= Details / Concepts of the Web Key Directory

**[[EasyGpg2016/PubkeyDistributionConcept|Pubkey Distribution Concept]] <- the (technical) details**

* 2016-09-08 ~OpenPGP.conf presentation by Werner Koch:
  [[https://www.openpgp-conf.org/program.html#werner|Abstract]]
  [[https://www.openpgp-conf.org/2016/openpgp-2016-simple-key-discovery.pdf|Slides.PDF]]
* 2016-09-08 ~OpenPGP.conf presentation by Bernhard Reiter, pages 21-24
  [[https://www.intevation.de/~bernhard/presentations/201609-openpgpconf/20160908-3bsi-contracts.odp|Slides.ODP]]
  [[https://www.intevation.de/~bernhard/presentations/201609-openpgpconf/20160908-3bsi-contracts.pdf|Slides.PDF]]
* 2016-09-09
  //[[http://www.golem.de/news/web-key-service-openpgp-schluessel-ueber-https-verteilen-1609-123194.html|OpenPGP-Schlüssel über HTTPS verteilen]]// Golem news by Hanno Böck
* 2016-09-11 //[[https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Spezifikation-fuer-die-Verteilung-von-OpenPGP-Keys-per-HTTPS-veroeffentlicht-3317914.html|Spezifikation für die Verteilung von OpenPGP-Keys per HTTPS veröffentlicht]]// Heise news by Johannes Merkert
* 2016-09-11
  //[[http://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-de/2016-September/000547.html|Anmerkungen zum Web Key Service]]// gnupg-de@ by Werner Koch
* 2017-07-28 Draft 04 of the specs published (see details page linked above).
* 2017-10-10 LWN covers [[https://lwn.net/Articles/735840/|Werner Koch's talk at Kernel Recipies 2017]]

The elaborated proposal is a result of the EasyGpg2016 contract.

== General Idea

If you and your peers use email-providers offering this "service",
it works by the first email. Otherwise encryption will start after you have exchanged some emails.


Technically your email client will automatically
* prepare for this by creating a crypto key for you and uploading it to your provider
  (or second best to public keyservers).
* sign all emails so others see that you are ready for crypto (unless you opt out)
* ask the mail provider of your recipients for their pubkeys.

An email-provider supporting privacy can
* provide a pubkey for users via ~HT~TPS, called "web key directory" (WKD).
* allow each user's email client to automatically
  manage the pubkey that gets published by email, called "web key service" (WKS).
* (if offering web-based email:) support the client part as well.