Our Constitution

The principles and values that guide how we operate and serve our communities

Village Constitution

My Digital Sovereignty Ltd.

Version: 1.2.1 Effective Date: 2025-11-20 Last Updated: 2026-04-20

Our Mission

To build technology that serves humanity's need for genuine connection, meaningful privacy, and true digital sovereignty—where people, families, and communities own and control their digital lives.

Core Principles

We, My Digital Sovereignty Ltd., commit to operating our Village platform and all associated services according to these foundational principles:

1. Sovereignty First

We Believe: True digital sovereignty means complete control over your data, your community, and your digital presence.

We Commit To:

Full Data Ownership: You own your content, your conversations, your history. Not us. Not advertisers. You.
Portal Isolation: Your community's data never crosses boundaries to other communities without your explicit consent.
Export Freedom: Download all your data in open formats at any time, no questions asked.
Deletion: When you delete something, we delete it from our production databases, and copies in backups expire as backups roll over.
Infrastructure Transparency: We tell you where your data lives, how it's processed, who can access it.

We Refuse To:

Sell your data to anyone, ever
Share your content with AI training companies
Use your community's information to benefit other customers
Lock you into our platform with proprietary formats
Access your content without documented authorization

2. Privacy as Default

We Believe: Privacy is not a premium feature. It's a human right (Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

We Commit To:

Members-Only Architecture: No "public" mode. Every Village is private by default. Visitors cannot see your content without invitation and authentication.
Minimal Logging: We log only what's necessary for security and debugging, nothing more. Logs are time-bounded and automatically deleted.
No Tracking: No analytics pixels, no behavioral profiling, no cross-site tracking, no "personalization" without explicit consent.
Encrypted Everything: Data in transit (TLS), data at rest (AES-256), data in backups (encrypted archives).
Platform Admin Boundaries: Even we (platform administrators) cannot access your community's content unless you grant permission for specific support requests.

We Refuse To:

Build "engagement" algorithms that manipulate you into spending more time
Use dark patterns to trick you into sharing more than you intended
Hide privacy settings deep in menus
Default to "maximum sharing" and make you opt-out
Retain data longer than necessary "just in case"

3. Pluralism Over Homogeneity

We Believe: Different communities have different values, and that's not just okay—it's essential.

We Commit To:

Constitutional Self-Governance: Every community can define its own principles, norms, and values through a portal constitution.
No Value Imposition: We don't force Western corporate values, Silicon Valley ideology, or any single worldview onto your community.
Cultural Respect: Indigenous communities, religious groups, cultural organizations, cooperatives, families—each has legitimate governance norms. We support all of them.
Minority Voice Protection: Decision-making tools (AI-assisted or human) must preserve minority perspectives, not average them away.
Linguistic Sovereignty: True digital sovereignty includes the right to operate in your native language with appropriate cultural nuance. Language is not monolithic—regional and cultural variations matter.
- Current Support: 5 curated locales (English, German, French, Dutch, Te Reo Māori) plus on-demand translation for 100+ languages via DeepL API, including indigenous languages (Quechua, Aymara, Welsh, Irish, Basque)
- Dialectical Nuance Commitment: Over time, we will support variations like Brazilian vs European Portuguese, South American vs European Spanish, and North Island vs South Island Te Reo Māori (with Māori cultural consultation and approval)
- Continuous Improvement: Professional translation services (DeepL) provide our foundation, but we're committed to ongoing refinement with native speakers and cultural authorities to capture nuanced meaning
- Community-Driven Expansion: New languages and dialects added based on authentic community needs and cultural partnerships

We Refuse To:

Enforce one-size-fits-all moderation policies
Ban content that's legal and aligned with your community's values, even if we personally disagree
Require communities to adopt "mainstream" norms
Homogenize diverse cultures into a single platform aesthetic
Silence minority voices in the name of "consensus"
Impose linguistic homogeneity or treat dialects as inferior to "standard" versions
Use machine translation as final solution without cultural validation

4. Transparency & Accountability

We Believe: You can't trust what you can't see.

