+ +
+The APIs provided by this specification enable the deletion of +verifiable credentials and verifiable presentations from +storage services. The result of these deletions +and the side-effects caused by them are out of scope for this specification. +However, implementers are advised to understand the various ways deletion can be +implemented. There are at least two types of deletion that are contemplated by +this specification. +
+ ++Partial deletion marks a record for deletion but continues to store +some or all of the original information. This mode of operation can be useful if +there are requirements to be able to audit all credentials or presentations over +a particular time period or if recovering the original credential might be a +useful feature to provide an entity. +
++Complete deletion purges all information related to a given +verifiable credential or verifiable presentation in a way that +is unrecoverable. This mode of operation can be useful when removing information +that is outdated and beyond the needs of an audit or when responding to any +sort of "right +to be forgotten" request. +
++When deleting a verifiable credential, what to do with the status +information needs to be considered. Some use cases might call for a deletion +of a particular verifiable credential to also set the revocation +and suspension bits of the verifiable credential such that any sort of +status check for the deleted credential fails and usage of the credential is +halted. +
++Given the scenarios above, it is advisable that implementers allow the +moderation of what happens after a delete to be programmable such that +system flexibility is achieved to address any verifiable credential use +case. +
+