Heather Flanagan

Heather Flanagan

@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Digital identity & standards geek | Principal @ Spherical Cow Consulting šŸ„ | Blogger, speaker, and cat herder of the Internetā€™s geekiest corners | Might be obsessed with knitting, spinning, weaving, and trashy romance novels | Intrepid world traveler

373 followers388 following343 posts

Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

WIMSE has gotten a lot more interesting. Workload identity is now running into AI agents, delegation, authorization, attestation, discovery, and cross-domain trust. Hereā€™s what the IETF group is buildingā€”and why itā€™s worthā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comWIMSE is Where Workload Identity is GettingĀ InterestingLearn why workload identity is becoming increasingly important as cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, and AI agents interact across organizational boundaries. The WIMSE working group at the IETF is developing ways to communicate workload identities and security contexts across environments, building on existing standards rather than creating an entirely new identity framework. This episode explores workload authentication, cryptographic proof, delegation, attestation, and discovery, while examining how AI agents complicate trust and authorization. Discover why proving what a workload is differs from deciding what it can do, and how standards work is addressing these emerging challenges.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

AI standards are starting to form a stack. W3C and IETF efforts cover different pieces: content disclosure, AI usage preferences, bot authentication, agent permissions, Web capabilities, and identity. The bigger risk may be incompatible assumptions between adjacentā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comW3C, IETF, and the Emerging Shape of AIĀ StandardsHeather examines the growing landscape of AI standards at the W3C and IETF, exploring how different groups address content disclosure, AI content preferences, automated client authentication, agent capabilities, and identity. Although these efforts may appear to overlap, they often tackle distinct problems at different layers of web and Internet architecture. This episode explores why clear standards boundaries and coordination matter as AI systems become more interconnected. Heather considers the risks of incompatible assumptions between protocols and explains why interoperability, rather than one universal AI protocol, will be essential to building a coherent ecosystem.

Heather Flanagan reposted

rsalz
@rsalz.ioc.exchange.ap.brid.gy

Outstanding resource on what SDOs are doing in the AI agents space: https://github.com/frmoretto/agentic-standards-map

github.comGitHub - frmoretto/agentic-standards-map: Who is standardising agentic commerce, where, and what they have committed to next. 59 dated, sourced entries, four seams and a calendar. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23357361Who is standardising agentic commerce, where, and what they have committed to next. 59 dated, sourced entries, four seams and a calendar. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23357361 - frmoretto/agentic-standards-map
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Two standards efforts, two very different ideas about AI agent discovery. I compare W3C Agent Protocol and IETF DAWN: overlap, architectural boundaries, and the risks of trying to solve too much at once. https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/10/13/two-approaches-to-ai-agent-discovery/

sphericalcowconsulting.comTwo Approaches to AI AgentĀ DiscoveryHeather explores two emerging approaches to AI agent discovery: the W3C AI Agent Protocol Community Group and the proposed IETF Discovery of Agents with Names (DAWN) Working Group. She examines how their scopes differ, from broad agent architecture and capabilities to the narrower problem of finding an AI resource. This episode considers why discovery is more than search, and why boundaries matter. Heather examines what information discovery should reveal, how identity and trust fit into the architecture, and whether narrower standards may ultimately be easier to reuse and build upon.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

OAuth is being stress-tested by agents, delegated authority, proof-of-possession, and richer context. The interesting question isnā€™t which new draft wins. Itā€™s where OAuth should draw its boundaries. My latest:ā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comOAuth Is Asking What Authorization Needs toĀ BecomeLearn why OAuth is being pushed to reconsider what authorization needs to become as software grows more autonomous. Heather examines recent OAuth working group discussions around proof of possession, HTTP message signatures, threat models, and the architectural question of where software identity should live. The episode explores how agentic AI complicates delegated authorization, particularly when multiple software actors, permissions, and contexts are involved. Heather considers whether OAuth needs new extensions or whether some problems belong elsewhere, and why defining clear boundaries may matter more than creating another protocol.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

