I'm working on a few projects at the moment that have me struggling to ensure we're considering the full slate of baseline infrastructure capabilities.
Juan Benet has proposed a set of 8 Digital Human Rights. They cover a lot of important ground. You can get the full download in this video, starting ~7:00.
I felt like they could use a bit of editing for clarity. As I was editing, I also realized there might be a missing 9th human right regarding "safety". Thus, I have arrived for now at the conclusion that all digital infrastructure must be open, secure, personal, independent, trustworthy, selective, resilient, portable and safe.
Would love your feedback.
I can share my thoughts, ideas, and work without needing permission — and without fear of censorship or erasure.
Technical Corollaries:
Content-addressable storage (e.g. IPFS)
Censorship-resistant publishing (e.g. peer replication, no single point of takedown, permissionless blockchains)
Signature-based authorship (e.g. Ed25519)
I can share, organize, and express myself without being tracked, recorded, or overheard.
Technical Corollaries:
End-to-end encryption (e.g. Noise Protocol, Double Ratchet)
Metadata minimization (e.g. oblivious routing, mixnets)
Ephemeral communication with no server storage
My files, messages, and memories belong to me. I decide who can see them — and I can take that access away at any time.
Technical Corollaries:
Local-first storage models (e.g. WNFS)
Capability-based access control (e.g. UCANs, ZCAP-LD)
Revocable, time-scoped, and minimal grants of access
Timestamped proof of custody or ownership (e.g. NFT metadata as a pointer to user-controlled data)
I use systems that link people and devices without needing companies, platforms, or governments in the middle.
Technical Corollaries:
Peer-to-peer networking (e.g. libp2p, WebRTC)
Overlay networks (e.g. WireGuard, Headscale)
Decentralized rendezvous and discovery (e.g. DHT, mDNS)
Public key infrastructure without central certificate authorities
I don’t have to guess or assume. Every action leaves a trail I can check for myself.
Technical Corollaries:
Signed logs / event sourcing (e.g. Merkle DAGs, transparency logs)
Verifiable credentials & attestations (e.g. DID + VC standards)
Reproducible builds and cryptographic audit trails
Append-only public ledgers
My information is private by default. Others only see what I choose to show — and only as much as they need.
Technical Corollaries:
Granular access delegation (e.g. CACAOs, UCANs)
Principle of least privilege enforced at the data layer
Encrypted blockstores with access via proxies or keys
Zero-knowledge proofs for selective disclosure
E.g. “I’m over 21” without revealing my birthday
E.g. “I earn over $50K” without revealing my salary
My systems keep working — even offline, under pressure, or outside the mainstream. They don’t break when someone says so.
Technical Corollaries:
Offline-first architecture with sync (e.g. CRDTs, IPFS)
Open protocols and standards (e.g. no vendor lock-in)
Redundant infrastructure, mesh routing, error tolerance
My identity moves with me. It’s under my control, not tied to any platform — and I decide who can use it.
Technical Corollaries:
Decentralized identifiers (DIDs)
Mnemonic-seeded cryptographic identity (e.g. BIP39 → keypair)
Non-custodial identity wallets / portable agent keyrings
I choose how others can reach me, interact with me, and affect my experience. My tools help me set limits, avoid harm, and stay in control.
Technical Corollaries:
Consent-based interaction models (e.g. request-to-contact, scoped delegation)
Local filtering and blocklists
Agent behavior transparency and override mechanisms
Rate-limiting, abuse detection, and feedback tooling built in