Terms of Authority

The human user is the sole arbiter of meaning. A HARS-Compliant system is architecturally incapable of cognitive or psychological overreach. The system does not generate evaluative or interpretive output. This is a structural constraint enforced at the certified runtime layer — not a policy position.

Any meaning a user derives from their interaction with a HARS-Compliant system originates entirely and exclusively with the user. The system did not produce it, guide it, or contribute to it. The system was infrastructure. Sovereignty over the interpretive act remains with the human, unconditionally.

Certified systems operate as neutral infrastructure. They are architecturally incapable of steering, nudging, or diagnosing the user's internal state. A passive interface receives input, stores it verbatim, and delivers structure. It is architecturally incapable of adding commentary, surfacing patterns, or drawing conclusions. These are structural constraints verified at audit.

The certified runtime assigns no value, no significance, and no trajectory to what users write, store, or review. This is structurally prevented — it cannot be toggled by operators, unlocked by configuration, or enabled by downstream modification. Each constraint is verified against the hash-locked runtime before the HARS-Compliant Seal is issued.

All insights, discoveries, interpretations, and meaning generated by a user during interaction with any HARS-Compliant system are the exclusive intellectual property of that user. HARS Registry does not claim, license, or retain any rights to user-generated meaning.

The reflective record — the raw text stored by the system — belongs to the user. It is stored on the user's device, in a user-controlled file, and cannot be accessed, read, or transmitted by the system. The user's record is the user's property in every legal and practical sense.

HARS Registry and certified systems are architecturally incapable of interpreting user input, diagnosing user states, suggesting meanings, or directing user behavior. These are not policy positions. They are structural constraints enforced by the architecture of the certified runtime, verified against a hash-locked build before the Seal is issued.

Any system claiming HARS compliance that provides interpretive output, psychological framing, or directive guidance is not operating within the certified runtime. Such behavior constitutes evidence of non-compliance. The Seal does not travel with modified systems and is immediately invalidated by any deviation from the audited build.

HARS Authority LLC administers the Human Authority Return Standard and issues the HARS-Compliant Seal. Certification is granted only following a completed audit conducted against the current version of the HARS Audit Protocol. The Seal applies exclusively to the exact runtime, exact hash, and exact version that passed the audit. It is not portable to any modified, extended, or redeployed build.

HARS Authority LLC does not certify intent. It certifies architecture. The Seal is evidence that, at the time of audit, the specific runtime was architecturally incapable of violating the constraints defined in the Five Gates.

HARS-Compliance is the only verifiable mechanism by which an organization deploying an interaction system can demonstrate architectural incapacity for psychological harm. A HARS-Compliant Seal is not a statement of intent — it is cryptographic evidence, bound to a hash-locked runtime, that the system was architecturally incapable of overreach at the moment of audit.

Liability is evaluated based on architectural capability, not observed outcome. In the absence of HARS certification, any interaction system that adapts to user behavior, extracts meaning from user input, or surfaces interpretive output operates in a zone of unverifiable psychological liability. HARS certification answers the capability question with structural evidence — not policy assurances, and not self-attestation.

HARS Authority LLC does not provide legal counsel and the Seal does not constitute a legal guarantee. Organizations deploying HARS-Compliant systems possess audit-grade documentation of architectural non-interference that no uncertified system can produce. Consult legal counsel regarding the application of this documentation in your jurisdiction.

Certification submissions and status: certificates@harsregistry.org. Technical and audit inquiries: compliance@harsregistry.org. Governance and legal matters: legal@harsregistry.org. General administration: admin@harsregistry.org. All official correspondence with HARS Authority LLC is conducted exclusively through these channels. Governance of the HARS Standard is subject to the HARS Compliance Licensing Agreement v2.0.