You do not need to know everything about the Web platform to be a good W3C TAG member. You do need depth somewhere, curiosity beyond it, W3C experience, Process knowledge, time, funding, and an employer who understands that ā€œdo it on top of your day jobā€ is not support. I wrote about what itā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comWhat Itā€™s Actually Like to Serve on the W3CĀ TAGEvery so often, I talk to someone who would probably make a very good member of the W3C Technical Architecture Group and discover that they have never seriously considered running. Sometimes they assume the TAG is mostly for browser engineers. Sometimes they think they do not know enough about the Web platform. Sometimes they have no idea what the work actually involves.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

A wallet can be standards-compliant. A verifier can be standards-compliant. The transaction can still be a mess. I'm learning to really dislike "interoperability." The RP has to deal with browsers, operating systems, wallet behavior, credential formats, trust decisions, fallback, and all theā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comThe Verifier Has an Interoperability ProblemĀ TooIn this episode, Heather examines the gap between technical interoperability and real-world digital identity deployment. Wallets and verifiable credentials may successfully exchange information, but relying parties must navigate different wallets, browsers, operating systems, credential formats, trust models, and failure states. This episode explores why interoperability must include the full customer experience, not just protocol conformance. Heather considers the growing role of intermediaries, APIs, and verification platforms in absorbing complexity, while asking what happens to trust, privacy, correlation, and governance when another layer enters the identity transaction.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Wallets can be mandated into existence. Good verifier experiences canā€™t. The question I keep coming back to: when an RP accepts a digital credential, what old process actually disappears? If the answer is ā€œnone,ā€ the carrot still isnā€™tā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comSomeone Still Has to Accept theĀ CredentialDiscover how digital wallets and verifiable credentials are moving from pilots into real-world adoption, while revealing a critical gap: someone still has to accept the credential. Heather examines the verifierā€™s perspective, particularly as regulation accelerates digital identity adoption across Europe. This episode explores why compliance alone is not enough to create meaningful value. Heather considers how credentials could reduce manual review, fraud, data retention, and onboarding friction, while improving customer experience. The key question is simple: when a credential arrives, what old process goes away?
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Which identity conference should you attend? I made a field guide to RSAC, Identiverse, EIC, ID4Africa, IIW, Authenticate & The Identity Salonā€”what each is good for, who should go, and when your travel budget is better spent elsewhere. Not a ranking. A decisionā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comA Field Guide to Identity Conferences: Which One Should YouĀ Attend?Discover how identity conferences can help practitioners stay current on digital identity, emerging standards, regulation, cybersecurity, and the challenges organizations are preparing to solve. Heather examines why choosing the right event matters when budgets, travel, and time are limited, and why there is no single best conference for everyone. This episode explores how to match conferences to your goals, whether you need enterprise identity insight, European policy perspectives, authentication expertise, or longer-term architectural thinking. Heather also considers what recordings miss: the informal conversations, unexpected connections, and human network that make conference attendance valuable.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

A standards process can be public and still be hard to understand. Better structured process data could help people answer: What matters? How mature is it? Whoā€™s involved? Whereā€™s the discussion? Do I need to care yet? Some thoughts on transparency beyondā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comStandards Transparency: Public Isnā€™t the Same asĀ UnderstandableHeather examines why making standards information public is not enough to make the work understandable. This episode explores the growing challenge of navigating specifications, document status, provenance, working group activity, and related standards across digital identity, AI, security, privacy, and other overlapping technical domains. Learn how structured standards data, APIs, and AI tools can make research more efficient without replacing human judgment. Heather explains why better transparency means making process context accessible, so implementers, architects, policymakers, researchers, and analysts can make informed decisions without years of institutional knowledge.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Keeping Up With Standards Without Pretending You Can KeepĀ Up Heather explores why keeping up with standards development does not mean tracking everything. This episode looks at how a lightweight standards radar can surface emerging work across digital identity, AI, authorization, credentials, andā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comKeeping Up With Standards Without Pretending You Can KeepĀ UpHeather explores why keeping up with standards development does not mean tracking everything. This episode looks at how a lightweight standards radar can surface emerging work across digital identity, AI, authorization, credentials, and related technologies, while recognizing that new ideas appear far faster than any individual can follow. Discover how automation, structured public data, and human judgment can work together to identify what deserves closer attention. Heather explains why Internet-Drafts provide signals rather than certainty, how context reveals momentum, and why useful awarenessā€”not perfect completenessā€”is the more realistic goal.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Very happy to be writing for KuppingerCole. I have my own blog, but KC gives me a chance to reach a broader slice of the identity world. This one is about why identity governance is starting to stretch well beyond people and accounts: www.kuppingercole.com/blog/guest/w...

kuppingercole.comWhy Identity Governance Is Expanding Beyond IdentityI was talking with a colleague recently about governance, and somewhere in the conversation, we realized we were using the same word to describe two very different problems. ...

