> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://corpus-core.gitbook.io/pap-colibri-stateless/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://corpus-core.gitbook.io/pap-colibri-stateless/readme.md).

# Introduction

### TL;DR

* Web3 applications often leak identity and intent during read operations.
* RPC providers and indexers can observe both request metadata and request payloads.
* That leakage happens before any transaction appears on-chain.
* It enables profiling, strategy reconstruction, and front-running.
* **Pragmatic Adaptive Privacy (PAP)** models privacy across two independent dimensions: **Transport Privacy** and **Content Privacy**.
* A **Privacy Profile** combines one level from each dimension for each operation.
* The **Privacy Application Layer (PAL)** turns that profile into a concrete execution strategy.
* PAP preserves trustless verification and works with today's chains, contracts, and infrastructure.

### Abstract

Current Web3 architectures expose identity and intent through the read layer. Most applications depend on RPC providers, indexers, and similar services that sit outside the blockchain trust model. These services can observe both where requests come from and what they are trying to do.

This leakage happens before execution. Transport metadata enables correlation across sessions. Request payloads reveal planned actions, strategies, and application behavior. The result is a practical attack surface for profiling, surveillance, and pre-transaction exploitation.

Web3 already has a strong model for trustless verification. It does not yet have an equally practical model for privacy. A viable privacy architecture must satisfy three conditions. It must be trustless. It must adapt to different operations and environments. It must remain efficient enough for browsers, mobile clients, and IoT devices.

**Pragmatic Adaptive Privacy (PAP)** addresses that gap. PAP separates privacy goals from privacy mechanisms. Applications choose a **Privacy Profile** for each interaction. The **Privacy Application Layer (PAL)** then realizes that profile with the best available strategy while preserving trustless verification.

PAP does not require changes to blockchain protocols, smart contracts, or consensus mechanisms. It works with current infrastructure and remains compatible with both lightweight and strong privacy mechanisms as they evolve.

## Why this matters

Trustless verification is a core design goal of decentralized systems. Users can validate state and execute transactions without relying on a trusted intermediary. Privacy has not advanced at the same pace.

Most blockchain privacy discussions focus on what happens on-chain. That view is incomplete. In practice, decentralized applications perform far more reads than writes. Those reads usually pass through third-party infrastructure.

That infrastructure can observe identity, timing, and intent before execution. For high-value applications, that visibility becomes a direct security problem. It enables profiling, strategy reconstruction, front-running, and other forms of exploitation.

Privacy is therefore not a niche feature. It is part of the security model of any serious Web3 application.

## What PAP changes

PAP treats privacy as a configurable system property. It does not bind applications to one mechanism or one trust assumption.

The model separates privacy into two independent dimensions:

* **Transport Privacy** — who can observe the request.
* **Content Privacy** — what the request reveals about intent.

Applications combine those dimensions into a **Privacy Profile** for each operation. PAL then selects the right execution strategy for that profile. This keeps privacy adaptive, deployable, and compatible with trustless verification.

## In this documentation

* **The Problem** — [Privacy Rethought](/pap-colibri-stateless/the-problem/privacy-rethought.md), [Privacy in Today's Web3 Stack](/pap-colibri-stateless/the-problem/privacy-in-todays-web3-stack.md), and [Privacy as a First-Class Primitive](/pap-colibri-stateless/the-problem/privacy-as-a-first-class-primitive.md) define the problem and its requirements.
* **The Model** — [Pragmatic Adaptive Privacy](/pap-colibri-stateless/the-model/pragmatic-adaptive-privacy.md) introduces the PAP model, Privacy Profiles, and PAL.
* **Application and outlook** — [Applying PAP](/pap-colibri-stateless/application/applying-pap.md) and [Summary and Outlook](/pap-colibri-stateless/summary/summary-and-outlook.md) show how PAP fits today's infrastructure and where the model goes next.