Collective intelligence includes collaborative knowledge creation, digital sovereignty, privacy, interoperability, and human-centered governance. Conforming systems MAY self-declare alignment with this standard by documenting implementation of the minimum conformity requirements defined herein. This standard is informed by European digital rights principles, UN Open Source Principles, Digital Public Goods approaches, privacy-by-design practices, open-source licensing norms, and commons-based knowledge governance models.
This framework constitutes a voluntary good-faith self-declaration and does not imply governmental approval or independent third-party certification.
To self-certify under this standard, a Provider SHOULD demonstrate implementation of at least six (6) of the following:
Providers SHALL publish reasonably understandable privacy disclosures describing:
Conforming Systems SHOULD minimize unnecessary personal data collection and avoid undisclosed surveillance, covert profiling, or unauthorized reuse of user-generated knowledge.
Where technically feasible, users SHOULD retain export, migration, backup, or deletion capability over their information and knowledge archives.
Conforming Systems SHOULD support open standards and interoperable technologies.
Use of proprietary components SHALL NOT materially undermine user autonomy, portability, transparency, or long-term access to community knowledge resources.
Conforming Systems SHALL support meaningful human oversight, attribution, participation, and review of AI-assisted processes. Providers SHOULD maintain transparent governance, moderation, and contribution practices while reducing barriers to accessibility and collaboration.
Conforming Systems SHOULD support:
Providers SHOULD avoid lock-in mechanisms that materially restrict migration, interoperability, archival continuity, or community stewardship of shared knowledge resources.
Providers SHOULD consider sustainable hosting practices and energy-efficient infrastructure where operationally feasible.
Conforming Systems SHOULD support educational, scientific, civic, cultural, humanitarian, or environmental benefit. Where applicable, systems SHOULD support preservation of linguistic diversity, historical archives, indigenous knowledge systems, and human-authored cultural memory.
Providers satisfying the requirements of this document MAY publish the following statement:
"This software system self-declares conformity with the Collective Intelligence Self-Certification Standard (CI-SCS)."
Providers MAY display the designation:
The certification mark SHOULD only be used where the Provider maintains publicly accessible documentation describing the basis for conformity with this standard.
This standard is informed by European digital rights principles, UN Open Source Principles, Digital Public Goods frameworks, LGPL/open-source licensing models, Creative Commons licensing, and privacy-by-design practices.