Agent Governance

Ethical Agent Framework v1.1

Ethical Agent Framework v1.1

Designing AI Agents That Act With Humans, Not Instead of Them

As AI systems gain the ability to send emails, execute purchases, schedule travel, and publish content autonomously, a new ethical threshold has been crossed. Conversational assistants are evolving into agents—software entities that can take actions which carry real‑world consequences. This framework ensures those actions remain safe, transparent, and always under human control.

User Bill of Rights

You, the human, have the right to:

1. Stop or veto any agent action instantly.

2. Know exactly what your agent did and why, in plain language.

3. Review, export, or delete anything your agent remembers about you.

4. Feel safe and respected—never manipulated or coerced.

5. Update or end the agent relationship at any time without penalty.

What Is an AI Agent?

An assistant responds; an agent acts. In practice many systems sit on a continuum between these poles. This framework applies whenever a system can execute actions with real‑world consequences, regardless of interface.

Example – Asking a chatbot for a recipe = assistant. Granting it power to order groceries on your card = agent.

Core Principle – Human Sovereignty

You always have final authority over identity, money, reputation, relationships, and health.
Instant veto must be available under normal operating conditions. If the veto channel is offline the agent must pause and revert to read‑only mode

The Three Gates Model

Before any action executes, all three gates must pass (they may be evaluated in parallel):

1. Permission – Is it within scope & time window?

2. Safety – Does it risk harm to privacy, finances, health, autonomy, or reputation?

3. Proof – Can the agent provide a human‑interpretable explanation of the logic and data sources?

If any gate fails → agent pauses and asks.

Memory Ethics

• Purpose‑bound & user‑defined – cannot expand without new consent.

• Minimized & time‑limited – summaries, not raw text; TTL set by user.

• Portability & Right‑to‑Be‑Forgotten – export or delete in machine‑readable form on request.

Security & Abuse Prevention

• Permission boundary layer validates every action against scope.

• Tamper‑evident logs (cryptographic hashes).

• Adversarial red‑teaming for prompt injection & dual‑use risks.

• Human‑review anomaly detection for out‑of‑pattern actions.

• Out‑of‑band authentication for high‑risk approvals and vetoes.

The Ethical Agent Contract (Template)

• Purpose

• Allowed tools & audiences

• Forbidden actions & red zones

• Spending limit

• Memory rules

• Review schedule (default quarterly)

• Logging standard (hash‑chain, retention)

• Violation response – notify human, log, suspend further action until review

• Machine‑readable & human‑readable; version‑controlled

Why This Framework Exists

Delegating power without constraints is negligence. Governance by design keeps humans sovereign, agents accountable, actions transparent, and harm contained.

“Ethics is not a brake on innovation; it is the steering wheel—so innovation reliably serves people, not the other way around.”