Identity and privacy
A participant can be verified without their identity being visible or attached to every report.
The design draws hard lines between four things that are often confused: identity verification, public participation identity, blockchain records and private personal data.
Architecture under review
Proposed architecture
How identity flows through RR
Each layer holds only what it needs, and passes on less than it holds.
Layer 01
Off-chain
Off-chain identity verification
Government-issued identification is checked through an approved verification provider or authorized institution. Sensitive identity documents remain off-chain.
Layer 02
Issued once
Verifiable credential
After successful verification, the participant receives a cryptographically verifiable credential.
Layer 03
Public-facing
Masked participant identifier
The user participates under a pseudonymous or masked identifier. Reports are linked to this identifier, not to a legal name.
Layer 04
Per interaction
Selective proof
The system verifies required facts — verified status, eligibility, uniqueness — without revealing unnecessary information.
Layer 05
Governed
Revocation and accountability
A credential may be suspended or revoked for confirmed abuse under a transparent policy, with a documented process for review.
Hard limits
What never goes on a public blockchain
This list is a constraint on the architecture, not a preference. If a design requires any of it, the design is wrong.
- Government ID number
- Passport image
- National ID image
- Full legal name
- Home address
- Phone number
- Biometric template
- Raw report photographs containing sensitive personal information
- Exact medical information
- Unredacted witness information
Narrow by design
Blockchain's limited role
Blockchain is an integrity tool here — never a public database of citizens or incidents. It may be used only for:
- Credential status proofs
- Tamper-evident audit records
- Report receipt hashes
- Reward accountability
- Governance records
- System-integrity checks
Exceptional disclosure
If identity is ever revealed, all of this must be true
Disclosure must never be available to ordinary users or to individual officials acting alone.
- A clearly defined legal basis
- Documented authorization
- Limited access
- Independent oversight
- Full audit logging
- Notification or appeal where legally possible
Privacy engineering is where RR needs partners most.
If you work on verifiable credentials, selective disclosure or privacy architecture, we want to design this with you.