Data recovery draft

When losing an actor (e.g. through a lost device), its own private data a priori lost as well. There are two safety nets, however: actor groups and entrusted actors.

Seamless recovery through actor groups

An actor is usually part of an actor group. All actors within the same group share and synchronize their private data.

If at least one active actor remains in the group, this actor will have a (nearly) complete copy of the private data. Recovery is seamless: if the device is replaced, a new actor is created on the new device, and added to the group.

Using a backup actor will greatly increase the probability that an active actor remains in the group.

Recovery through an entrusted actor

An actor may entrust another actor (e.g. a close friend, or a notary) with the data. The entrusted actor can decrypt the actor's private data to recover it.