IntegrityLayer Specification

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IntegrityLayer Specification

Where Every Human Is Singular.

Specification Overview

IntegrityLayer is an open-source identity integrity infrastructure specification designed to provide a secure, privacy-preserving foundation for human identity verification, identity uniqueness, liveness verification, fraud prevention, and trusted account activity.

The system is designed around the principle that a verified human identity should serve as the foundational identity for all authorized digital activity. IntegrityLayer extends conventional KYC beyond document verification by determining whether an individual is a real human, whether the identity is authentic, whether the identity already exists within the relevant identity domain, and whether subsequent accounts or activities can be reliably associated with that verified identity.

IntegrityLayer is intended for integration with government services, financial systems, social networks, gaming platforms, marketplaces, forums, communities, applications, and other digital systems requiring reliable identity integrity.

Design Principles

One verified human identity per defined identity domain
Human-first identity verification
Privacy-preserving identity processing
End-to-end encryption for sensitive identity information
Minimal collection and retention of personal information
Secure processing of sensitive identity data
Continuous identity integrity rather than one-time verification
Transparent verification and auditability
Modular architecture
Open-source implementation
Vendor-neutral integration
Human oversight for high-risk identity decisions
Explicit separation between verification, risk assessment, and account authorization
Protection against identity duplication, synthetic identity, impersonation, replay attacks, and automated abuse

Core Identity Module

The Core Identity Module shall provide the foundational identity record used throughout IntegrityLayer.

The module shall:

Create a unique identity record for each verified identity
Assign an internal identity identifier that does not expose government identifiers
Maintain identity status and verification state
Associate verified credentials with an identity
Maintain identity lifecycle information
Support identity versioning
Record verification events
Support controlled identity recovery
Support identity suspension and review states
Prevent unauthorized identity record creation
Maintain relationships between identities and authorized accounts
Provide identity state changes to other IntegrityLayer modules

The identity record shall remain distinct from application accounts so that an application can associate multiple activities with a verified identity without duplicating the underlying identity record.

Identity Verification Module

The Identity Verification Module shall verify government-issued and officially recognized identity credentials.

The module shall support:

Passport verification
Driver license verification
National identity document verification
Residency document verification
Immigration document verification
Document image acquisition
Optical character recognition
Machine-readable zone processing
Document field extraction
Document format validation
Document expiration verification
Document integrity analysis
Document authenticity assessment
Country-specific document validation
Document manipulation detection
Credential status tracking

Verification results shall include confidence information and the evidence used to reach the result.

Identity Uniqueness Module

The Identity Uniqueness Module shall determine whether a verified identity already exists within the applicable identity domain.

The module shall compare identity attributes including:

Government credential identifiers
Cryptographic credential representations
Names
Name variants
Date of birth
Addresses
Telephone numbers
Email addresses
Biometric representations
Document characteristics
Device associations
Identity relationships
Previously verified credentials

The module shall support:

Exact matching
Fuzzy matching
Phonetic matching
Multilingual name normalization
Attribute correlation
Biometric similarity analysis
Duplicate confidence scoring
Collision detection
Identity cluster detection

A potential match shall not automatically establish fraud. Potential matches shall enter an appropriate review or additional verification workflow based on configurable policy.

Duplicate Account Module

The Duplicate Account Module shall connect verified identities to application accounts and prevent unauthorized duplication.

The module shall:

Associate accounts with verified identity identifiers
Detect attempts to create multiple accounts for the same identity
Detect reuse of identity credentials
Detect suspicious account relationships
Apply application-specific account policies
Support legitimate multi-account policies where explicitly permitted
Record account-to-identity relationships
Detect account creation velocity
Detect identity reuse patterns
Trigger additional verification when required

The module shall distinguish between identity duplication and legitimate multiple-account scenarios.

Liveness Verification Module

The Liveness Verification Module shall determine whether the person participating in an identity verification session is physically present and interacting in real time.

The module shall provide:

Active challenge-response verification
Randomized challenge generation
Passive liveness analysis
Facial motion analysis
Temporal consistency analysis
Presentation attack detection
Screen replay detection
Printed image detection
Virtual camera detection
Image injection detection
Deepfake detection
Synthetic media detection
Device integrity signals
Liveness confidence scoring

Active challenges may include:

Blinking
Head movement
Facial expressions
Following visual targets
Randomized movement sequences

Challenge sequences shall be unpredictable and generated per verification session.