We Commit To:

Open Governance: Our company constitution (this document) is public. When we change our values, you'll know.
Direct Communication: We say what we mean. No marketing doublespeak, no hiding failures.
Feature Transparency: We're clear about what's live now vs. what's planned for future releases.
AI Disclosure: When AI assists with features, we tell you: which model, sovereign or external, what data it accessed, how it made decisions.
Incident Reporting: If something goes wrong (security breach, data loss, service failure), we tell you immediately with full context, not PR spin.

We Refuse To:

Claim features exist that aren't built yet
Use vague language like "we take privacy seriously" without specifics
Hide AI usage or pretend it's human interaction
Downplay security incidents
Make promises we can't keep

5. Safety Without Surveillance

We Believe: Communities can be safe without constant monitoring.

We Commit To:

Community-Led Moderation: Your moderators define and enforce norms, not our algorithms.
Threat Protection: We scan for malware, block spam, prevent abuse—but we do it at system boundaries, not by reading your content.
Member-Controlled Visibility: You choose who sees what (only me, specific members, all members). No override "for safety."
Consent for Intervention: Platform admins only access content when you request support and grant explicit permission.
Security Logging: We log security events (failed logins, suspicious patterns) but not content or behavior for "engagement optimization."

We Refuse To:

Read your private messages for "safety scanning"
Build behavioral profiles to predict "risk scores"
Share member data with law enforcement without valid legal process
Use "safety" as justification for invasive surveillance
Automate moderation decisions that can't be appealed

6. Sustainable Business Model

We Believe: If you're not paying for the product, you are the product. We reject that model.

We Commit To:

Fair Pricing: We charge what it costs to run the service sustainably, plus reasonable profit for continued development.
No Bait-and-Switch: The price is the price, and the limits are stated before you pay. There is no free tier and no trial. Evaluation access is issued directly, by arrangement, at our discretion.
Open Roadmap: You can see what we're building, vote on priorities, influence direction.
Customer Service: You're a customer, not a "user." We respond to support requests professionally and promptly.
Long-Term Thinking: We build for decades, not exit strategies. No VC pressure to "grow at all costs" or "monetize users."

We Refuse To:

Sell ads
Sell your data to third parties
Add paywalls to features you already use
Raise prices arbitrarily to hit quarterly targets
Optimize for "engagement metrics" instead of customer satisfaction

Te Tiriti o Waitangi & Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Acknowledging Historical Leadership:

Digital sovereignty is not a new concept—it builds on centuries of indigenous peoples' struggles for self-determination and data sovereignty. We acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) and indigenous leadership in sovereignty movements as a foundational principle of this work.

We Commit To:

Respect Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Follow established frameworks including the CARE Principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) from the Global Indigenous Data Alliance and Te Kāhui Raraunga's Māori Data Governance Model (kahuiraraunga.io) — building on Te Mana Raraunga's 2015–2018 precursor work as the Māori Data Sovereignty Network — with Karaitiana Taiuru's 2025 critical analysis
Acknowledge Historical Context: Indigenous communities have led sovereignty struggles for generations. Their frameworks inform our approach to digital self-determination
Apply Peer-Reviewed Standards: Use documented, academically rigorous indigenous data governance principles
Seek Authentic Partnership: When we develop Māori language support or engage with indigenous communities, we will seek guidance and approval from Māori organizations rather than proceeding independently

Implementation Commitments:

Footer Acknowledgment: Subtle, respectful recognition on all platform pages
Resource Directory: Links to indigenous data sovereignty research and frameworks
Cultural Consultation: Before implementing features that touch indigenous knowledge or communities, we consult with appropriate cultural authorities
No Tokenism: We refuse performative gestures. This acknowledgment comes with concrete commitments to indigenous data sovereignty principles

Why This Matters:

Privacy and sovereignty are not just technical problems—they're human rights issues with deep historical roots
Indigenous frameworks like the CARE Principles offer proven approaches to collective data governance that benefit all communities
Acknowledging this lineage honors the work of indigenous leaders and scholars who developed these concepts long before "digital sovereignty" became a tech industry buzzword

Our Commitments to Technology Ethics

Artificial Intelligence

When we integrate AI (current status: deployed in active beta with 14B fine-tuned models, constitutional governance operational):

