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# Proposal for Wyoming Legislative Agenda in 2023/24
(proposed draft letter to Wyoming Legislators when the current legislative session ends)
Dear Wyoming Legislators,
First, I wanted to offer congratulations on the successful passage of HB0086 and SF0076 this session. I think the protection of private keys and the ability to register digital assets will improve on Wyoming's already strong foundation for digital assets and identity, and it's exciting enough that I've created some new attention for the work on Blockchain Commons' web pages: https://advocacy.blockchaincommons.com/.
I look forward to the new accomplishments of the next year, so I am writing to suggest some potential next steps for 2024. I believe that creating new defenses against violations of personal privacy and authority in the digital world could be a pragmatic advance to what you've already done. I believe that leveraging Agency Law and Laws of Custom offer the strongest framework for protecting digital identity, digital assets, and personal information.
For those of you who I haven't had the privilege of talking with at previous meetings, I am the Principal Architect and Executive Director of Blockchain Commons, a blockchain infrastructure development, research, and advocacy organization domiciled in Wyoming due to the state's digital asset and digital identity laws.
As a software security architect, I am the co-author of IETF TLS, the most widely deployed security standard in the world, and co-author of the W3C Decentralized Identity specification. I am also committed to advancing the concept of self-sovereignty in the digital world, including through advocacy for laws, policies, and regulations that support decentralized approaches to digital assets and identity.
Over the last five years, I have seen the influential work that the "Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology" has done to support the development of digital assets and blockchain technology in Wyoming and the world. I have been an active technical advisor to this committee and the Blockchain Task Force that preceded it, participating in various subcommittees related to digital assets, digital identity, blockchain technology, decentralized autonomous corporations, and online privacy.
I believe that we can improve the Committee's already influential work by prioritizing additional support for privacy protection in your upcoming agenda, for discussion in early 2023 with the aim of introducing new bills in the 2024 legislative session.
As a digital privacy advocate, I am deeply concerned about the challenges of protecting privacy rights in the digital age, especially given the rapid evolution of technology and personal data. Traditional legal frameworks for protecting privacy are often inadequate to address the complex and evolving challenges of privacy protection in the digital age.
One potential solution to these challenges is the use of Agency Law and Laws of Custom.
Agency Law is a legal framework that governs the relationships between principals and their agents. This includes the rights and duties of both parties, as well as the legal remedies available in the event of a breach of contract or fiduciary duty. In particular, Agency Law allows individuals and corporations to appoint agents to manage their assets, health, and other matters on their behalf. This approach to managing authority in the digital world could be particularly effective in the context of social networks, where individuals often feel pressure to reveal personal information and may not have the ability to control who has access to their information. Resolving disputes under Agency Law offers individuals and corporations more control over how their information is used and shared.
Laws of Custom, on the other hand, refer to the unwritten rules and norms that govern social interactions in a particular community. These customs often have the force of law and can be used to resolve disputes and establish standards of behavior.
There is a long-time Wyoming proverb that "good fences make good neighbors". This is based on the idea that individuals have a responsibility to respect each other's boundaries and to protect each other's privacy. This principle could be applied to the development of Laws of Custom in Wyoming to establish social norms and expectations around how personal information is shared and used in different digital contexts. Laws of Custom provide a more personalized and tailored approach to protecting privacy and authority by reflecting the specific needs and values of society and ensuring that they are respected and protected, which in turn helps individuals feel more comfortable and secure. This is particularly useful in cases where the legal framework for protecting privacy rights and authority is not well-developed, as is often the case with rapidly advancing technologies and business practices.
When Wyoming passed SF0039 in 2021, defining digital identity as having principal authority, that language suggested that digital identity could be interpreted under Agency Law. Thus this law offers a great foundation to further efforts to protect online privacy by leveraging more Agency Law and Laws of Custom.
In particular, I suggest a law in Wyoming that gives the state's Chancery Court jurisdiction over matters involving violations of digital identity under Agency Law (recognizing that fiduciary duties can be extended to any relationship between a beneficiary and a trustee, such as between a person possessing a digital identity and their agent who is delegated to use it). This would give teeth to the existing digital identity law by holding agents responsible for what they do with digital identities for which they are acting as custodians. The Chancery Court could additionally be empowered to make decisions regarding Laws of Custom in such cases.
I believe that giving the Chancery Court jurisdiction over these matters is the best way to protect individuals' rights to privacy and authority to control their digital identity, digital assets, and personal information. By establishing a legal framework for resolving these types of disputes, we can provide individuals with a clear and effective means of enforcing their rights and holding others accountable for violations of their privacy. It creates a powerful way to protect citizens and support our state's commitment to "good fences make good neighbors". I hope that you will consider supporting these changes, and I look forward to working with you to make them a reality.
The existing alternative would be to use Property Law instead of Agency Laws and the Laws of Custom as the primary framework for protecting privacy rights. Unfortunately, Property Law can be inflexible and can create conflicts between individuals and communities. Property Law is often based on a one-size-fits-all approach, and it does not always provide individuals with the level of control and agency that they need to protect their privacy in the digital age. This is why I believe using Agency Laws and Laws of Custom, through the Chancery Court, can create superior protections.
_(For more on this topic, see my article "Principal Authority: A New Perspective on Self-Sovereign Identity" at https://www.blockchaincommons.com/articles/Principal-Authority/ )_
In addition to my primary proposal, I would also recommend considering the following laws and regulations to strengthen privacy rights in Wyoming:
**Principal Authority:**
* Define customary duties for a trustee of digital identity and personal information.
* Establish the principle that individuals and companies have the right to exercise their principal authority over their digital identities, personal information, and other data, including being able revoke that authority.
* Require entities that collect, store, or process personal information to respect the principal authority of individuals and obtain their explicit consent before using or sharing their information.
* Create penalties for entities that violate the principal authority of individuals by improperly collecting, storing, or using their personal information without consent or in other ways that contravene the law.
* Establish processes for individuals to file complaints and seek remedies for violations of their principal authority, including through the courts, rather than soley having to prove financial harm under property law.
* Offer regulations that provide guidance and clarity to individuals, businesses, and other organizations on their duties, obligations and rights under the law with regard to principal authority and personal information.
* Partner with the University of Wyoming for programs and initiatives to educate the public about their rights to exercise their principal authority over their personal information and how to do so
**Laws of Custom:**
* Create a process for communities to develop and codify their own Laws of Custom, and provide guidance and support to help communities identify the customs and traditions that are most important to them.
* Establish mechanisms for enforcing Laws of Custom, such as through community-based dispute resolution processes or by incorporating Laws of Custom into the state's legal framework.
There are also a few other topics that I think might be worth discussing at present:
**Open Source, AIs, Biometrics:**
* Create protections for creators of open-source software, both SLAPP style and in connection to the right to repair. We are seeing Bitcoin maintainers and Ethereum smart contract designers leaving the industry due to concerns about indirect liability and civil suits by prejudicial parties, and we want to create ways to protect this source of innovation.
* Establish laws for the use of biometrics. Authors at my "Rebooting the Web of Trust" workshop advanced a paper on the topic a few years ago, so we have a good foundation for the topic.
* Establish best practices for AIs. This has been a hot topic the last year, including questions of how to ethically train AIs and how to ethically reveal their usage. Because the technology is still undergoing early deployment, we have a real opportunity to make a difference.
I hope these ideas are of use, and I look forward to continuing to advise the Select Committee in 2023 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Christopher Allen
Blockchain Commons