Decentralized Storage Alliance | Blog

Position paper: Proof of Authorized Access

Written by Chaals Nevile | Feb 6, 2025

The DSA today published a position paper on Proof of Authorized Access on behalf of the TA/CA Working Group.

Discussions with multiple Enterprise users, and service providers working with Enterprise customers, reveal that one of the common and highly appreciated features of data storage for Enterprise is the ability to restrict who has access to the data. Along with the ability to audit all access to stored data, this is considered key to securing data that Enterprises generally treat as confidential.

In addition, discussions about the value of data used to train AI systems are increasingly motivating interest in the ability to both restrict, and monetise, access to data including creative works, research datasets, and more.

In this context the TA/CA Working Group at DSA has proposed that while there are many Decentralised Storage providers who offer control over access, developing a standard method to provide this throughout the ecosystem would bring Filecoin a significant boost in the ability to attract more Enterprise customers.

The paper therefore analyzes the business needs for confidentiality and control of access, and the requirements these impose on any proposed solution to meet those needs. 

The Working Group welcomes feedback on the paper.