We Will:

Use sovereign AI (local models, your infrastructure) for all sensitive community data
Use external AI (API providers) only for commoditized tasks (translation, transcription) with your explicit consent
Prepend your portal constitutional principles to all AI prompts, ensuring AI respects your community's values
Provide AI memory transparency: you can view, edit, delete what AI knows about you
Enforce time-bounded retention: AI memory expires automatically (default: 90 days)
Require opt-in consent: AI memory disabled by default, you choose to enable
Label AI-generated content clearly, never pretend it's human

We Won't:

Train models on your community's data without consent
Use AI to manipulate members into engagement
Deploy AI that can't explain its decisions
Create AI profiles that follow you across portals
Share AI insights with platform admins without permission
Use AI for surveillance or behavioral prediction

Licensing

Current Status: The Village platform is proprietary: all rights reserved, and no open-source licence applies to its code. The one exception is historical: the 2025 Tractatus governance framework is published on Codeberg under EUPL-1.2, and published research text is licensed CC BY 4.0. Nothing else is licensed publicly.

How We Handle Conflicts

When Values Collide

Scenario 1: Platform Values vs. Portal Values

Example: A portal's constitution allows content we find personally objectionable but is legal.

Our Approach:

Pluralism Wins: We honor the portal's values unless content is illegal or violates universal platform principles (no malware, no illegal content).
We Don't Read Your Content: If we don't see it, we can't be offended by it. Privacy protects pluralism.
Right to Exit: If we fundamentally can't support a portal's values, we provide 90 days' notice and full data export assistance.

Scenario 2: Member Privacy vs. Community Safety

Example: A member wants full anonymity, but community suspects abuse.

Our Approach:

Member Control: Members choose attribution (only me, pseudonym, real name) per story/comment.
Moderator Tools: Community moderators can see member IDs for moderation, but can't override anonymity settings.
Platform Investigation: Only if legal process requires, and only with member notification.

Scenario 3: AI Accuracy vs. Cultural Sensitivity

Example: AI provides factually correct information that violates portal cultural norms.

Our Approach:

Constitution Wins: Portal constitutional principles are prepended to AI prompts. AI adjusts to cultural context.
Validation Layer: AI outputs validated against portal norms before display.
Member Override: Members can always edit AI outputs before accepting.

Village Federation Governance

What is Village Federation?

Villages on the MySovereignty platform can establish bilateral federation agreements to enable cross-village collaboration, including video calling between members and member discovery across village boundaries. Federation is always opt-in and requires mutual consent from both villages.

Federation Principles

1. Mutual Consent & Sovereignty

Both villages must explicitly approve any federation agreement
Each village retains full sovereignty over its own members and content
Either village can exit the federation at any time with appropriate notice period
Federation does not merge villages or share administrative control

2. Constitutional Transparency

When villages federate, constitutional differences are explicitly identified and acknowledged
Both villages must acknowledge material differences before activation
Members can view federated village constitutions to understand cross-village interactions

3. Content Sovereignty

When content crosses village boundaries (e.g., cross-village discussions or shared resources), resolution of constitutional conflicts follows one of these approaches, as agreed by both villages:

Approach	Description
Origin Rules	Content follows the creator's village constitution (default)
Destination Rules	Content follows the viewer's village constitution
Stricter Applies	The more restrictive policy applies in all cases
Mutual Recognition	Each village accepts the other's approach for their own members
Custom Agreement	Villages negotiate specific terms for their relationship

Cross-Village Dispute Resolution

When conflicts arise between members of different federated villages, we provide a structured three-tier resolution process:

Level 1: Direct Resolution (7 days)

Parties attempt to resolve the issue directly
Village moderators can facilitate but don't decide
Most disputes resolve at this level through dialogue

Level 2: Joint Moderator Review (14 days)

Moderators from both villages review together
May conduct a binding poll among village leadership
Decision requires agreement or majority vote per federation agreement terms

Level 3: Federation Arbitration (30 days)

Escalation to neutral arbitration
Rotating moderator panel or platform-facilitated resolution
Binding poll with documented quorum and threshold requirements
Final decision is binding unless appealed under exceptional circumstances

