Trust Tiers¶

Date: 2026-04-12

Purpose: - define how trust should be expressed to ordinary users without forcing one identity model for everyone - support privacy-sensitive cases while still enabling useful trust UX

Design Goal¶

Do not force every QR owner to publicly expose full legal identity.

Instead, separate: - what the platform knows - what the public scanner shows

Tier 0: Raw QR¶

Definition: - no issuer enrollment - no trusted signature - no managed trust state

User-facing result: - Unverified QR

Use cases: - personal flyers - one-off event posters - random web links

Tier 1: Signed But Unaccepted Issuer¶

Definition: - QR carries a valid signature - issuer is not accepted by a trusted program recognized by the scanner

User-facing result: - Signed, issuer not trusted

Use cases: - private ecosystems - early adopters - self-issued trust domains

Tier 2: Verified Individual¶

Definition: - issuer is a verified person in an enrollment program - scanner recognizes the issuer tier - public display may or may not show the full identity

User-facing result: - Verified individual

Examples: - tutor - musician - freelancer - event organizer

Privacy model: - platform may know full identity - public scanner may show only a verified badge, alias, or limited attestation

Tier 3: Verified Business¶

Definition: - issuer is a verified business or merchant - destination set is bound to that business

User-facing result: - Verified business

Examples: - restaurant - retail store - clinic - service business

Tier 4: Verified Institution¶

Definition: - issuer is a high-assurance institution with stronger onboarding and policy

User-facing result: - Verified institution

Examples: - government - university - bank - healthcare provider

Tier 5: Blocked¶

Definition: - issuer revoked - destination mismatch - policy failure - runtime danger signal

User-facing result: - Blocked

Key Principle¶

Trust tiers should reflect: - assurance level - enrollment level - policy status

They should not automatically reveal: - more personal identity than necessary

Product Consequence¶

The system does not need to forbid non-technical users from creating QR codes.

It only needs to reserve trusted UX for users or organizations that enroll.

That is a workable compromise between: - usability - privacy - platform safety