Skip to content
AI + Quantum Ethics Standards

Ethical Traceability and Mapping Framework

Purpose

This framework makes ethical grounding auditable and enforceable by requiring explicit mapping between:

  • ethical axioms (00_foundations/ethical_axioms.md), and
  • technical/operational requirements across the corpus.

The intent is to prevent “ethics washing” by ensuring ethics claims are supported by verifiable controls and evidence.

Ethical Mapping

  • A3 Justice, Due Process, and Remedy
  • A4 Truthfulness & Trustworthiness
  • A6 Participation & Consultation

Traceability Principles

TP-1 (No Orphan Requirements). Every normative requirement MUST map to at least one axiom (A1–A7).

TP-2 (No Symbolic Ethics). A mapping is only valid if the standard also specifies:

  • the mechanism (requirement) intended to advance the axiom, and
  • the evidence artifact(s) that allow an auditor to verify it.

TP-3 (Bidirectional Review). Reviewers MUST be able to answer:

  • “Which axioms does this requirement serve?” and
  • “Which requirements operationalize this axiom?”

TP-4 (Conflict Handling). When axioms are in tension, the standard MUST document:

  • the tradeoff,
  • the chosen priority for the context,
  • compensating controls and residual risks.

Mandatory Mapping Requirements (Per Standard Document)

Each standard document in 01_governance/, 02_ai_standards/, 03_quantum_standards/, 04_risk_framework/, and 05_audit_and_assurance/ MUST include:

  1. an Ethical Mapping section naming relevant axiom IDs, and
  2. a Traceability Table in the Compliance Evidence section (or an appendix) mapping:
    • requirement IDs → axiom IDs → evidence artifacts.

Example Traceability Table

Requirement IDAxiom(s)Evidence Artifacts
AI-T-2A2, A3user notice templates, delivery logs
AI-S-2A5, A7red-team plan, findings tracker, remediation evidence
Q-C-2A4, A7PQ transition plan, milestone tracking

Repository-Level Expectations

ET-1 (PR Traceability). Pull requests that introduce or modify normative requirements MUST:

  • state the affected axiom IDs, and
  • identify expected evidence artifacts or updates.

ET-2 (Axiom Stability). Proposed changes to axioms MUST:

  • be treated as MAJOR changes (see VERSIONING.md), and
  • include a cross-document impact analysis (which standards and mappings are affected).

ET-3 (Auditability of Mapping). Tier 2–3 programs SHOULD maintain a machine-readable traceability index (e.g., a table or YAML) generated from the corpus to support audits.

Compliance Evidence

  • per-document traceability tables
  • PR descriptions and review records showing mapping decisions
  • optional traceability index generation outputs

Visual Summary (Non-normative)

See:

  • diagrams/traceability_flow.d2 (source)
  • diagrams/rendered/traceability_flow.svg (rendered)