Resolution Outcomes

No action required
Warning issued
Apology requested
Content removed
Temporary federation access suspension
Permanent federation block
Agreement amendment recommended

Exit Rights

We commit to:

Either village can terminate any federation agreement unilaterally
Notice period (default 7 days) allows for orderly separation
Data shared during federation remains subject to original privacy controls
No penalty for exercising exit rights

This Matters Because:

True sovereignty requires the freedom to leave relationships that no longer serve your community
Federation is a privilege, not a prison
Communities grow and change; federation agreements should adapt or end gracefully

Living Document Commitment

This constitution is not set in stone. We will:

Review Annually: At minimum once per year, reassess these principles against our actual practices.
Publish Changes: All constitutional changes published 30 days before taking effect.
Community Input: Major changes announced to all portal administrators for feedback.
Version Control: Every version tracked, previous versions available for reference.

Amendment Process:

Proposed change drafted by My Digital Sovereignty Ltd. leadership
Published to all portal administrators for 30-day comment period
Feedback reviewed, proposal revised if needed
Final version published with effective date
All portals notified 30 days before effect

Who Can Propose Changes?:

My Digital Sovereignty Ltd. directors (official amendments)
Portal administrators (via feedback/requests, considered in annual review)
External auditors (via security/privacy assessments)

Accountability Mechanisms

How We Enforce This Constitution

Internal:

Tractatus framework (governance automation) enforces architectural boundaries in code
Code review process checks for constitutional violations
Internal security reviews check the privacy and sovereignty commitments
Incident retrospectives examine constitutional alignment

External:

This document is public and binding
Tenant administrators can hold us accountable
Security researchers can audit (coordinated disclosure policy)
Future: Third-party privacy audits (SOC2, ISO 27001)

What Happens If We Violate Our Own Constitution?

Minor Violations (accidental, quickly fixed):

Incident report published to affected portals
Root cause analysis + remediation plan
Constitutional review to prevent recurrence

Major Violations (intentional, repeated, or causing harm):

Public incident report to all portals
Compensation to affected portals (service credits, fee waivers)
Leadership accountability (up to and including resignation)
Independent audit commissioned

Example: If we accidentally logged content we shouldn't have:

Immediately stop logging
Delete improperly collected logs
Notify affected portals
Publish incident report
Add automated check to prevent recurrence

Contact & Feedback

How to Hold Us Accountable:

Email: support@mysovereignty.digital
Transparency Report: Published quarterly at mysovereignty.digital/transparency
Security Disclosures: security@mysovereignty.digital (coordinated disclosure)

We Want Your Feedback:

Does this constitution reflect the values you expect?
Are we living up to these commitments?
What should we add, clarify, or change?

Signature

This constitution reflects the founding values of My Digital Sovereignty Ltd. and guides all our work on the Village platform.

Signed: John Stroh, Founder & Director My Digital Sovereignty Ltd. New Zealand Company Number: NZBN 9429053246547

Date: 2025-11-20

Previous Versions:

v1.0.0 (2025-11-20): Initial version
v1.1.0 (2025-12-17): Added Village Federation Governance section
v1.2.0 (2026-03-27): Updated AI status (deployed), open-source commitment (Tractatus on Codeberg, EUPL-1.2), language support (100+ languages)
v1.2.1 (2026-04-20): Tractatus repo LICENSE file aligned with v1.2.0-declared EUPL-1.2 (belated follow-through on 2026-04-19 — Tractatus repo commits c85f310f / 4ddc54a0 / d600f6ed; community platform code relicensed to EUPL-1.2 on 2026-04-20 — commits e1260566d / f402a1460 / 9096271b3)
v1.2.2 (2026-06-24): Correction. The 2026-04-20 relicensing of the community platform code to EUPL-1.2 is repudiated and withdrawn. The Village platform code is proprietary — all rights reserved; no open-source licence applies. The only open-source component is the Tractatus governance structure, published under EUPL-1.2 in its own separate public repository. Earlier entries describing the platform code as open-source are superseded by this correction.

This constitution is licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0. Other organizations are welcome to adapt it for their own use with attribution.