Heather Flanagan reposted

Brian Kardell
@bkardell.com

In the video I show a small library which you can play with that makes it very easy and declarative to progressively enhance your apps/sites... We'd love feedback. The main feature is in Canary behind experimental web platform features and it should be in stable in weeks github.com/bkardell/wor...

github.comgithub.com
Brian Kardell@bkardell.com

5 minutes to explain why the web needs our proposal to enhance spell checking on the web... youtu.be/TfFIC4Ookxo?...

youtu.beEnhanced Spell Checking on the WebYouTube video by Igalia
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

After IETF 126, Iā€™m thinking about what one standards contributor can still do when geopolitics gets bigger than the room. The answer is not heroic: participate thoughtfully, read proposals for what they enable, name the assumptions, and keep asking what kind of Internet this helps create. Stillā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comStaying Useful in a Geopolitical Internet: Reflections from IETFĀ 126Learn why nation state politics are increasingly shaping technical standards and the future of the Internet. Drawing on reflections from IETF 126, Heather examines how regulatory pressure, geopolitical interests, and competing views of privacy, security, openness, and interoperability can influence standards development and individual contributors. Explore how to participate thoughtfully when larger forces enter the standards process. Heather considers practical ways to evaluate proposals beyond who submits them, recognize patterns, question architectural assumptions, and protect global interoperability while acknowledging legitimate policy concerns and the real harms the Internet can create.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Technical standards are not party politics. But they are political. They define who can interoperate, who can be observed, who gets priority, and what assumptions get baked into infrastructure. ā€œOpen and neutralā€ was never value-free. That does not make it wrong. It means we should be honestā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comTechnical Standards Were Never OutsideĀ PoliticsHeather explores why technical standards have never been truly separate from politics, even when they remain nonpartisan. This episode examines how choices around interoperability, privacy, security, and user needs embed values into Internet standards, influencing trust, authority, and the relationships between people, institutions, and technology. Learn how standards bodies navigate issues such as end-to-end encryption, age assurance, surveillance, and global interoperability without becoming legislatures. Heather explains why making architectural values explicit strengthens technical credibility and helps standards communities respond to the growing pressures of regulation, governance, and digital policy.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

ICYMI: I have an audioblog. If ā€œI would like more thoughts about digital identity, standards, governance, and AI agents, but I would also like to stop looking at screensā€ sounds familiar, this is for you. A Digital Identity Digest: the blog for your ears sphericalcowconsulting.com/digital-iden...

sphericalcowconsulting.comA Digital Identity DigestLatest Episode All Episodes About the Podcast A Digital Identity Digest is an audio companion to my weekly blog. It provides clear, accessible summaries of timely identity topics, helping busy profā€¦
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Take the Selfie Heather examines why a simple conference selfie can become one of the most meaningful records of your professional life. Rather than posting for social media, she explores how preserving moments with colleagues, collaborators, and mentors helps capture the relationships that shapeā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comTake the SelfieHeather examines why a simple conference selfie can become one of the most meaningful records of your professional life. Rather than posting for social media, she explores how preserving moments with colleagues, collaborators, and mentors helps capture the relationships that shape careers and strengthen professional communities. Discover how thoughtful conference etiquette, privacy, and consent fit alongside authentic networking and lasting connections. This episode reflects on memory, digital identity, and the people behind the work, offering a reminder that some of the most valuable professional moments are worth preserving, even if they never become public.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Good research is not just collecting links. It means tracking sources, verifying details, checking databases, testing claims, doing awkward cold outreach when public material runs out, and knowing when AI is usefulā€”and when it is absolutely not the authority. New post on researching defensibleā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comHow to Research a Defensible Paper Without Drowning inĀ SourcesIn this episode, Heather explores a practical framework for researching complex technology topics and building recommendations that stand up to scrutiny. From defining the right research question to evaluating academic literature, institutional reports, and real-world implementation, she explains how disciplined research creates stronger strategic decisions. Learn how source verification, outreach, structured evidence tracking, and thoughtful use of AI can strengthen research without replacing human judgment. Whether you're writing policy papers, standards proposals, or strategic recommendations, these methods help produce credible, transparent, and defensible work grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

