Version 0.1 November 2025

Governance

Intelligent automation now spans every layer of digital infrastructure. Yet the challenge is no longer how much intelligence we can automate—but how much human agency we can preserve.

Across domains—education, design, governance, health—systems are being built that claim to be “human‑first.” But without verifiable standards, that term risks dilution. The Global Protocol Stewardship Model (GPSM) defines how to maintain integrity across a decentralized ecosystem of human‑agency protocols.

The model recognizes that governance cannot scale by bureaucratic oversight. It must be structural, lightweight, and enforceable through protocol behavior.

Purpose

GPSM provides a meta‑governance framework for any protocol that mediates between humans and intelligent systems.

It ensures that participation in a global network of inquiry or collaboration is limited to qualified service providers who uphold inviolable standards of privacy, transparency, and human authorship.

It does not regulate local systems or cultural contexts. Each domain remains free to define what “human‑first” means within its own values. GPSM governs only those entities that operate the protocol layer—the technical intermediaries that move structural signals between local systems.

Governance Philosophy

Minimalism

Only what is necessary to protect human autonomy is enforced. All else remains voluntary. Governance exists to prevent extraction, not to dictate expression.

Sovereignty by Layer

Local systems govern human use. Protocol service providers govern data integrity. The global registry governs participation rights.

Proof over Promise

Ethical claims are meaningless without technical evidence. Every qualified provider must demonstrate compliance through verifiable proofs—cryptographic, procedural, or statistical.

Transparency as Legitimacy

Openness is not an option; it is the currency of trust. Every steward’s conformance record must be public, inspectable, and auditable.

Stewardship, not Ownership

No entity owns the protocol; all stewards share its maintenance. Governance is custodial and renewable, never permanent.

Layers of Responsibility

Layer	Actor	Responsibility	Governance Mechanism
Local Human‑First Systems	Organizations, communities, platforms	Define how human agency is expressed and measured.	Local governance, self‑defined ethics.
Protocol Service Providers (PSPs)	Operators of the protocol infrastructure	Enforce privacy, schema fidelity, and transparency.	Qualification + periodic proof submission.
Global Coordination Layer	Open registry of stewards	Manage admission, verification, and revocation of PSPs.	Peer validation, rotating audits, public registry.

Protocol Service Provider (PSP) Qualification

A PSP must pass a qualification process to participate in the global coordination layer. This process verifies that the provider enforces the protocol’s foundational safeguards.

Core Criteria

Schema Fidelity – The provider implements the protocol’s data schemas exactly; no hidden fields or mutable parameters.
Privacy Integrity – No content leaves local custody; only structural or anonymized signals are transmitted.
Transparency Ledger – Every transaction, update, and signal guide is logged in an open, auditable format.
Non‑Extraction Commitment – No training, profiling, or optimization is performed on user‑generated content or structural telemetry.
Ethos Affirmation – The provider signs and publishes an affirmation that intelligent systems must amplify, not replace, human authorship.

Verification Proofs

Each criterion must be backed by at least one verifiable artifact:

Cryptographic proof (signature, hash chain, or attestation)
Procedural proof (public compliance checklist)
Statistical proof (privacy or fairness validation report)

Renewal Cycle

Qualification expires every 12 months unless renewed through:

Updated proofs
Recent audit log publication
Peer co‑signatures from two qualified stewards

Registry Architecture

The Global Registry maintains a public, append‑only directory of qualified PSPs.

Contents of Each Entry

{
  "provider_id": "psp-alpha",
  "organization": "Example Labs",
  "jurisdiction": "EU",
  "schema_version": "2.1",
  "privacy_audit_hash": "sha256:...",
  "transparency_log_url": "https://...",
  "ethos_affirmation": true,
  "last_verified": "2025-11-01",
  "verified_by": ["psp-omega", "psp-delta"]
}

Verification Process

A new PSP submits its public key, schemas, and proofs.
Two existing stewards independently verify and sign its record.
Once two signatures are posted, the registry entry becomes active.

Revocation

A Protocol Service Provider loses its qualification if it:

allows AI to act without resolving a required stop-condition,
allows inferred meaning to substitute for human-defined meaning,
bypasses human checkpoints at any Ladder stage.

Governance enforces alignment not through trust, but through protocol-level accountability.

If a PSP violates privacy or transparency guarantees:

Any steward may propose revocation.
Two corroborating proofs (e.g., leaked content, falsified schema, checkpoint bypass) trigger automatic suspension.
PSP may reapply after correction and re‑audit.

Proof‑of‑Stewardship

Instead of centralized enforcement, GPSM relies on a recurring self‑audit mechanism:

Quarterly Integrity Reports – Summary of all proofs and privacy checks.
Public Transparency Logs – Hash‑chained updates for independent verification.
Peer Challenge Right – Any steward can request clarification or sample audit.
Dispute Resolution – Open arbitration via three neutral stewards; decisions recorded publicly.

Ethical Foundations

The model defines ethics as enforceable behavior, not as aspiration. Every qualified provider commits to:

Human Primacy: Systems must defer to human direction in case of conflict.
Privacy by Architecture: No storage or transmission of personal or semantic content beyond local custody.
Transparency by Default: Operational data must be visible, queryable, and signed.
Non‑Extraction Economy: Data and interactions cannot be monetized or optimized for engagement.

Providers that violate these principles lose their qualification automatically through proof‑based revocation.

Interoperability & Local Autonomy

Local human‑first systems remain fully sovereign. They may implement any governance or ethical model suited to their domain—educational, civic, artistic—so long as they use only qualified PSPs when connecting to the global layer.

This structure ensures:

Global interoperability of inquiry signals.
Local cultural and ethical independence.
Unified trust without centralized control.

Adoption Path

Publish Qualification Guide – Public documentation of criteria, proof types, and submission process.
Bootstrap Steward Council – Three independent PSPs form the initial quorum.
Launch Open Registry – Minimal API + human‑readable index.
Invite Regional Nodes – Encourage formation of regional PSPs under local data jurisdictions.
Annual Transparency Summit – Stewards review proof formats, share metrics, and evolve criteria.

Outcome

The Global Protocol Stewardship Model transforms governance from bureaucratic oversight to protocol‑level accountability.

It does not centralize power—it codifies responsibility. It does not prescribe culture—it protects its possibility.

By making service providers accountable through proof, not promise, GPSM ensures that every human‑first system, whatever its form, rests on infrastructure that honors the same universal commitments:

Privacy, transparency, authorship, and human autonomy.