The module shall evaluate multiple signals rather than relying on a single liveness test.

Biometric Integrity Module

The Biometric Integrity Module shall support privacy-preserving biometric verification.

The module shall:

Compare a live facial representation against an authorized identity credential
Generate biometric similarity measurements
Support biometric embeddings
Protect biometric representations using encryption and access controls
Minimize retention of raw biometric data
Support secure biometric matching
Detect repeated biometric use across unauthorized identities
Integrate biometric results with identity uniqueness analysis

Biometric data shall be treated as highly sensitive information and shall not be exposed through ordinary application interfaces.

Fraud Detection Module

The Fraud Detection Module shall identify suspicious identity and account activity.

The module shall analyze:

Identity verification anomalies
Duplicate identity attempts
Account creation velocity
Document reuse
Device reuse
IP relationships
Location inconsistencies
Credential inconsistencies
Behavioral anomalies
Repeated verification failures
Suspicious account relationships
Synthetic identity indicators

The module shall produce configurable risk signals rather than automatically determining criminal intent.

Identity Graph Module

The Identity Graph Module shall model relationships between identities, credentials, accounts, devices, sessions, and other authorized signals.

The graph shall support:

Identity-to-account relationships
Identity-to-credential relationships
Account-to-device relationships
Account-to-session relationships
Credential reuse relationships
Suspicious cluster identification
Relationship confidence scoring
Investigation visualization
Historical relationship tracking

The graph shall enforce strict access controls to prevent unnecessary exposure of personal information.

Fraud Network Module

The Fraud Network Module shall identify coordinated identity abuse.

The module shall detect patterns involving:

Multiple accounts
Shared devices
Shared infrastructure
Reused credentials
Repeated document characteristics
Repeated liveness patterns
Coordinated account creation
Suspicious identity clusters
Synthetic identity networks

Fraud network results shall be treated as risk intelligence and shall support human review.

Behavioral Integrity Module

The Behavioral Integrity Module shall identify suspicious activity patterns associated with account automation and identity abuse.

Optional signals may include:

Account creation timing
Verification timing
Login patterns
Session patterns
Interaction velocity
Automation indicators
Device behavior
Repeated workflow patterns

Behavioral signals shall be minimized, purpose-limited, and subject to configurable privacy controls.

Identity Trust Module

The Identity Trust Module shall aggregate verification and integrity signals into an explainable identity trust assessment.

The assessment may incorporate:

Document authenticity
Identity verification confidence
Liveness confidence
Biometric match confidence
Identity uniqueness
Credential consistency
Account history
Fraud indicators
Device integrity
Verification history

The module shall provide explainable factors rather than relying exclusively on an opaque score.

Identity Lifecycle Module

The Identity Lifecycle Module shall maintain identity integrity throughout the identity’s active lifetime.

The module shall support:

Initial verification
Reverification
Credential renewal
Credential expiration
Identity information updates
Risk state changes
Account recovery
Identity suspension
Identity restoration
Identity retirement
Verification history

Changes to an identity shall be versioned and auditable.

Account Authorization Module

The Account Authorization Module shall translate identity verification into application-specific account permissions.

The module shall support:

Verified account creation
Identity-based access policies
Account eligibility rules
Identity uniqueness rules
Reverification requirements
Restricted account states
Manual approval requirements
Account suspension
Account recovery

Identity verification shall not automatically grant application privileges.

Investigation Module

The Investigation Module shall provide tools for reviewing identity conflicts and high-risk verification events.

The module shall provide:

Duplicate identity investigation
Credential comparison
Verification history
Identity relationship analysis
Fraud cluster analysis
Liveness results
Risk factor explanations
Reviewer notes
Review decisions
Escalation workflows
Evidence preservation

Investigators shall only receive the minimum information required for their assigned role.

Audit Module

The Audit Module shall maintain tamper-resistant records of security and identity events.

The module shall record:

Verification events
Identity changes
Account associations
Duplicate detection events
Investigation decisions
Administrative actions
Access events
Policy changes
Security events

Audit records shall support integrity verification and configurable retention policies.

Encryption Module

The Encryption Module shall protect identity information throughout its lifecycle.