The Identity Salon started, as many things do, over Scotch. I wrote about why weā€™re building a space for senior identity practitioners to talk candidly about the problems coming in the next 5ā€“7 years, what happens behind the curtain, and why DNS is apparently part of the job now.

sphericalcowconsulting.comThe Identity Salon: Five-Year Problems, Chatham House Notes, and DNSĀ NonsenseDiscover how the Identity Salon creates a high trust, vendor neutral space for senior identity practitioners to explore the five to seven year challenges shaping digital identity. Heather shares why forward looking conversations matter and how candid discussion can surface architectural assumptions before they become operational problems. Explore how identity proofing, digital wallets, AI agents, governance, delegation, and security architecture increasingly intersect. This episode offers a behind the scenes look at building the Identity Salon, producing Chatham House Rule reports, and creating sustainable conversations that help enterprise identity leaders prepare for what comes next.

Heather Flanagan reposted

Menestune
@menestune.bsky.social

This starfish has a great view of the #sunrise on a beach on the north Oregon coast. #nature #love #marinelife #pnw #beach #seastar #photography #goodmorning #Oregon #nokings

Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Governance means something. It just does not always mean the same thing. In IGA, governance usually means access decisions, approvals, reviews, and audit evidence. In AI, it means governing the behavior and impact of a sociotechnical system. When AI starts helping with IGA, both meanings matter.

Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Standards processes need appeals, objections, and ways to challenge decisions. But when those same tools are used to exhaust people, delay work, or make participation unsafe, the process stops protecting the work. New post: When Process Stops Protecting the Work

sphericalcowconsulting.comWhen Process Stops Protecting theĀ WorkHeather explores the fine line between healthy dissent and procedural obstruction in standards development, examining how appeals, objections, and governance processes can strengthen collaborationā€”or slowly undermine it. This episode considers why protecting fairness also requires protecting the people doing the technical work. Learn how process abuse affects standards organizations, contributor participation, and technical decision-making. Heather discusses practical ways to document recurring patterns, support chairs and editors, and preserve constructive disagreement without allowing procedural conflict to overwhelm progress or discourage future contributors.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Choosing a Discovery Mechanism Is the HardĀ Part Heather examines why choosing the right discovery mechanism is one of the most challenging aspects of digital identity architecture. This episode explores how DNS, well-known URIs, registries, and catalogs each solve different discovery problems, andā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comChoosing a Discovery Mechanism Is the HardĀ PartHeather examines why choosing the right discovery mechanism is one of the most challenging aspects of digital identity architecture. This episode explores how DNS, well-known URIs, registries, and catalogs each solve different discovery problems, and why understanding trust, authority, and governance must come before selecting infrastructure. Discover how discovery mechanisms shape privacy, delegation, authorization, and system behavior. Heather explains why successful digital identity design depends on asking the right architectural questions first, ensuring discovery supports the correct level of trust, governance, and secure action across modern distributed systems.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

When Discovery Starts TakingĀ Action Discover how discovery is evolving from simply finding information to enabling automated action across AI agents, digital identity systems, and distributed services. This episode explores why capability discovery, metadata, and governance have become essentialā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comWhen Discovery Starts TakingĀ ActionDiscover how discovery is evolving from simply finding information to enabling automated action across AI agents, digital identity systems, and distributed services. This episode explores why capability discovery, metadata, and governance have become essential as software increasingly discovers, selects, and invokes resources on our behalf. Learn how service discovery, Model Context Protocol (MCP), authorization, and trust frameworks shape secure automation. Heather explains why discovery is no longer just a technical lookup, but a critical part of identity, policy, and decision-making in modern digital ecosystems.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

