A Public Identity Credential (PIC) is the identity document held in your Aithne Wallet. It is issued to you once and remains yours — it never leaves the wallet.
How it's used
When a merchant asks for age proof, your wallet releases only an age claim backed by the PIC (see AAP for how that claim is created). The merchant, and the Aithne AVP, never receive the PIC itself or the identity behind it.
What "public" means here
It means the credential is tied to a claim about you (your age), not a secret you must re-enter. It is not "public" in the sense of being shared — it stays in your wallet.
Merchant-side
PPIL client hooks such as authenticatePIC give merchants a pseudonymous identifier derived from the credential — never the credential contents, name, or document data.