Your Identity — a guide for holders

A FreeholdIP identity is yours. Think of it like the deed to a house, but for your professional self: you hold the key, you decide what it shows, and no company — not even us — can take it, change it, or shut it down.

⬇ Download this guide as a PDF

What you’re getting

Your identity is a name and a key that belong only to you. It’s the home for the verified credentials you collect — licenses, certifications, diplomas — and you choose which ones to show. Because you own it:

• You control it. Your keys live only on your device. We never see them.
• No one can take it down. It’s recorded on the public record, so it’s provably yours and can’t be quietly deleted or censored.
• It outlives everyone. Even if an issuer — or FreeholdIP itself — disappears, a copy you hold still verifies — offline, by math alone.
• Everything in one place. Credentials from different boards and schools live together, and you share them with one link.

Step 1 — Create your identity

1. Pick your name. This is your identity name — capital letters and numbers, e.g. JANESMITH. It has to be one not already taken.
2. Save your Recovery Sheet. You’ll get twelve words. This is the most important step. Write them down or save the sheet somewhere safe — a drawer, a safe, a thumb drive.
3. Set a password. It unlocks your identity on this device. We never receive it.
4. Pay the one-time fee ($5 introductory) by card. That’s it — your identity is created.
5. Save your device login file too — it’s a handy backup of this device’s login.

Step 2 — Set up your profile

Sign in with your password, then edit what people see — your name, role, a photo, a logo, website, contact details, a short bio. For each credential you hold, you choose to show or hide it. You can also add labeled links (for example, a license-lookup page).

When you’re happy, click Sign & publish. Updates are free and instant, and nothing is public until you publish it — you’re always in control of what’s shown.

Step 3 — Receive your credentials

When a board, association, or school issues you a credential, they send it to your identity — using your address or your identity name. It shows up in your manager, and you decide whether to display it. They never see your key, and the credential is yours to keep the moment it’s issued. If the issuer later renews or revokes it, that update is reflected automatically — but the record that it was issued stays permanent.

Step 4 — Share and prove it

Share your profile link or QR code — on a business card, an email signature, a website. Anyone you share it with can verify your credentials instantly — no account, no fee, no phone calls — and it even works offline. Verification confirms each credential is genuine, current, and really issued by who it says it was.

If you lose access

New phone or computer, or forgot your password? Choose Recover and enter your twelve recovery words to get back in and set a new password. (This is exactly why Step 1 matters — if you’ve lost both the words and the password, recovery isn’t possible.)

Quick answers

Can FreeholdIP delete or change my identity?

No. We don’t hold your key and can’t alter or remove your identity. That’s the point.

Can an issuer take it away?

No. An issuer can renew or revoke a credential they issued, but they cannot touch your identity or your other credentials.

Is my information public?

Only what you choose to publish. Hidden entries stay private; nothing appears until you sign and publish it.

Do updates cost money?

No. After the one-time creation fee, editing your profile and showing/hiding credentials are free.

What if FreeholdIP shuts down one day?

Your identity and credentials keep working. They verify against the open public record and an independent verification network — not against us.