Modern digital systems exercise real power over users, organisations, and societies, yet it is often unclear who authorised that power, who is accountable for its outcomes, or how those affected can contest decisions. Legal compliance and technical performance alone have proven insufficient to resolve this gap.
This repository contains the canonical v1.0.2 release of the TRUST model, a structural framework for restoring accountability in digital systems, alongside RESPECT, its companion model for governing interaction and influence in shared environments.
- TRUST establishes directional accountability: authority must terminate with the user, and systems must be able to report, explain, and justify their actions back to that authority.
- RESPECT constrains how systems may affect others, enforcing restrictions on scope, power, and externalised control where multiple users or systems coexist.
Together, TRUST and RESPECT define the minimum structural conditions under which digital systems can be considered legitimately accountable and safe to operate at scale.
This work is not a technology, product, or compliance checklist. It is a governance model intended to be applied across domains, including AI systems, platforms, automation, shared services, and public infrastructure.
- Version: v1.0.2
- Status: Canonical release
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
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trust_model_v1.0.2.md
The canonical whitepaper defining the TRUST and RESPECT models (v1.0.2 release). -
trust_spec/
Reference model, tests, and exemplar tooling for the TRUST/RESPECT properties. -
sse/
SSE profile references used by the repository documentation and code comments. -
LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). -
README.md
Repository overview and executive summary.
This document is a structural governance model, not a product specification, technical standard, or compliance checklist.
It is intended to be:
- read and cited by policymakers, architects, auditors, and researchers,
- used as an evaluative lens for new and existing systems,
- adapted or extended under the terms of the licence.
It is not intended to:
- prescribe specific technologies or implementations,
- function as a certification or scoring system,
- replace legal, regulatory, or organisational governance.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0).
See the LICENSE file for full legal text.
© 2026 James I.T. Wylie.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
TRUST™ and RESPECT™ are trademarks of Synavera Discorporated. Use of these marks does not imply endorsement unless explicitly stated and may be challenged when used to describe systems that materially violate the model definitions.