TRACE

PROCESSING AUTHORIZATION & PARTICIPATION TERMS

2025/26

1. Scope of Authorization

By submitting a portrait to TRACE, you voluntarily authorize your image to be processed by the TRACE system.

This authorization permits:

  • generative transformation of the submitted image

  • creation of a digital moving-image artifact (The Melt)

  • generation of a physical residue (The Trace)

  • archival storage of the Trace within the Archive of Future Humans

Participation is optional and may be declined at any time prior to submission.

2. Image Use & Data Handling

TRACE does not:

  • store original portrait images

  • archive source photographs

  • generate biometric profiles

  • perform facial recognition

  • collect behavioral or tracking data

The submitted image is used only as temporary input for generative processing.
Once processing is complete, the original image is deleted.

Only transformed outputs are preserved.

3. Outputs & Ownership

Each submission generates two linked artifacts:

3.1 The Melt (Digital Artifact)

  • Issued exclusively to the participant

  • Delivered as a cryptographically verified digital object

  • Not retained, sold, or transferred by the artist

3.2 The Trace (Physical Residue)

  • Preserved in the Archive of Future Humans

  • Stored without identifying information

  • May be claimed only by the verified holder of the corresponding Melt

Ownership rules are governed by the TRACE Ownership Protocol.

4. Consent to Irreversibility

By submitting, you acknowledge that:

  • the generative process is irreversible

  • original likeness cannot be reconstructed from outputs

  • submitted data cannot be withdrawn after processing begins

TRACE preserves disappearance, not restoration.

5. Visibility & Attribution

TRACE does not require public identification.

If you choose to provide attribution or visibility preferences:

  • they will be respected where possible

  • anonymity is the default condition

  • visibility choices may not be modified after submission

6. Exhibition & Documentation

You acknowledge that:

  • Melts and Traces may be exhibited in physical or digital form

  • Traces are presented without personal identifiers

  • Documentation of the system may include abstracted outputs

No original portrait images will be exhibited or published.

7. Limitation of Responsibility

TRACE is not responsible for:

  • loss of access to digital wallets

  • third-party NFT transfers

  • secondary market activity

  • misinterpretation of the work by external platforms

Participation does not constitute a commercial transaction unless explicitly stated.

8. Ethical Boundary

TRACE operates as an artistic system.

It is not:

  • a social network

  • an identity verification service

  • a biometric database

  • a surveillance tool

The work exists within an artistic, speculative, and critical context.

9. Acceptance

By checking the authorization box and submitting your portrait, you confirm that:

  • you have read and understood this document

  • you consent to the processing described above

  • you enter the TRACE system voluntarily