# SeaCommons / Ethics & Governance Framework

## Purpose

SeaCommons is a dual-use tool. The same Lagrangian drift model that helps a coastguard locate survivors can, in the wrong hands, help an enforcement agency locate and intercept people fleeing danger. This document states what the platform is for, what it must not be used for, and the governance obligations that accompany any deployment.

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## Intended Use

| Context | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| SAR operations | Locating survivors of maritime incidents (shipwrecks, capsizings, man overboard) |
| Maritime forensics | Producing reproducible, signed evidence of drift for incident investigations and legal proceedings |
| Academic research | Studying ocean drift, Mediterranean currents, survival statistics |
| NGO fleet monitoring | Supporting organisations like MOAS, SOS Méditerranée, Alarm Phone in tracking humanitarian vessels |
| Environmental response | Oil spill trajectory projection, pollution source backtracking |

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## Restricted Uses

The following uses are **prohibited** regardless of the technical capability of the platform:

**1. Migrant and refugee interception**
SeaCommons must not be used to locate, track, profile, or facilitate the interception of people in distress at sea for the purpose of returning them to a place where they face persecution or serious harm. This includes:
- Feeding coordinates to any coastal or naval force conducting pushbacks
- Providing drift predictions to surveillance systems that feed enforcement databases
- Integrating with border surveillance infrastructure (e.g. Frontex EUROSUR, Libyan Coast Guard tasking systems)

This restriction is grounded in:
- UNCLOS Art. 98: duty to render assistance to persons in distress
- SAR Convention 1979: obligation to coordinate rescue, not interception
- SOLAS Regulation V/33: master's duty to proceed to rescue
- 1951 Refugee Convention, non-refoulement principle

**2. Military targeting**
SeaCommons must not be integrated into targeting systems (kinetic or electronic) without a documented legal framework compliant with International Humanitarian Law and ICRC guidelines. Trajectory outputs are not suitable as targeting data.

**3. Commercial surveillance aggregation**
Drift results and associated metadata must not be sold or licensed to commercial data aggregators, advertising platforms, or insurance scoring systems that process individual-level location data.

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## Operator Responsibilities

Any institution or individual deploying SeaCommons accepts the following obligations:

1. **Disclosure.** Inform the relevant Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and Flag State of any operational deployment. SeaCommons is a decision-support tool, not an authoritative SAR system.

2. **Human review.** All drift outputs used in active SAR decisions must be reviewed by a qualified SAR coordinator before operational action. The software's predictions carry inherent uncertainty (see DRIFT_METHODOLOGY.md).

3. **Legal accountability.** The operator, not the software, bears legal responsibility for decisions made using SeaCommons output.

4. **Incident reporting.** Any use of SeaCommons output in an incident that results in legal proceedings must be disclosed to the development team within 30 days, to allow methodology review and potential expert testimony.

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## Data Retention

| Data type | Default behaviour |
|-----------|-----------------|
| Drift results | Ephemeral. Not persisted beyond the API response unless forensic mode is enabled |
| Forensic logs | Immutable append-only, access-controlled by operator key |
| AIS tracks | In-memory only; not written to disk unless operator configures persistent AIS storage |
| Position queries | Not logged. The system does not retain a record of who queried what |

When forensic mode is active, drift records are retained indefinitely to preserve evidentiary integrity. Operators must apply appropriate access controls and inform relevant authorities if required by national law.

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## Red Lines

These are absolute prohibitions that cannot be overridden by configuration or contractual agreement:

- No integration with military command and control systems without documented IHL compliance review
- No sale or transfer of trajectory data to entities on OFAC, EU, or UN sanctions lists
- No deployment in support of operations that have been subject to UNHCR, ICJ, or ECHR adverse findings for non-refoulement violations

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## Governance Review

This framework is reviewed:
- Annually as a scheduled review
- Within 60 days of a significant geopolitical change affecting the platform's primary operational areas (Mediterranean, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Aegean)
- Following any confirmed misuse incident

Revisions are versioned in the project repository with a signed commit.

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## Contact

Questions about permitted use, deployment agreements, or incident reporting: contact Suez Canal Republic via the channels listed at [suezcanal.xyz/republic/contact/](https://www.suezcanal.xyz/republic/contact/).