This seems like a crucial questions about what "data ownership" means for atproto. If the 3rd party doctrine applies, as Mike suggests, then I'm not sure it's possible to claim ownership unless it's self-hosted or it doesn't apply to your PDS host. Something to watch when permissioned data lands.
Tynan is afk til 10/19 ⁂
@masnick.com I’m listening to your interview with @reckless.bsky.social. This third party doctrine is interesting. Do you think that atproto data would be considered properly owned by the account individual? Would be interesting implications if that public data fall under search and seizure rights.
Mar 18, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Who Actually Owns Your ATProto Identity? Hint: It's Probably Not You
ATProto gives your PDS operator full control of your signing and rotation keys, letting them impersonate you across every app in the ecosystem or kill
Self-hosting your PDS | jola.dev
How to set up your own atproto Personal Data Server using tranquil-pds and docker compose, walking you through it step by step.
Other PDS
Compare other ATproto Personal Data Servers (PDS): see providers, regions, and tips for choosing where your handle and social data should live.
Other PDS
Compare other ATproto Personal Data Servers (PDS): see providers, regions, and tips for choosing where your handle and social data should live.
Setting up my own ATProtocol PDS - Blooym
Details of my adventures self-hosting my own ATProtocol Personal Data Server (PDS), including the painful debugging process.
Rashid Aziz: Extending ATproto for private data - ATProto Community
PDS Directory | ATProto PDS Index
Complete directory of Personal Data Servers in the Atmosphere.
Adversarial ATProto PDS Migration | Blog
An ATProto account lives on a Personal Data Server (PDS), and that service needs to be hosted somewhere by someone. There are a lot of options here, like a Raspberry Pi in your closet, a rented VPS in a datacentre, or a batteries-included service like bsky.social.
I recently got super into the ATProto spec and how different services use PDS to store the data, I put together a quick client-only website that presents all those records in a single, consolidated feed of all my activity: at.diego.codes
at.diego.codes — Diego Vicente
at.diego.codesSelf-hosting your own atproto infrastructure is very much attainable and after going through the process, I wanted to do a little series of write ups on how to go about it. Starting with the PDS! jola.dev/posts/self-hosting-your-pds
Self-hosting your PDS
jola.devBeen thinking about what digital ownership could look like on atproto: NOT NFTs/speculation, but real transferable digital objects. An album, artwork, book, etc. with its own DID, provenance, rights, lending, gifting & resale. Access is a service; ownership is an object. PDS to PDS transfer.
@masnick.com I’m listening to your interview with @reckless.bsky.social. This third party doctrine is interesting. Do you think that atproto data would be considered properly owned by the account individual? Would be interesting implications if that public data fall under search and seizure rights.
the single most important part of atproto is the PDS as a user-controlled auth and storage layer to which clients can connect directly. death to appviews
Authenticated Transfer Enables Orchestration - nekomimi
blog.nekomimi.petAn underappreciated #atproto feature is that whenever apps want to update your data: 1. they ask your PDS for permission, 2. your PDS asks you, 3. you can say no, + 4. your PDS enforces your wishes As of today, the @tranquil.farm PDS UX lets you give "partial no" answers to question 3. Bravo!
Trezy
This is awesome. I made a PR last week to add better support and display for permission-sets to the OAuth consent screen for @tranquil.farm. Now every time I log in to my Atmosphere account, I can actually see my fingerprints on Tranquil. 😍 #atproto
PDS Hosting
Resources related to atproto Personal Data Server (PDS) hosting
Bluesky handle directory – PDSes
eny.space
Bitesize Proto: Two PDS containers at the same time; synchronized swimmers - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Atmosphere