The module shall support:

Encryption in transit
Encryption at rest
Application-level encryption
Per-record encryption keys
Envelope encryption
Key rotation
Secure key destruction
Hardware security modules
Secure key storage
Cryptographic integrity verification

TLS shall protect network communications, while sensitive identity records shall receive additional application-level protection.

End-to-End Encryption Module

The End-to-End Encryption Module shall provide user-controlled encryption for supported identity credentials and identity vault functionality.

The module shall support:

Client-side encryption
User-controlled encryption keys
Encrypted identity credentials
Secure credential transfer
Key rotation
Credential revocation
Access authorization
Cryptographic proof generation

Where true end-to-end encryption is used, the architecture shall prevent the service provider from possessing the keys required to decrypt protected user-controlled content.

Secure Processing Module

The Secure Processing Module shall support confidential processing of sensitive identity information.

The module may integrate with:

Trusted execution environments
Confidential computing
Secure enclaves
Hardware-backed security

Sensitive data shall be processed only by authorized verification components.

Identity Vault Module

The Identity Vault Module shall allow users to maintain encrypted identity credentials under user-controlled authorization.

The module shall support:

Credential storage
Credential encryption
Credential presentation
Selective disclosure
Credential revocation
Access authorization
Verification proofs
Credential lifecycle management

Zero-Knowledge Verification Module

The Zero-Knowledge Verification Module shall allow applications to verify specific identity claims without receiving unnecessary personal information.

Supported claims may include:

Identity has been verified
Person is within a required age range
Credential is valid
Address requirement has been satisfied
Identity is unique within a defined domain

The module shall minimize disclosure by returning only the required verification result or cryptographic proof.

Federated Identity Collision Module

The Federated Identity Collision Module shall support privacy-preserving identity collision detection between participating organizations.

The module shall support:

Privacy-preserving identity comparison
Cryptographic identity representations
Private set intersection
Secure multi-party computation
Collision signals
Cross-domain risk signals

Participating organizations shall not receive unnecessary underlying identity information.

Global Identity Integrity Network Plugin

This optional plugin shall enable organizations to participate in a broader identity integrity network.

The plugin may exchange:

Privacy-preserving collision signals
Fraud risk signals
Credential integrity signals
Identity abuse indicators

Participation shall be explicitly controlled by the deploying organization and governed by defined data-sharing policies.

Decentralized Identity Plugin

This optional plugin shall support decentralized identity and verifiable credentials.

It may provide:

Verifiable credentials
Cryptographic identity proofs
User-controlled credentials
Credential wallets
Selective disclosure
Credential revocation
Credential expiration
Decentralized identifiers

The plugin shall remain optional so deployments can operate entirely within centralized or self-hosted environments.

Privacy-Preserving Biometric Network Plugin

This optional plugin shall provide privacy-preserving biometric collision detection between authorized participants.

It may support:

Protected biometric representations
Secure similarity computation
Private biometric matching
Cross-domain collision signals
Biometric risk indicators

Raw biometric information shall not be exchanged between participants.

Device Integrity Plugin

This optional plugin shall evaluate device security signals.

It may support:

Hardware-backed attestation
Secure boot status
Trusted execution environment signals
Device integrity APIs
Virtual environment detection
Emulator detection
Virtual camera detection
Root or jailbreak indicators

Device signals shall contribute to risk assessment rather than independently determining identity authenticity.

Document Intelligence Plugin

This optional plugin shall expand document verification capabilities.

It may provide:

Country-specific document models
Document template libraries
Security feature recognition
Document image analysis
Document manipulation detection
Document metadata analysis
Document expiration monitoring

Sanctions and Watchlist Plugin

This optional plugin shall support external compliance screening.

It may integrate:

Sanctions lists
Politically exposed person lists
Regulatory watchlists
Organization-specific restricted-party lists

External data sources shall remain modular and replaceable.

AML Plugin

This optional plugin shall provide anti-money-laundering workflow support.

It may provide:

Risk indicators
Transaction identity relationships
Identity risk escalation
Customer due diligence workflows
Enhanced due diligence workflows
Investigation integration

Synthetic Identity Detection Plugin

This optional plugin shall detect identities constructed from combinations of legitimate and fabricated information.

