The W3C XML Encryption Working Group has released a first public working draft for XML Encryption Syntax and Processing. The formal model for syntax is provided in W3C XML Schema notation. The working draft "specifies a process for encrypting data and representing the result in XML. The data may be arbitrary data (including an XML document), an XML element, or XML element content. The result of encrypting data is an XML Encryption element which contains or references the cipher data. When encrypting an XML element or element content the EncryptedData element replaces the element or content (respectively) in the encrypted version of the XML document. When encrypting an entire XML document, the EncryptedData element may become the root of the new document. And when encrypting arbitrary data, the EncryptedData element may become the root of a new XML document or become a child element in an application-chosen XML document." An experimental namespace URI is provided: xmlns:enc='http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#'; the WD specification also makes use of the XML Signature namespace and its schema definitions, xmlns:ds='http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#'.

Bibliographic information: XML Encryption Syntax and Processing. Reference: W3C Working Draft 26-June-2001. Edited by Donald Eastlake and Joseph Reagle. Contributions from Takeshi Imamura, Blair Dillaway, Jim Schaad, Ed Simon. This version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xmlenc-core-20010626/. Latest version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlenc-core/. Draft is based on the 15-December-2000 Proposal.