The Digital Life We Forgot WeĀ Had Examine the growing challenge of managing the digital lives we accumulate over time. From forgotten accounts and subscriptions to digital estate planning and account recovery, this episode explores how personal identity data becomes increasingly difficult toā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comThe Digital Life We Forgot WeĀ HadExamine the growing challenge of managing the digital lives we accumulate over time. From forgotten accounts and subscriptions to digital estate planning and account recovery, this episode explores how personal identity data becomes increasingly difficult to discover, manage, and access as our online relationships expand. Discover why account discovery, digital inheritance, password managers, and legacy access tools are only partial solutions. This episode highlights the security, privacy, and governance challenges of personal digital identity, and why recovering and understanding our digital footprint may become one of the most important identity management issues of the future.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Off to Las Vegas for Identiverse. I should be saying something fun and uplifting, but Iā€™m mostly tired from wrangling content for 170 amazing sessions. I got to review so much in advance, which is a privilege. The tradeoff is that I rarely get to attend sessions onsite.

Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Identity Discovery Is More Than Finding the LoginĀ Button "In the first post in this series, I framed discovery as a broader systems problem." The challenge is not simply that search engines need to be better....

sphericalcowconsulting.comIdentity Discovery Is More Than Finding the LoginĀ Button"In the first post in this series, I framed discovery as a broader systems problem." The challenge is not simply that search engines need to be better. Search is useful for public, indexed information, but discovery reaches much further than that. It is about how people and systems determine what exists, where it lives, whether it is relevant, whether it is usable, and whether it should be visible in the first place.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Discovery is not just search. It is how people and systems find information, accounts, credentials, endpoints, and authority across an increasingly fragmented internet. This post starts a new series on why that matters.

sphericalcowconsulting.comThe Discovery Problem Is Bigger ThanĀ SearchHeather explores why discovery is a much broader challenge than search, especially in digital identity, information management, and emerging AI ecosystems. Drawing on recent discussions and research, this episode examines how people find, evaluate, and trust information scattered across accounts, platforms, credentials, and services. Learn how information overload, filtering, governance, and AI-powered tools shape modern discovery experiences. This episode highlights the difference between finding information and understanding what is relevant, trustworthy, and accessible, while exploring why discovery has become a critical architecture, trust, and user experience challenge.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Consensus is great when it works. But standards work also needs a path for serious disagreement. Appeals, Formal Objections, and similar processes are not failures by default. They are how standards bodies make room for review when consensus breaks. Time to talk about the less-than-happy path!

sphericalcowconsulting.comAppeals Are NotĀ FailuresHeather explores why appeals and formal objections are not failures in Internet standards development. This episode examines how consensus-based organizations like the W3C and IETF handle serious technical disagreement, why governance processes matter, and how standards groups balance collaboration, transparency, and accountability during difficult decisions. Through practical insights on consensus, formal objections, and appeals processes, Heather explains how working group chairs and contributors can manage conflict constructively. The discussion highlights documentation, procedural fairness, and why structured disagreement can ultimately strengthen digital identity standards, technical governance, and long-term interoperability efforts.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Identity conferences discuss wallets, proofing, AI, and future trust models. Many organizations are still dealing with duplicate accounts, legacy systems, and unclear ownership. This post is about why identity maturity is uneven, and why practical progress matters more than generic advice.

sphericalcowconsulting.comIdentity Is Not theĀ ProductLearn why many organizations struggle to prioritize digital identity, even when identity systems are critical to security, trust, and operations. This episode explores the growing gap between advanced identity industry discussions and the practical realities facing sectors like publishing, healthcare, research, and higher education. Understand how identity architecture, proofing, governance, and reusable credentials are often secondary to operational pressures and business priorities. This episode highlights why successful identity adoption depends on solving immediate problems first, while still building toward stronger long-term identity management and digital trust strategies.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Wallet and digital credential adoption is accelerating through regulation, mobile IDs, and age assurance laws. That does not mean the market is mature. Standards remain unsettled, ROI is uneven, and trust models are still forming. Here's my latest take on what comes next.