It may analyze:

Attribute consistency
Credential relationships
Identity history
Document signals
Address patterns
Verification history
Account creation behavior

Deepfake Detection Plugin

This optional plugin shall provide additional synthetic media detection.

It may analyze:

Facial artifacts
Temporal inconsistencies
Image manipulation
Video manipulation
Synthetic facial characteristics
Generated media indicators

Deepfake detection shall be treated as one signal within a broader liveness and identity verification process.

Attack Simulation Plugin

This optional plugin shall allow developers and security teams to test IntegrityLayer against controlled identity attacks.

Simulation scenarios may include:

Duplicate identity attempts
Replay attacks
Printed image attacks
Synthetic identity attempts
AI-generated identity media
Automated account creation
Credential reuse
Device reuse
Fraud cluster formation

Simulation results shall support security testing and system improvement.

Developer SDK Plugin

This optional plugin shall provide development libraries for integrating IntegrityLayer.

Supported languages may include:

Python
JavaScript
TypeScript
Go
Rust
Java

SDKs shall provide access to supported APIs while enforcing authentication, authorization, validation, and privacy controls.

Database Connector Plugin

This optional plugin shall provide integrations for existing database systems.

Supported systems may include:

PostgreSQL
MySQL
MongoDB
Supabase
Firebase

The connector architecture shall allow IntegrityLayer to operate alongside existing databases without requiring organizations to replace their existing application infrastructure.

Policy Engine Module

The Policy Engine shall allow deployments to define identity and account rules.

Policies may determine:

Whether identity verification is required
Whether one account per identity is required
When additional verification is required
When manual review is required
Which risk signals require escalation
Which identity attributes may be collected
Which data may be retained
Which identity relationships are permitted

Policies shall be configurable without modifying core verification logic.

Human Review Module

The Human Review Module shall provide human oversight for ambiguous or high-risk identity decisions.

The module shall support:

Manual verification
Duplicate identity review
Fraud investigation
Evidence review
Escalation
Decision recording
Reviewer permissions
Appeals
Reverification

Automated systems shall not be treated as infallible identity authorities.

Consent and Privacy Module

The Consent and Privacy Module shall manage user permissions and data handling.

The module shall support:

Consent recording
Purpose limitation
Data minimization
Access authorization
Credential sharing permissions
Revocation
Retention policies
Data deletion workflows
Privacy audit records

Data Governance Module

The Data Governance Module shall define how identity information is collected, processed, retained, accessed, and removed.

It shall support:

Data classification
Retention schedules
Access controls
Data minimization
Purpose restrictions
Geographic processing policies
Encryption requirements
Deletion workflows
Governance auditing

API Module

The API Module shall provide standardized interfaces for integrating IntegrityLayer.

Core operations shall support:

Identity creation
Identity verification
Document verification
Liveness verification
Duplicate checking
Account association
Risk assessment
Identity status
Reverification
Investigation
Audit access

APIs shall enforce authentication, authorization, rate limiting, validation, logging, and privacy controls.

Event Module

The Event Module shall provide real-time notifications for identity and security events.

Events may include:

IdentityVerified
LivenessVerified
DuplicateDetected
IdentityCollisionDetected
FraudClusterDetected
DocumentExpired
ReverificationRequired
IdentitySuspended
IdentityRestored
AccountAssociationCreated
AccountAssociationRemoved

Notification Module

The Notification Module shall provide configurable notifications for users, administrators, investigators, and integrated applications.

Notifications may be triggered by:

Verification completion
Duplicate identity detection
Account creation conflicts
Credential expiration
Reverification requirements
Security events
Identity access events

Security Module

The Security Module shall provide system-wide security controls.

It shall support:

Strong authentication
Role-based access control
Fine-grained authorization
API authentication
Rate limiting
Abuse prevention
Session security
Key management
Security event monitoring
Incident response
Administrative access controls

Observability Module

The Observability Module shall provide operational visibility without exposing unnecessary identity information.

It shall support:

System metrics
Service health
Verification performance
Error monitoring
Security event monitoring
Audit event monitoring
Privacy-preserving diagnostics

Transparency Module

The Transparency Module shall provide aggregate information about system performance and identity integrity.

It may report:

Verification volume
Duplicate detection volume
Fraud cluster detections
Reverification volume
Liveness verification results
System availability
Security events

Reports shall use aggregated information and shall not expose individual identities.

