The Authenticated Transfer Protocol (ATP) working group will develop a set of Standards Track specifications that enable creation of decentralized global networks for publication of self-certifying data.

Data is published by accounts in data repositories. An account represents the identity of a user, can migrate between hosting locations over time, and is identified by a persistent globally-resolvable account identifier. The network comprises independent hosts and other participants that synchronize public data across organizational boundaries, while preserving authenticity of content and attribution to the accounts that published the content. The network will give small independent participants global visibility and distribution without prior coordination, and will not depend on the existence of any single privileged entity.