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Public Ledger of Credentials Organization Established as Swiss Association
Key points
- PLC Organization is now a formal Swiss Association.
- It will independently operate the PLC directory for AT Protocol accounts.
- Users control their identity via cryptographic keys.
- Initial board members include Richard Barnes, Thyla van der Merwe, Bryan Newbold, and Wendy Seltzer.
PLC Organization Formed
The Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Organization has been formally established as a Swiss Association. This development follows Bluesky Social PBC's announcement a year ago regarding their intention to create an independent entity for the PLC directory. The organization has completed initial administrative steps to begin independent operations.
Role of the PLC Directory
The PLC directory is a system designed to collect and distribute updates for AT Protocol accounts. These accounts are identified by unique strings like did:plc:i65vdx4ylh5ahdjyd7f2gpnp. Updates include an account's handle, such as @plcred.org, and the choice of Personal Data Server (PDS) hosting the account's data.
The system uses cryptographic keys that are not controlled by the directory server, preventing tampering with posted information. Users can update these keys at any time, replacing them with keys generated on their own devices, and can also register new account identifiers.
Swiss Association Structure
The Public Ledger of Credential Organization is registered as a Swiss Association (Verein). This legal structure means it is an independent legal entity governed by Swiss law, without owners or shareholders. Its purpose is to provide public identity infrastructure for Internet application users, and it operates for the benefit of its members according to its official objectives, not for economic gain.
Initial Board Members
The initial board members of the association include Richard Barnes, a security researcher and protocol engineer who co-founded Let's Encrypt; Thyla van der Merwe, a cryptography and formal verification lead at Google; Bryan Newbold, a protocol engineer at Bluesky Social PBC; and Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer and technologist.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
The Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Organization has been formally established as a Swiss Association to independently operate the PLC directory. This organization will provide public identity infrastructure for AT Protocol accounts, allowing users to control their account handles and data hosting choices through cryptographic keys.