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Data Sovereignty

Understanding data ownership and control in the Synap ecosystem

Core Principle​

The Data Pod is the sovereign guardian of all user data. External intelligence services never store user data persistently and only receive temporary, read-only access when explicitly authorized.

Data Ownership Model​

Data Pod (Synap Core OS)​

  • ✅ Owns all user data
  • ✅ Controls all access
  • ✅ Stores data permanently
  • ✅ Open source - user can self-host

External Intelligence Services​

  • ❌ Never store user data
  • ✅ Receive temporary access only
  • ✅ Process data in memory
  • ✅ Return insights only

Access Control​

Token-Based Access​

All external service access is controlled through time-limited JWT tokens:

{
  token: string; // JWT with 5-minute TTL
  scope: string[]; // ['preferences', 'calendar', 'tasks']
  requestId: string; // Unique request identifier
}

Scope-Based Permissions​

External services can only request data types explicitly authorized:

  • preferences - User preferences
  • calendar - Calendar events
  • notes - Notes and documents
  • tasks - Tasks and todos
  • projects - Project data
  • conversations - Chat history
  • entities - General entities
  • relations - Entity relationships
  • knowledge_facts - Knowledge graph facts

Audit Trail​

Every interaction with external services is logged in the Data Pod's event store:

  • hub.token.generated - Token generation
  • hub.data.requested - Data request with scope
  • hub.insight.submitted - Insight submission

Example:

{
  type: 'hub.data.requested',
  userId: 'user-123',
  data: {
    requestId: 'req-456',
    scope: ['preferences', 'calendar'],
    timestamp: '2025-01-20T10:00:00Z',
  },
}

GDPR Compliance​

Right to be Forgotten​

Users can revoke external service access at any time:

POST /trpc/hub.revokeAccess
{
  "hubId": "hub-123"
}

All active tokens are immediately invalidated.

Data Portability​

All data remains in the user's Data Pod. Users can export their data at any time.

Transparency​

Users can view the complete audit log of all external service access through the Data Pod API.

Minimization​

External services only request data that is strictly necessary for the requested operation.

Data Processing Policy​

In External Services​

  • ✅ Data received in memory only
  • ✅ No persistent storage
  • ✅ Automatic garbage collection
  • ✅ Anonymized error logs (IDs only, no content)

Exceptions​

  • Temporary cache: Maximum 60-second TTL for performance (encrypted)
  • Debug logs: Only IDs, never user content

Best Practices​

  1. Always request minimal scope - Only ask for what you need
  2. Respect token expiration - Never use expired tokens
  3. Log all access - Complete audit trail
  4. Handle errors gracefully - Don't expose user data in errors
  5. Implement data contracts - Cryptographic commitments for compliance

Next: See Hub Protocol Flow for complete flow documentation, or Plugin System to learn how to add intelligence.