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 2026When an AI agent asks for your data: delegation with limitsAn AI agent acting for a person should hold a narrow, expiring, countable slice of their consent, never their credentials. Delegated capabilities on Essence are built that way.13 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
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
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
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
Fields, not files: why we share data one field at a timePeople are often asked for a whole document when an organisation needs two or three facts from it. Essence makes the named field, not the file, the unit of every share and every consent.14 July 2026
Knowledge
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.
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.