HBCE Baseline v1.0
This document defines the minimum operational identity requirements for EU-grade accountability environments. It is a technical baseline (not a marketing claim).
Scope
Applies to: humans, operators, AI units, robots, infrastructures.
This baseline concerns: identity continuity, evidence, verification and failure behavior.
Definitions
- Operational identity: a verifiable trajectory (origin + key reference + append-only chain), not a credential.
- Evidence: hash-based proof that can be verified independently.
- Deterministic verification: same input → same output (PASS/FAIL).
- Fail-closed: missing/invalid evidence → block. No silent degradation.
Baseline invariants (MUST)
- HASH-ONLY public layer (GDPR-min posture)
- APPEND-ONLY trajectory (no retroactive edits; corrections are new entries)
- DETERMINISTIC verification (canonicalize → hash → match)
- FAIL-CLOSED enforcement (incoherence → stop)
- NO public data custody (public registry stores proofs only)
Minimum artifacts (MUST)
- Canonical manifest (stable representation of payload + metadata)
- Payload hash (SHA-256 or equivalent deterministic hash)
- Receipt (human-readable proof bundle)
- Public registry entry (hash-only evidence)
Verification rules (MUST)
- Canonicalization step MUST be deterministic.
- Computed hash MUST match the registry entry.
- If match is missing → INVALID.
- If evidence is inconsistent → INVALID.
Baseline rule: if a decision cannot be reproduced independently, it is not admissible for execution.
Compatibility posture (EU)
HBCE Baseline v1.0 is engineered for structural compatibility with EU accountability environments (GDPR-min, auditability, traceability). This is a technical posture, not a legal guarantee.
Status
- Version: v1.0
- Mode: permissionless, open deployment
- Baseline: EU-first, audit-first, fail-closed
Changelog
v1.0
- Initial versioned baseline definition (EU operational identity).
- Formalized invariants: HASH-ONLY, APPEND-ONLY, DETERMINISTIC, FAIL-CLOSED, NO public data custody.
- Defined minimum artifacts and deterministic verification rules.
- Added structural EU compatibility posture statement (non-legal claim).
Future versions must be backward-auditable: if a baseline changes, the evidence chain must remain verifiable and reproducible.
Future versions
v1.0 remains the active baseline. Planned extensions are published as drafts. Drafts are non-normative until promoted to an active baseline version.
v1.1 (Draft)
Proposed extensions: evidence packs, stronger receipts, explicit profile binding, refined operator gating, canonicalization reference, and backward-audit guarantees.