Reputation Module

Source document: modules/en/reputation/README.md / Propose an edit

Purpose

The Reputation Module handles trust, contribution, behavior history, and reliability.

Reputation is not a fixed measure of human worth. It is supporting information for cooperation and must not become a hierarchy or exclusion mechanism.

Problem

Cooperation benefits from knowing which people or organizations have relevant contribution history or reliability in a specific context.

Reputation systems can also create discrimination, hidden evaluation, permanent stigma, or broad exclusion.

Scope

• Contribution history
• Reliability
• Inter-organization trust
• Transparent evaluation evidence
• Appeals
• Updateability
• Context-specific evaluation
• Scope of reputation use
• Boundaries between reputation and privacy

Out of Scope

• Fixing human worth
• Social hierarchy
• Broad exclusion through reputation scores
• Secret evaluation
• Arbitrary limits on economy or welfare access
• Evaluation based on belief, attributes, or origin
• Permanent fixation of past failures

Relationship to Other Modules

• Identity: identifies whose reputation in which context
• Economy: must avoid over-controlling economic access
• Welfare: must be used carefully for support decisions
• Governance: may inform roles or review responsibility
• Arbitration: connects to appeals and disputes
• Audit: verifies evidence and change history

Initial Notes

Reputation should begin as contextual records rather than a single global score.

Evaluation evidence, evaluator identity, usage scope, correction, and appeal procedures should be designed separately.

Open Questions

• What unit should reputation be recorded for?
• How can reputation work with anonymity, pseudonymity, and personhood?
• What prevents reputation from becoming discrimination or hierarchy?
• When can reputation records be corrected, removed, or appealed?
• What boundaries prevent reputation from controlling economy, welfare, or governance?