Identity Recovery Module

The Identity Recovery Module shall provide controlled recovery for users who lose access to accounts or identity credentials.

Recovery shall support:

Reverification
Credential replacement
Identity ownership verification
Manual review
Recovery event auditing
Existing account protection

Recovery procedures shall prevent attackers from using account recovery to create duplicate identities.

Appeals Module

The Appeals Module shall allow users to challenge identity verification or duplication decisions.

It shall support:

Appeal submission
Evidence submission
Human review
Decision recording
Reverification
Appeal status tracking

Risk Escalation Module

The Risk Escalation Module shall convert defined identity signals into configurable review requirements.

Possible escalation levels include:

Verified
Additional verification required
Manual review required
Restricted
Suspended

Escalation decisions shall remain configurable by deployment policy.

Identity Integrity Rules

IntegrityLayer shall treat identity integrity as an ongoing relationship between:

A human
A verified identity
Verified credentials
Authorized accounts
Verified sessions
Approved activities

Once an identity is verified, applications may associate authorized activity with that identity rather than creating independent identity records for every account.

This allows platforms to establish a consistent identity foundation while retaining control over their own account, community, and authorization policies.

Security Requirements

Implementations shall:

Encrypt sensitive identity information
Protect cryptographic keys
Minimize raw biometric retention
Authenticate administrative access
Authorize identity data access
Log security-sensitive events
Protect verification endpoints against abuse
Validate external data
Prevent unauthorized identity creation
Protect against replay attacks
Protect against credential substitution
Apply rate limits to sensitive operations
Support secure software updates
Maintain dependency security
Provide incident response procedures

Privacy Requirements

Implementations shall:

Collect only information necessary for the declared purpose
Minimize retention of sensitive identity information
Separate identity data from application data where practical
Restrict access to identity information
Provide configurable retention policies
Support user access and privacy controls where applicable
Avoid unnecessary sharing of biometric information
Support privacy-preserving verification mechanisms
Document data processing practices
Maintain auditable privacy controls

Verification Decision Model

IntegrityLayer shall distinguish between:

Identity verified
Human presence verified
Liveness verified
Credential verified
Identity uniqueness verified
Account authorized
Risk accepted
Manual review required

No single signal shall be treated as proof of every property.

Identity Collision Handling

When a potential identity collision is detected, the system shall:

Preserve the original verification evidence
Record the collision signal
Compare permitted identity attributes
Determine confidence
Apply configured policy
Request additional documentation when required
Escalate ambiguous cases for human review
Prevent unauthorized duplicate account creation while review is pending
Record the final decision

A collision shall not automatically be treated as fraudulent activity.

Documentation Requirements

The specification shall document:

Verification methods
Security assumptions
Privacy assumptions
Data flows
Cryptographic mechanisms
Identity matching methods
Liveness methods
Risk scoring
Review procedures
Integration interfaces
Plugin interfaces
Configuration options

Testing Requirements

Implementations shall test:

Identity verification
Document validation
Duplicate detection
Identity collision handling
Liveness verification
Anti-spoofing controls
Encryption
Key management
Authorization
API security
Fraud detection
Account creation controls
Recovery workflows
Privacy controls
Audit integrity
Plugin isolation

Security testing shall include controlled presentation attacks, replay attempts, synthetic identities, duplicate identities, automated account creation, and credential reuse.

Extensibility

IntegrityLayer shall maintain a modular architecture in which verification engines, biometric systems, databases, compliance providers, identity networks, cryptographic systems, and external services can be replaced or extended without changing the identity integrity model.

Optional plugins shall remain independently deployable where practical.

Core functionality shall not depend on a single vendor, cloud provider, database engine, biometric provider, or external identity service.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
Copyleft enforced for network deployments
Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/

Optional

Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/integritylayer/

License & Notice Requirements

IntegrityLayer is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to:
Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
IntegrityLayer specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments.
Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – IntegrityLayer

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – March 10, 2026
Created the repository for IntegrityLayer. Designed and developed the open-source platform for identity verification, uniqueness enforcement, fraud network detection, and privacy-preserving verification.
[Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – IntegrityLayer

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and include an attribution notice as required under Section 7 of the license. The attribution notice in this repository is provided in the NOTICE.md file, crediting Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.