⚕️Ethos

A description of the Shade Protocol ethos of digital sovereignty.

The Ethos of Digital Self-Sovereignty

In the digital world, human beings occupy space with digital representations of their physical-world information. When viewed separately, these digital representations can be readily dismissed as merely random collections of digital assets. However, when examined as a whole, these same representations reveal themselves to be extensions of a person’s digital self-sovereign identity.

Moreover, as these two worlds, the digital and the physical, continue to merge into one space, this digital identity has become more commonly used as a primary means of validation and verification of a person’s digital and physical existence. Therefore, the primary rights of ownership for this digital form of identity must be safeguarded and protected in the same manner, and with the same level of importance, as is typically observed with individual identity in the physical world.

It is for this reason that the ethos of digital self-sovereignty is at the center of Shade Protocol governance for the communities' consideration and adoption into the standard governance framework. Additionally, this is where privacy as a human right is intimately intertwined with the right to digital self-sovereignty.

The following are the four primary rights of digital self-sovereignty:

• Digital Privacy

• Digital Independence

• Digital Transparency

• Global Financial Access

Primary Rights of Digital Self-Sovereignty

The Right to Digital Privacy

Digital privacy means that people are the sole owners of their own digital property and they inherently possess immutable authority over the use of that property. As owners, they have full right of control over the “why”, “when”, “where”, and “how” their digital assets are accessed. Digital privacy also involves an individual’s ability to maintain control of their digital property when interacting with any entity, system, or organization within a digital environment. Therefore, with every and any form of digital interaction, every person should have the expectation of privacy.

The Right to Digital Independence

Digital independence is the ability for individuals to interact freely with any entity, system, or organizations within the digital space. Centralized control of digital interactions is in direct conflict with the idea of digital independence. Within decentralized environments, there is no intermediary entity to serve as a central authority over the authenticity of digital relationships. Therefore, systematic decentralization must be promoted, propagated, and implemented throughout the digital world to ensure that the right to digital independence is fully available to every individual.

The Right to Digital Transparency

Digital transparency is the application of open, honest, and fair relationships between individuals, entities, systems, and/or organizations within a digital space. One can argue that transparency is required to secure trust between different parties in a digital-based relationship. However, a truly transparent digital relationship can actually eliminate the need for trust between parties; since each individual has the ability to confirm the validity of all interactions because all information about the shared relationship is openly available to all parties involved in the relationship.

The Right to Global Financial Access

Shade Protocol was created to empower individuals all over the world by giving them direct access to financial instruments, tools, and currencies that respect their right to privacy. Shade Protocol empowers financial sovereignty and freedom by giving users around the world permissionless access to decentralized finance regardless of their financial or socioeconomic status. If you have an internet connection and a crypto-wallet attached to Secret Network, then Shade Protocol and the respective financial primitives are openly available for you to use.