> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.neuro-tech.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Legal identities
> How legal identities are created, verified, and managed on the Neuro platform
Legal identities are the platform's way of representing real actors in a form that can be trusted across systems and domains.
In Neuro, a legal identity is more than an application account or username. It is a cryptographically protected identity tied to a real person, organization, or other legal actor — used where trust, access, signatures, ownership, and compliance matter. Legal identities are attested by a Trust Provider and used together with smart contracts, ledger-backed actions, and cross-domain interoperability.
## Why legal identities matter
A normal application account is often enough for simple login and basic application access. But many workflows need stronger identity.
Examples include:
* Signing agreements
* Proving who owns an asset
* Authorizing access to sensitive data
* Identifying who performed an action
* Participating in regulated or policy-driven flows
* Connecting digital actions to real legal parties
Legal identities are part of the trust model, not just part of the profile model.
## How they fit into the platform
Legal identities work together with the rest of Neuro:
* **The Neuron** provides the interaction layer
* **Trust Providers** validate and attest identities
* **Smart contracts** use legal identities for roles, approvals, and signatures
* **Neuro-Ledger** records important identity-related events for auditability
* **Tokens and payments** can rely on legal identities for ownership and authorization
This means identity is not isolated in one account service. It is woven into the way the platform handles trust, agreements, and value transfer.
## Network identity vs legal identity
| | Network identity | Legal identity |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it tells the platform** | Who is connected | Who that actor is in a stronger, attestable sense |
| **When it is used** | Most interactions | Contractually or legally meaningful actions |
| **Attestation** | None required | Validated by a Trust Provider |
Many interactions can begin with network-level authentication, but only some should be allowed to become contractually or legally meaningful.
## Real-world context
Legal identity is a first-class infrastructure component in Neuro, not an afterthought. Across healthcare, IoT, and smart city use cases the identity layer is the prerequisite for everything else. You cannot have consent-based medical record access, auditable ownership transfer, or trusted threat intelligence sharing without knowing who the actor is in a legally meaningful sense.
## Key takeaways
Think about legal identities when your system needs:
* Identity-backed approvals
* Signed actions
* Ownership and transfer
* Regulated processes
* Stronger auditability across domains
**A legal identity turns a connected actor into a trusted participant in the platform.**
## Further reading
Platform specification and standards
Neuron and associated technologies
Tutorials and implementation guides