Ep #13: Identity, security and privacy - with digital identity pioneer, Eve Maler

Ep #13: Identity, security and privacy - with digital identity pioneer, Eve Maler

From Rule-Breakers by PROPYLON

March 23, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

Eve Maler discusses the evolution of digital identity and the shift towards user-managed access and authorization.

In this episode of Rule Breakers, Sean McGrath sits down with Eve Maler, a pioneer in digital identity and a long standing member of the XML community who was influential in shaping XML itself, based on her expertise in its predecessor SGML. Eve has accumulated decades of experience shaping the digital identity landscape, from her role in developing the XML-based SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) to today’s User Managed Access (UMA) OAuth extensions. Eve shares insights into why authorization—not identity—is now the frontier of innovation, and how emerging models empower users to define and manage access to their own data online. This episode is both a historical journey and glimpse into the frontier of digital identity where traditional person/role-centric authentication/authorisation meets fast moving world of autonomous Agentic AI.

People in this episode

Host: Sean McGrath

Guest: Eve Maler

Topics covered

  • identity
  • security
  • privacy
  • digital identity
  • authorization
  • data access

Keywords

  • SAML
  • XML
  • SGML
  • User Managed Access
  • OAuth
  • Agentic AI

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Rule Breakers

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