What the network needs to establish
Before a network records a post or spends an identity’s BFT, it needs to know that the action is authorized. Bigfoot uses a private key to authorize actions and a public identity to associate them. Your client signs the action; the protocol checks that authorization.
Ordinary participation does not require supplying a legal name to tie those actions to a person. The public thumbprint identifies the key-backed identity. Choosing a recognizable name is a separate decision.
Why this is enough for ordinary use
A legal name is not necessary to determine whether the same identity authorized two posts, whether an action can spend its balance, or whether a record follows the protocol. Key-based authorization supplies the continuity those operations require without creating a central personal-account recovery service.
That choice has a practical tradeoff: you hold the means of access. Soliton Group LLC cannot replace a lost private key or reset a forgotten backup passphrase. A usable protected backup matters more than a profile name that someone could type again.
What it does not establish
A signature establishes authorization by a key. It does not prove the author’s legal identity, expertise, or honesty. A familiar name may be copied; verify the identity you mean to follow rather than relying on its display name alone.
Appointed roles, including validators and footnote reviewers, have separate admission requirements because they carry additional network responsibilities. Those requirements do not turn ordinary use into the same appointment process.
Make deliberate choices
Decide what personal information you want a public identity to reveal. Separate identities do not guarantee that readers cannot connect them through their posts, links, or other disclosed details. Protect keys and backups wherever they are stored.
For practical steps, read Manage identities and backups. For the visibility of network activity, read Public records and personal privacy.