Insights
Notes on verification, consent and data that stays yours
Checks that stay current: screening and ongoing monitoring
A sanctions check goes stale when the lists change. Essence's screening is built to record what each decision rested on, re-screen when lists change, and keep the screened person's details in-country.
15 October 2026One set of sharing terms, many councilsCouncils on the same service write similar data-sharing agreements again and again. On Essence, the terms such an agreement sets are configuration, so one set written once can be applied by many organisations.10 October 2026
Over State Pension age, not a date of birth: proportionate sharing in practiceA service that needs to know someone is over State Pension age rarely needs their date of birth. Essence passes the answer, not the record: only the fields asked for, or only a signed answer.10 October 2026
Telling services once: a family-held record for the early yearsFamilies tell health visitors, nurseries, GPs and councils the same things because each service keeps its own copy. A record the family holds, shared field by field under consent, lets them tell it once.10 October 2026
The people layer of data-sharing infrastructureInfrastructure answers how data travels between organisations. Data about people also needs a record of whose it is, why it is shared, on what basis, and who relied on it. That is the layer Essence builds.10 October 2026
Consent with a purpose, and a receiptA consent record helps later only if it says what it was for, until when and what the person was shown. Essence grants now carry a purpose, a fixed end, a legal basis where declared, and that context.6 October 2026
Proving when as well as what: trusted timestamps and preservation evidenceA signature shows what was agreed, but its algorithms age. Essence keeps long-term evidence apart, can have it dated by an outside authority and renewed, and exports it for anyone to check offline.2 October 2026
Getting ready for post-quantum cryptographyA quantum computer threatens key exchange and signatures, not vault content. Every encrypted record on Essence names its algorithm, and in September we added a post-quantum signature for long-lived evidence.30 September 2026
Supplier verification under the UAE's new VAT rulesThe UAE's new rules put the burden on the buyer to show it checked its suppliers before recovering input VAT. Essence puts each supplier's status in front of the payment, and keeps a record of every decision.24 September 2026
Selective disclosure and predicate proofs: what each one showsSelective disclosure shows a verifier only the fields it asks for; a predicate check shows only the answer. Essence has built both, and is exact about who sees the value behind each.17 September 2026
Digital trust goes beyond regulation: six dimensionsA Dubai panel argued that digital trust goes beyond regulation, across six dimensions. Essence builds several of them into its architecture, starting from a server with no key to your content.10 September 2026
Recovering a vault without a back door: guardians and recovery phrasesEssence holds no key to your vault, so there is no reset for anyone to abuse. Since our September release, a 24-word recovery phrase that never leaves your device reopens it.4 September 2026
Reusable attestations in Europe: what qualified attestations changeUnder eIDAS 2.0, a qualified attestation carries a legal presumption of accuracy across the EU. Our review recommends that Essence help people hold and present them, rather than issue them.27 August 2026
Speaking open standards: OpenID4VCI, OpenID4VP and SD-JWT credentialsA credential is worth more when any wallet built to open specifications can read it. Our August release built the groundwork for Essence to issue and verify credentials over OpenID4VCI and OpenID4VP.18 August 2026
Separate countries, one network: how instances trust each other without sharing dataIn Essence's architecture, personal data belongs on country instances, not in a central store. In July we built the means for those instances to trust each other on terms that are recorded, checked and withdrawable.28 July 2026
Knowledge
Assurance at Essence: built to be checked, not just trustedEssence is designed so that its most important promises can be checked: no key to vault content, a separate deployment for each country, and a record of every action. Here is what your assessors can examine.
Consent and the lawful basis: how a public body can use EssenceA person's choice to share from their vault is not a public body's lawful basis. Essence records the two apart: the grant the person controls, and the Article 6 basis the organisation declares.
How consent works at Essence: purpose, fields, revocation, receiptsEvery field shared from an Essence vault has its own consent record: terms the person sets, a withdrawal they control field by field, and a receipt both sides can read.
How your vault is encrypted: what happens on your device and what we cannot seeEssence encrypts the documents in your vault on your own device and holds no key that can open them. It can carry out your decision to share without ever being able to read what you shared.
Security at Essence: how your data is protectedYour documents are encrypted on your device and shared one field at a time, under consent you can withdraw. Each country runs its own instance, and erasure works by destroying keys.
The standards we support: W3C credentials, DIDs, OpenID4VC and SD-JWTA credential only one company's software can read ties everyone to that company. The Essence credential layer is written to open standards from the W3C, the OpenID Foundation and the IETF.
What is verification reuse?Verification reuse means a second organisation relies on a check already done, with the person's consent, instead of repeating it. On Essence, every check starts with reuse off until the person decides.
Where your data lives: sovereign instances and what crosses a borderEach country's Essence instance is a separate deployment with its own databases and keys. What stays, what may cross a border and what our central service holds is set out class by class.