Trust network

From Organic Design wiki
Revision as of 01:05, 26 June 2011 by Nad (talk | contribs) (refine a bit)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Glossary.svg This page describes a concept which is part of our glossary

A trust network is formed so that people can share sensitive information or valuable resource amongst people they trust. Trust networks allow peer-to-peer networks to become more robust, and can form a strong defence against the Sybil attack. In the context of OrganicDesign, trust networks are formed within and between trust groups allowing larger scale organisation to emerge in a reliable and aligned way.

Trust: In a social context, trust has several connotations. The typical definition of trust follows the general intuition about trust and contains such elements as:
  • the willingness of one party (trustor) to rely on the actions of another party (trustee);
  • reasonable expectation (confidence) of the trustor that the trustee will behave in a way beneficial to the trustor;
  • risk of harm to the trustor if the trustee will not behave accordingly; and
  • the absence of trustor's enforcement or control over actions performed by the trustee. [more]


Information is able to pass safely and securely between any two people in such a network because the route can be divided up so that information only ever passes between people who trust each other.

A network of trust is a foundation onto which other more specific applications that require trust can be built. For example a trust-worthy system of trading can be built utilising a trust-group's ability to move value amongst its members in account and then settle up between themselves at a later convenient date. All trust-groups that partake in this contract form a network allowing currency to pass safely between any two parties.

Dimensions of trust

Cone.png This article or section is a stub. Stubs are articles that have not yet received substantial attention from the authors. They are short or insufficient pieces of information and require additions to further increase the article's usefulness. The project values stubs as useful first steps toward complete articles.


See also