A draft proposal for a permissioned data layer in the AT Protocol has been published on GitHub, authored within the Bluesky ecosystem. The proposal outlines mechanisms for granular control over data access, moving beyond the protocol's current public-by-default model. This shift aims to enable new privacy-preserving applications while maintaining interoperability.
The AT Protocol, which underpins the decentralized social network Bluesky, already supports account portability and algorithmic choice. However, critics have noted that fully public data feeds limit use cases in healthcare, finance, or enterprise contexts. The proposal attempts to address this by introducing cryptographic permissions and revocable access tokens.
According to the pull request description, the system would allow data owners to specify read, write, or delegate permissions on a per-resource basis. It remains unclear how this interacts with the existing Lexicon schemas or whether it would require a hard fork of the protocol. No specific timeline for implementation has been provided.
The proposal is currently in a feedback phase; Bluesky developers and independent AT Protocol contributors are being encouraged to comment. Early reactions on Hacker News have been mixed, with some praising the privacy focus but others warning of increased complexity. The paper format is likely to evolve before any community adoption vote.
Some developers argue that permissioned layers contradict the AT Protocol's foundational principle of openness and could fragment the ecosystem. The tension between privacy and decentralization remains unresolved.