PIC Model — Provenance Identity Continuity for Distributed Execution Systems

⚠️ NOTICE — OBSOLETE DRAFT — DO NOT USE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

This record is an archived draft and is no longer maintained.

An updated and actively maintained version of the PIC Specification is now published and stewarded by Nitro Agility S.r.l.:

➡️ https://github.com/pic-protocol/pic-spec/blob/main/draft/0.1/pic-spec.md

This record remains available solely for scholarly reference and historical purposes.

It MUST NOT be used as the basis for new implementations.

⚠️ A newer and superseding version of this work is available

The Provenance Identity Continuity (PIC) Model introduces the Executor-First paradigm, in which identity does not reside in transferable artifacts but emerges from the execution state and its verifiable causal origin. The model defines structural invariants for multi-hop distributed execution, replacing Proof of Possession with hop-by-hop Proof of Continuity (PoC).

PIC treats execution as a distributed transaction whose provenance is extended through non-transferable Causal Attestations (PCA). Each hop must be causally attested by its predecessor, preventing impersonation, replay, and artifact inheritance. By binding authority to the executor that continues the transaction—rather than to artifacts—PIC is designed to structurally resolve the Confused Deputy problem, where delegation occurs without enforcing that the executor is the intended recipient of authority.

The model supports identity-centric and anonymous capability flows, reducing identity exposure while preserving verifiable causal continuity. This publication presents the conceptual framework; formal derivations, reference implementations, and empirical evaluation will follow in subsequent releases.

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