Decision Rights and Accountability
Governance needs to establish not only what decisions can be made, but also who has the authority to make them, who is responsible for the outcome, and how that responsibility can be demonstrated.
In a distributed network such as SENA, this becomes particularly important because responsibility is shared across participants rather than concentrated in a single platform operator.
Decision Rights
Decision rights are the formally recognised authority to make a particular category of decision.
A decision right should be:
- Explicit
- Limited to a defined scope
- Assigned to an identified role or participant
- Exercised according to agreed rules
- Traceable through network records
For example, the right to approve a new SENA component should not automatically belong to the organisation that developed the component. Similarly, operating a Hosting Agent should not automatically give an organisation authority over the HR data held or exchanged through the network.
Accountability
Accountability is different from decision rights.
A participant may have the authority to make a decision, but accountability means that the participant is responsible for the consequences of exercising that authority.
For people data, this distinction is particularly important. The network needs to distinguish between who:
- Creates information
- Verifies information
- Has authority to amend information
- Grants access
- Uses information
- Revokes access or credentials
- Provides infrastructure
- Is accountable for the resulting action or outcome
This creates a clear chain of responsibility rather than assuming that the organisation operating the technology automatically becomes responsible for all information flowing through it.
Hosting Agent Responsibilities
A Hosting Agent provides the operational infrastructure that enables organisations and individuals to participate in the SENA network.
The Hosting Agent is therefore an important part of the trust architecture, but its role should be clearly separated from ownership or authority over the data.
A Hosting Agent may be responsible for:
- Node Infrastructure
Providing and maintaining the technical environment required for a participant’s SENA node, including:
- Holochain runtime services
- Network connectivity
- Storage and backup arrangements where applicable
- Monitoring and operational support
- System availability and resilience
- Software deployment and version management
The Hosting Agent is responsible for operating the infrastructure within the agreed service and governance rules.
- Security and Operational Controls
Maintaining appropriate technical and operational controls to protect the node and its services, including:
- Authentication and access controls
- Credential and key management processes
- Security monitoring
- Vulnerability management
- Incident detection and response
- Business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements
These responsibilities relate to the operation of the infrastructure. They do not, by themselves, give the Hosting Agent authority to access or use participant data.
- Network Participation
Supporting the participant’s connection to the wider SENA ecosystem in accordance with the network’s governance rules.
This may include:
- Registering or provisioning nodes
- Applying network configuration
- Supporting approved capability components
- Maintaining required software versions
- Supporting interoperability requirements
- Implementing network-level operational policies
- Governance Administration
Where authorised by the network’s governance framework, a Hosting Agent may also perform defined administrative functions.
For example, it may:
- Verify that a participant has completed required onboarding steps
- Maintain technical registration information
- Apply approved network policies
- Suspend or restrict services where a defined rule requires it
- Maintain operational records
- Escalate governance or security incidents
These are delegated responsibilities, not unrestricted governance powers.
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
A Hosting Agent should operate on the principle that hosting infrastructure does not create ownership of the data being hosted or exchanged.
The governance framework should define:
- What information the Hosting Agent may access
- Under what circumstances access is permitted
- What information must remain encrypted or inaccessible
- What operational logs may be retained
- How long operational information is retained
- What happens when a participant leaves the network
- How security or legal requests are handled
The objective is to maintain a clear separation between infrastructure responsibility and data authority.
- Service Accountability
Hosting Agents should be accountable for the services they provide.
This can include measurable commitments relating to:
- Availability
- Security
- Incident response
- Service restoration
- Change management
- Version management
- Data protection controls
- Auditability
- Support and escalation
These commitments can form part of a SENA Hosting Agent agreement or accreditation framework.
- Evidence and Auditability
A Hosting Agent should be able to demonstrate that it has fulfilled its responsibilities.
Evidence may include:
- Operational logs
- Security events
- Configuration records
- Software versions
- Incident records
- Service availability information
- Access records where appropriate
- Governance actions performed under delegated authority
The objective is not to create unnecessary central surveillance, but to ensure that responsibility can be demonstrated when something goes wrong.
What a Hosting Agent Does Not Automatically Have the Right to Do
Operating infrastructure should not automatically confer authority to:
- Own participant HR data
- Determine who is entitled to access an individual’s information
- Change an individual’s employment information
- Approve HR standards
- Modify SENA capability contracts
- Alter another participant’s business rules
- Use network data for unrelated commercial purposes
- Override an individual’s or organisation’s defined permissions
Those rights must come from an explicit governance rule, contractual authority, or other recognised decision right.
Hosting Agent Accountability Model
The distinction can be expressed simply:
Hosting Agent → operates infrastructure
Data Authorised Party → controls the relevant data action
Governance Authority → defines the rules
Component Provider → is accountable for its component
Participant → is accountable for actions it takes
This separation is fundamental to a trusted distributed network.
A Hosting Agent may provide the environment in which a transaction occurs without becoming the owner of the transaction or the authority over the underlying people data.
From Governance to Code
The objective is for governance decisions to become enforceable technical rules.
A useful SENA model is:
Governance Rule → Capability Contract → Permission → Validation Rule → Zome Logic → Recorded Action
This creates a direct connection between the rules agreed by the network and the software that implements those rules.
For every significant action, the network should be able to answer four questions:
- Who had the right to decide?
- Who actually acted?
- Who was accountable for the outcome?
- What evidence demonstrates what happened?
A Shared Responsibility Model
SENA should therefore avoid creating a single organisation that becomes responsible for everything.
Instead, responsibility should follow the role being performed.
| Decision or Responsibility | Decision Right / Role | Accountable Party |
| Admit network participant | Network governance | Network governance body |
| Define HR data standard | Relevant standards body | Standards body |
| Create employment record | Authorised employer | Employer |
| Verify credential | Credential issuer | Credential issuer |
| Access restricted employee data | Authorised participant | Accessing organisation |
| Operate Hosting Agent node | Hosting Agent | Hosting Agent |
| Approve SENA component | Component governance process | Component provider and approving authority |
| Change internal component implementation | Component provider | Component provider |
| Maintain Hosting Agent infrastructure | Hosting Agent | Hosting Agent |
| Respond to Hosting Agent security incident | Hosting Agent | Hosting Agent |
| Change SENA-wide capability contract | Defined governance process | Responsible governance body |
| Resolve governance dispute | Agreed dispute mechanism | Appointed decision authority |
The result is a governance model in which authority, responsibility and evidence remain connected, even though the underlying technology and organisations are distributed.
The Principle
Distributed technology requires distributed responsibility — but distributed responsibility only works when decision rights and accountability are explicit.
For SENA, the Hosting Agent should be a trusted operational participant in the network, not an unintended central authority.
The network defines the rules.
Participants exercise their rights.
Hosting Agents operate the infrastructure.
Components perform their defined capabilities.
And accountability follows the action.