Difference between revisions of "Duty of Care"

Latest revision as of 22:45, 13 August 2025

Definition

Toward a Universal Duty of Care for Human Private Information

Getting to a global “duty of care” for human private information means reimagining digital trust as a civic and ethical infrastructure—not just a technical one. Here's how we might build toward it:

Context

1. Redefine Privacy as a Human Right**

- Anchor privacy in **international human rights law**, akin to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. - Recognize **intentional data acts** (like signing, sharing, or withholding) as expressions of agency—not just transactions.

1. Embed Accountability in Digital Systems**

- Shift from passive data collection to **intentional data exchange**, where every message is an authored event (echoing your Intentional Theory). - Use **verifiable credentials** and **decentralized identifiers** to ensure traceability and authorship. - Adopt **cryptographic proofs** to enforce consent and provenance at the protocol level.

1. Codify Ethical Governance**

- Implement **binding codes of conduct** for apps and platforms, like the CARIN Code of Conduct used in health data ecosystems. - Require **third-party audits** and **public registries** of data practices, similar to trust registries or MCP authorization flows.

1. Educate and Empower Users**

- Promote **data literacy** so individuals understand what’s collected, how it’s used, and how to opt out. - Build **agentic interfaces** that let users express intent, not just consent—like selective disclosure via OpenID4VP or SIOPv2.

1. Align Incentives Across Sectors**

- Encourage **ethical design** through funding, regulation, and public procurement. - Penalize deceptive data practices (like browser spoofing or unauthorized scraping) as breaches of duty—Cloudflare’s recent action against Perplexity is a case in point.

1. Create a Global Trust Framework**

- Develop **interoperable standards** (e.g., W3C Verifiable Credentials) that embed duty of care into the fabric of digital identity. - Foster **cross-border agreements** that harmonize privacy protections and enforcement.

This isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a moral one. The goal is to move from **data as commodity** to **data as relationship**, where every interaction carries ethical weight.

Duties

The five Fiduciary duties are:

1. Duty of loyalty: Fiduciaries must act in good faith and put the interests of the business or corporation first, above their own personal interests.
2. Duty of Care: Fiduciaries accept legal responsibility for the care they provide.
3. Duty of confidentiality: Fiduciaries must keep confidential any information that could weaken the principal's bargaining position.
4. Duty of good faith: Fiduciaries must act with honesty, good faith, and fairness when handling corporate obligations.
5. Duty of obedience: Fiduciaries must carry out the organization's mission.

Duty of Care Protocol

Layered Trust Architecture

1. Identity & Provenance Layer
   1. Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs): Anchor individuals and systems to cryptographically verifiable IDs.
   2. Verifiable Credentials (VCs): Enable assertions of claims (e.g., consent, role, intention) with auditability.
   3. Intent Signaling Mechanisms: Capture real-time user intent, not just passive consent (e.g. OpenID4VP or SIOPv2 interactions).
2. Intent & Access Control Layer
   1. Dynamic Authorization Flows: Use protocols like MCP with session binding (see SEP-1299) to reflect live user intention.
   2. Selective Disclosure: Let individuals choose exactly what to share, when, and with whom—down to the attribute level.
   3. Contextual Integrity Checks: Enforce proper data use based on social norms (Helen Nissenbaum’s framework).
3. Audit & Oversight Layer
   1. Trust Registries: Register credential issuers and verifiers to ensure accountability (e.g. trustregistry.us).
   2. Audit Trails & Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Log actions without compromising privacy.
   3. Federated Watchdogs: Cross-border compliance mechanisms using verifiable logs and dispute resolution.
4. Ethics & Governance Layer
   1. Civic Contracts: Establish shared agreements between digital citizens and platforms about data rights and responsibilities.
   2. AI Stewardship Models: Integrate agentic systems with values-aligned data guardianship principles.
   3. Transparency Mandates: Embed explainer interfaces and public documentation of algorithmic use and data flows.

This protocol leans on both technical rigor and moral reasoning—envisioning digital identity not just as an access credential, but a vessel of care, trust, and responsibility.

References