EF Background

1.1. Organization. The Everest Foundation (“EF”) currently is a non-profit foundation which was created and endowed for the common good of all humankind. The EF will be a non-capturable, decentralized network, owned by no one, with a Board and Key-holders, functioning into perpetuity and embodying the Principles of Identification for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in software code.

1.2. Purpose. The purpose of the EF is to (a) ensure that no person or entity can hack, take control of, or compromise the EF or the Private Data of individuals on the Network, (b) oversee the decentralization of the network, thus ensuring security and integrity of transactions and storage, and (c) interface to public bodies for the purpose of paying bills and filing reports. Further, it will adhere to the security, administration and other policies, procedures and protocols articulated herein, as may be amended from time to time by the Board of the EF. The EF will ensure that data is private by design, and only utilized by the user/owner. Safeguard the independence, transparency, security & longevity of the EF so that it exists for all humanity, forever.

1.3. Mission. Create a society (systems of economic, political, cultural, social) based on transparency, fairness, agency and freedom in which individuals thrive. EF leverages decentralization and cryptography innovations to build the fundamental infrastructure required to usher in the next phase of society's evolution.

1.4. Principles. We assert that privacy is a human right, and the individual should have control over, and effectively own, their own database of identity elements, including their biometrics; and that a user should have choice over what and with whom they share information. However, due to the nature of biometric data and the information being so unique and specific to each person, the EF needs to utilize the highest standards of care, integrity and security to ensure that users do not inadvertently expose their biometric data and that their biometric data is safe from being hacked. The principles guiding the technical and governance design of EF reflect the Principles for Identification for Sustainable Development 2[1] including the following:

1.4.1. Inclusion - Inclusion - The EF is built to address the needs of a world with a projected 10+ billion population. As wealth gaps continue to strain market access for those in the global base of the pyramid, the EF and its partners leverages the strength of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, governments and foundations to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. The goal is to elevate all of humanity into the global market, thereby providing access to a robust set of services to enhance livelihoods and build resilience equitably. Our principle of inclusion is also reflected and integrated into our policies and governance.

1.4.2. Device independence - if an individual does not possess technology, an agent system will enable them to be enrolled and public access devices used for verification, use and updating. Public Access Devices (PADs) will use an SDK to add identity validation to devices for banking, government services, healthcare, and more. The platform is designed so that any individual, with or without a device can possess digital identity and a wallet with just their biometrics, thus reaching all 7+ billion human beings.

1.4.3. Longevity - The EF non-profit foundation will be endowed and continually funded to exist indefinitely and shall continue to provide identity verification services to its users. The internal governance of the foundation is constructed to provide clear, standard operating procedures and a mechanism to perpetuate, operate, govern and evolve to be relevant and secure. The system shall be available forever, with the system designed to evolve, be adaptive and bridge to other systems.

1.4.4. Specificity - The key to any economic exchange is knowing the specific individual you are dealing with and with whom you want to transact. To accomplish this, multiple types of biometric information for each identity are recorded and stored in the IN. Legacy identity documents, including national ID cards, driver’s licenses, passports, voter ID cards, etc. are captured, as are 3rd party attestations by cryptographically signing those affirmations of claims.

1.4.5. Security - All identity information is stored in the EF. The system stores the individual’s information in a proprietary encrypted datagram. That datagram is then stored on a decentralized, encrypted, user-controlled storage array, and behind sets of challenge-response locks. The system shall be resilient against attack

1.4.6. Rights of Individuals – The EF is an organization that has the following unanimous, unchanging beliefs and principles about a person’s identity information:

1.4.6.1. All individuals should be included

1.4.6.2. If an individual does not have access to technology, they should still be able to participate

1.4.6.3. All individuals should be specifically identifiable

1.4.6.4. All information about an individual should be stored in the most secure manner possible

1.4.6.5. The individual should possess and control their identity, if they are able

1.4.6.6. The individual should be able to selectively share their identity information per interaction

1.4.6.7. The individual’s information should not be owned or controlled by any party other than the user

1.4.6.8. Individuals should be informed and compensated for access to their identity information and enabled to selectively share data with another party or deny access.

1.4.7. Network Principles – The following principles apply to the network:

1.4.7.1. No one owns the Network

1.4.7.2. No one can shut down the Network

1.4.7.3. Node Validators can secure network transactions, but cannot view, access or copy ANY personally identifiable information.

1.5. The verification network can scale to provide billions of users’ access to (i) secure, private digital identities, (ii) wallets for crypto, (iii) account for document storage and credentials, and (iv) secure and reliable transactions.

The EF will have Key-holders drawn from internationally and regionally recognized international organizations, NGOs, IGOs and philanthropic organizations in existence for at least 10 years with principles aligned with the Principles of Identity for SDG. No one will have access to user data, nor possess sufficient keys to open the network. In the event of recourse (i.e. a user needs to re-enroll, or network breach), the Key-holders will bring together sufficient key holders to handle such issues.