Systems, methods, and software for authorizing an application in User Equipment (UE) for direct discovery. In one embodiment, an authorization mechanism receives information (e.g., application ID) for a discovery request sent by an application in a UE. In response to the discovery request, the authorization mechanism challenges the UE for information regarding security parameters that are mapped to the application ID. Based on the information provided by the UE, the authorization mechanism determines whether the application is authorized for direct discovery.