New and Emerging Specs & Standards (June 2023)

ISO/TS 32003:2023 Document management — Portable Document Format — Adding support of AES-GCM in PDF 2.0
Technical Committee: ISO/TC 171/SC 2 Document file formats, EDMS systems and authenticity of information

“This document specifies how to extend the specification contained in ISO 32000-2 by adding extensions to the Encrypt dictionary to support the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) encryption algorithm. These extensions are intended for developers of: software that creates PDF files (PDF writers); software that reads existing PDF files and (usually) interprets their contents for display (PDF readers); software that reads and displays PDF content and interacts with the computer users to possibly modify and save the PDF file (interactive PDF processors) and PDF products that read and/or write PDF files for a variety of other purposes (PDF processors). NOTE: PDF writers and PDF readers are more specialized classifications of interactive PDF processors and all are PDF processors. This document does not specify the following: specific processes for converting paper or electronic documents to the PDF file format; specific technical design, user interface implementation, or operational details of rendering; specific physical methods of storing these documents such as media and storage conditions; methods for validating the conformance of PDF files or PDF processors; or required computer hardware and/or operating system.”

ISO 4669-1:2023 Document management — Information classification, marking and handling — Part 1: Requirements
Technical Committee: ISO/TC 171/SC 1 Quality, preservation and integrity of information

“This document specifies requirements for information classification, marking and handling (ICMH). This document also defines how such information can be accessed by users, both inside and outside the organization, who own the information. This document is applicable to, but not limited to, the following: a) organizations of any size that create, store, share or otherwise process information; b) individuals who create, store, share or otherwise process information; c) individuals with responsibilities for document management, information governance and management, information security, data protection, privacy and/or compliance; and d) organizations that create, provide or support tools that enable a) to c). This document addresses information that can be understood by humans and is capable of being shared. Throughout this document such information is referred to as an “information asset” regardless of its media or format. NOTE: Information assets can include structured information, unstructured information, text, pictures and audio/video recordings, i.e. anything that contains information, including information that is derived from databases and turned into a tangible asset.”

ISO/IEC 29134:2023 Information technology — Security techniques — Guidelines for privacy impact assessment
Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection
“This document gives guidelines for: a process on privacy impact assessments, and a structure and content of a PIA report. It is applicable to all types and sizes of organizations, including public companies, private companies, government entities and not-for-profit organizations. This document is relevant to those involved in designing or implementing projects, including the parties operating data processing systems and services that process PII.”

Unlocking the Power of CLDR Person Name Formatting: A Solution for Formatting Names in a Globalized World [Unicode blog]
“How a person’s name is displayed and used can convey respect, familiarity, or even be interpreted as rude if used improperly. That’s why it’s important to format names correctly, especially because naming practices vary across the globe. In many cultures, names can indicate gender, status, birthplace, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and more. Until now, there have been no good standards for how to format people’s names in various contexts. A number of Unicode members wanted to address this problem and provide a mechanism that anyone could use to format people’s names in a wide variety of applications, such as contact lists, air travel, billing applications, CRMs, social media, and any other application that asks for user information and presents it back to the user or others. The Unicode® Person Name Formats defines patterns used to take a person’s name and format it correctly in a given language or locale depending on a chosen context. With the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR), locale codes and name sequences can be selected to create a specific pattern for formatting a person’s name — including preferences for formal, informal, or abbreviated versions. As a result, designers and developers can correctly display names according to the user’s native locale and culture, especially important when integrating names in different character scripts, such as Japanese, Chinese, or Russian.”

EPUB 3.3 becomes a W3C Recommendation [W3C]
“The EPUB 3 Working Group has published EPUB 3.3, EPUB Reading Systems 3.3 and EPUB Accessibility 1.1 as W3C Recommendations, as part of the Digital Publishing activity. EPUB defines a distribution and interchange format for digital publications and documents. The EPUB format provides a means of representing, packaging, and encoding structured and semantically enhanced web content — including HTML, CSS, SVG, and other resources — for distribution in a single-file container. The content specification, which is what publishers, creators, or authors are really interested in, is now separate from the reading system specification that is of primary interest for implementers only. Editorial changes made the documents more readable. Accessibility of EPUB publications was an essential part of the group’s activity. As a result, the EPUB Accessibility specification has been updated and, for the first time in the history of EPUB, is now an integral part of the EPUB Standard. Furthermore, the EPUB Accessibility specification is compatible with the European Accessibility Act whose influence will be significant on Digital Publishing in the years to come.”

Metadata & Collections Section and ICOLC Release Joint Statement on the Metadata Rights of Libraries [ALA Core]
“The Core Metadata & Collections Section and ICOLC have released a joint statement urging “all organizations, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, to uphold libraries’ rights and interests to use, re-use, adapt, aggregate, and share metadata that describes library collections to serve the public interest, without restriction or limitation.“ (ICOLC’s original statement is available.)