection: Three-layer algorithm (consent verification, visibility filtering, context-specific selection) ensures appropriate names for different application types.
• REST API & OAuth: Complete REST API implementation with OAuth Bearer token authentication and standard OIDC claims resolution.
• Testing & Validation: Comprehensive end-to-end testing with Playwright, complete audit trail implementation, and response time monitoring.

See It In Action

This academic project includes working demonstration applications that show how context-aware identity resolution functions in practice. Each demo app represents a different context and shows how names are presented differently based on the requesting application.