Fiduciary Commons
A reference and discussion hub on digital identity, data trusteeship, and AI accountability in government — anchored in the argument that the Fourth Amendment already establishes fiduciary duties between government and citizens regarding personal data.
Fiduciary Commons is the work of Michael G. Leahy — attorney, former chief information officer, and author of a constitutional framework governing the digital relationship between government and citizens. The site serves three purposes.
First, it presents the Fiduciary Commons legislative framework: two constitutional law review articles and three companion statutes that together argue that the Fourth Amendment already imposes fiduciary duties on government regarding citizen data, and that enforceable legislation must give those duties legal effect.
Second, it is a reference hub across six topic areas — digital identity systems, data governance and trusteeship theory, AI accountability in government, comparative policy, and government technology procurement — combining original work with curated external resources and analytical commentary.
Third, it is a point of discussion. The constitutional argument underlying this framework has significant open questions, and the technical and legislative work required to advance it needs engagement from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers who can make it better. That engagement is explicitly invited.
Modern integrated government databases reconstitute, in digital form, the general warrant architecture that the Fourth Amendment was ratified to prohibit — perpetual in duration, universal in scope, governed by administrative discretion, and accessible to broad classes of officials and contractors. Existing law is structurally incapable of recognizing this violation. The framework addresses it at the constitutional root.
VIDA
Mandates decentralized, citizen-controlled identity architecture. Prohibits centralized repositories. Imposes architectural fiduciary duties.
PDTA
Establishes citizens as primary data trustees. Imposes binding fiduciary obligations on government actors. Creates private rights of action.
GAAFA
Extends fiduciary obligations to AI systems. Requires algorithmic assessments. Establishes the right to algorithmic explanation.
The framework sits within a broader field. The Topics section organizes original work, curated scholarship, legislation, and commentary across the six subject areas that together constitute the intellectual context for the constitutional argument.
01
Identity Systems & Standards
SEDI, W3C verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, decentralized architecture
02
Data Governance & Trusteeship
Fiduciary theory, data commons, trusteeship models, third-party doctrine
03
The Three Statutes
VIDA, PDTA, GAAFA — analysis, commentary, and open questions
04
Constitutional Law Articles
Fourth Amendment fiduciary theory, general warrants, digital surveillance
05
AI Accountability & Governance
Algorithmic accountability, GAAFA, EU AI Act, government AI deployment
06
Comparative Policy
EU AI Act, GDPR, state digital identity legislation, international frameworks