Subject: Re: q re binding user id's and subkeys

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 08:11:19 -0700

Erron writes:
> Regarding 5.5.1.1 and 5.5.1.2; I am having a problem trying to understand 
> how one binds an encryption sub key to a particular user id and the top 
> level signing key?

You can't.

> There seems to be no information contained in a sub-key packet that can 
> link it to a user id. Also, the binding signature does not contain info 
> regarding a user id (nor the binding signatures subpackets).

That's right.

> By binding an encryption sub key to a primary signing key, you are binding 
> it to multiple user id's (if multiple user id's exist), however if user id 
> (a) wants to encrypt data using sub-key (b) and user id (b) wants to 
> encrypt data using sub-key (a), where do you actually make the bind?

There is no way to express this in OpenPGP.

Hal

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From: Erron Criddle <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 11:24:58 +0800

Hal,

> > how one binds an encryption sub key to a particular user id and the top

<snip>

>There is no way to express this in OpenPGP.

Would it be hard to express that in OpenPGP? Can a signature subkey be 
added that specifies the top level id that should be linked to the subkey? 
Accordingly, if the subkey is bound to all upper level id's (as is the case 
now) then the signature subkey would simply be left blank.

If this cannot be done then I would assume that if you want different 
encryption keys for various user id's /alias's, then you would have to 
create two separate private keyrings that use different signing keys as 
well...or can you do this somehow using the same signing key?

Regards

Erron Criddle
Comasp Ltd.
Level 2, 45 Stirling Hwy
NEDLANDS  WA  6009

Fax: 08 9386 9473
Tel: 08 9386 9534

http://www.comasp.com
[email-masked]