sphericalcowconsulting.comWallets and Credentials Are Here. Maturity IsĀ Not.Discover how digital identity wallets and verifiable credentials are moving from theory into real-world infrastructure, even as standards and implementation models remain unsettled. This episode explores the critical distinction between wallets and credentials, and why confusion between them continues to slow meaningful progress. Gain insight into evolving standards, interoperability challenges, and the impact of government regulation on digital identity adoption. This episode highlights why enterprise use cases remain uncertain, how platform providers shape user choice, and why usability, trust, and operational maturity will determine success.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Identity Systems Donā€™t MakeĀ Decisions Heather examines why identity systems do not actually make decisions on their own, and how enterprise security outcomes emerge from fragmented, distributed processes. By unpacking how identity, risk, and policy tools interact, this episode reframes modernā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comIdentity Systems Donā€™t MakeĀ DecisionsHeather examines why identity systems do not actually make decisions on their own, and how enterprise security outcomes emerge from fragmented, distributed processes. By unpacking how identity, risk, and policy tools interact, this episode reframes modern identity architecture as a complex decision-making environment. Explore how deterministic systems, integration gaps, and inconsistent data interpretation affect access control decisions. This episode highlights why AI and automation increase risk without clear governance, and why organizations must better define decision logic, accountability, and system interactions to ensure consistent, explainable identity and security outcomes.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

What the AI Vendor Landscape Reveals About Fragmented IdentityĀ Systems Heather explores how the AI vendor landscape reveals deeper challenges in fragmented identity systems and enterprise security architecture. By examining how tools function across identity, signals, policy, and enforcementā€¦

sphericalcowconsulting.comWhat the AI Vendor Landscape Reveals About Fragmented IdentityĀ SystemsHeather explores how the AI vendor landscape reveals deeper challenges in fragmented identity systems and enterprise security architecture. By examining how tools function across identity, signals, policy, and enforcement layers, this episode reframes AI not as a feature but as part of a broader decision-making ecosystem. Understand why distributed decision systems create complexity, how probabilistic AI outputs impact governance, and what questions matter when evaluating identity and security tools. This episode highlights the risks of poor integration, the limits of automation, and the importance of designing systems that produce explainable, consistent access decisions.

Heather Flanagan reposted

Center for Democracy & Technology
@cdt.org

NEW BLOG: From CDTā€™s Nick Doty, ā€œDistributing the Keys for Private Access to the Web.ā€ Every lock needs a key ā€“ but encrypted DNS and Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) only work if users can obtain the configurations that enable them.

cdt.orgDistributing the Keys for Private Access to the WebBreaking the DNS Dependencych-22" class="toc-anchor">ECHā€™s Catch-22thing-strange-in-the-dns" href="#something-strange-in-the-dns" class="toc-anchor">Something Strange in the DNS use it. Thatā€™s the fundamental challenge facing encrypted DNS and Encrypted Client Hello (ECH). These protocols can protect your browsing from prying eyes, but only if you can first obtain the cryptographic configurations that make them work. In places like China, censors have [ā€¦]
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

Your talk was accepted. Excellent. Now you get to navigate the *abundance* of advice on how to prepare. A few practical tips on what actually matters and how not to make things harder than they need to be.

sphericalcowconsulting.comMy Talk Was Accepted ā€” Now What? A Practical Guide for ConferenceĀ SpeakersHeather explores what to do after a conference talk is accepted, from reading the speaker agreement to planning travel, using the slide template, and choosing a clear presentation approach. She also explains why focus, rehearsal, and audience fit matter for a strong conference talk. This episode offers practical guidance for conference speakers on preparation, delivery, and event participation. It covers common mistakes to avoid, ways to reduce nerves, and how to make your presentation useful, polished, and easy for audiences to follow.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

ā€œThink of the children!ā€ is a powerful argument. But building age verification into the internet raises real questions for privacy and identity systems. I took a closer look at where age assurance stands today.

sphericalcowconsulting.comAge Assurance on the Internet: Identity, Privacy, and the Limits ofĀ VerificationThis episode explores age assurance on the internet, where digital identity, privacy, and policy collide. Heather explains why age verification, age estimation, and age assurance are not the same, and why platforms, regulators, and standards bodies are all converging on this complex problem. Discover how current approaches range from self-reported birth dates to cryptographic credentials and browser-level checks. The episode highlights the trade-offs between accuracy, data minimization, interoperability, and security, and why protecting minors online can reshape identity infrastructure across the web.
Heather Flanagan
@sphericalcowconsulting.com

I am the adultiest adult to ever have adulted. Annual exam AND dental appointment all in one day! Wooooo! I am now going to go back to avoiding acting like a grown-up for the rest of the day. Neener neener!