Time-delayed public disclosure with cryptographically-committed unlock timestamps. A defense contract that publishes itself on the date set in 2025 — no administrator required.
A defense procurement contract is signed in 2025. Its full terms — vendor identity, pricing structure, capability specifications — are sealed in an ABT-S envelope. The unlock timestamp is cryptographically committed at signing: January 1, 2031.
The contracting officer cannot move this date. The vendor cannot move it. The agency head cannot move it. No administrative action can delay or accelerate the disclosure. On January 1, 2031, the envelope decrypts and the terms become public record automatically.
The commitment is in the structure. Not in an official's promise. Not in a review board's future goodwill. The transparency is legally unconditional once the envelope is sealed.
Defense procurement contracts, classified program sunset disclosures, lobbying agreements, government vendor contracts, grant award terms — any spending instrument where public accountability must be guaranteed against future administrative suppression.
ABT-S uses Ed25519 digital signatures for authentication of every event at every party. Per-event symmetric keys are derived via HKDF with the event identifier as salt and held in hardware-backed secure storage (Apple iOS Keychain, Android Keystore, or equivalent platform secure-storage). Envelope encryption is performed at the first-party endpoint before any ciphertext leaves the device or origin. Each tier authority’s ciphertext contains only that tier’s authored projection — information not relevant to a tier authority is authored out before encryption, not redacted after. The registry maintains a hash-chained log where each entry’s hash includes the prior entry’s hash, providing tamper-evident integrity across the chain. Forward-only tier activation: registration of a new tier authority causes inclusion of an active tier layer in subsequent envelopes only. Existing envelopes are not retroactively modified. Cryptographic boundary at the first party. Plaintext never moves. Per-tier projection authored at envelope construction. Registry-routed restoration requires structural participation by all three parties.
Cryptography researchers studying envelope encryption, tier-bounded ciphertext, deterministic key derivation, and signed receipt chains in public sector spending and procurement.
Privacy researchers studying architectural privacy enforcement, unlinkability, purpose limitation, retention through cessation, and consumer-controlled key custody.
Consumer protection advocates seeking architectural alternatives to policy-based privacy enforcement. Cryptographic structural enforcement, not vendor trust.
Policy researchers examining cryptographic enforcement of storage limitation (GDPR Article 5(1)(e)), data minimization (GDPR Article 5(1)(c)), and consumer protection requirements.
Government accountability researchers studying procurement transparency, defense spending oversight, classified records management, automatic declassification systems, time-delayed public disclosure of sensitive contracts, and GAO oversight mechanisms with cryptographic enforcement.
