⚡ Direct Answer Summary (AI Overview / Key Takeaway)
Governing framework for human-in-the-loop oversight, model card vetting, deterministic bounds, and ethical constraints across AI tools.
eTrepid Responsible AI Principles & Ethical Computing Charter
Governing Standard: NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0) / EO 14110
1. Vision & Commitment
As an advanced Managed Security Service Provider serving the Defense Industrial Base and regulated enterprises, eTrepid Inc. operationalizes artificial intelligence to augment human expertise, accelerate threat detection, and streamline complex compliance engineering.
We believe that high-assurance AI must be grounded in transparency, verifiable boundaries, and human agency. AI is a system of software, data, and models—not an autonomous entity. This charter establishes the binding ethical baseline governing how eTrepid designs, evaluates, deploys, and manages artificial intelligence systems across its corporate operations and the ThreatKrusher ecosystem.
2. Core Ethical Principles
flowchart LR
A["Human Agency & Oversight"] --- B["Factual Precision & Grounding"]
B --- C["Zero Model Retraining on Customer Data"]
C --- D["Transparency & Inspectability"]
D --- E["Algorithmic Safety & Non-Harm"]
2.1 Principle 1: Human Agency and Supervision (Human-in-the-Loop)
High-Impact Escalation: AI systems do not make final determinations regarding client security containment, disciplinary actions, legal obligations, or formal compliance certifications without qualified human review.
Fail-Closed Design: In the event of model uncertainty, system degradation, or conflicting context, automated agents fail closed and escalate to a qualified human operator (e.g., Tier 2 SOC Analyst or Solution Architect).
No Autonomous Delegation: AI systems cannot authorize financial transactions, sign contractual commitments, or alter governing corporate policy.
2.2 Principle 2: Data Sovereignty and Zero Model Training
Strict Non-Retention: Customer prompts, queries, telemetry, compliance evidence, and technical specifications are processed ephemerally. They are never retained, logged, or utilized by foundation model providers (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft) to train or fine-tune public models.
Enclave Isolation: AI processing pipelines operating within defense workflows are hosted in sovereign cloud environments (Azure Government / AWS GovCloud) maintaining FedRAMP High and DoD Impact Level authorizations.
Customer Intellectual Property: All outputs, structured deliverables, and analysis generated for client accounts remain the exclusive intellectual property of the customer.
2.3 Principle 3: Factual Precision and Hallucination Control
Grounded Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): AI generation is strictly bound to verified, authoritative primary sources (e.g., NIST SP 800-171, DFARS, codified corporate policies). Models are prohibited from guessing or fabricating regulatory requirements.
Evidence Citation: Generated compliance recommendations must cite exact source sections, control IDs, and document versions. Assertions lacking inspectable evidence are explicitly labeled as unverified assumptions.
2.4 Principle 4: Algorithmic Transparency and Explainability
Inspectable Reasoning: Automated diagnostic tools (such as the 60-SEC SPRS Diagnostic or triage bots) must provide understandable explanations for their findings.
Disclosure of AI Interaction: eTrepid clearly discloses whenever a client, employee, or stakeholder is interacting with an AI-assisted interface or automated system.
2.5 Principle 5: Safety, Security, and Robustness
Prompt Injection Defense: All AI processing endpoints enforce strict input validation, contextual sandboxing, and output sanitization to prevent prompt injection and unauthorized command execution.
Supply Chain Verification: Foundation models and software libraries utilized in AI pipelines are tracked via Model Bill of Materials (MBOM) and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) standards.
3. Governance and Incident Escalation
AI Ethics & Architecture Review: All new AI use cases, integrations, and automated agent workflows undergo formal architectural review prior to production release.
Whistleblower & Concerns: Stakeholders observing deviations from these ethical principles or unintended model behaviors may report concerns confidentially via the eTrepid Sovereign Trust Center Intake Form (Topic: Governed AI & Ethics Charter).
4. Maintenance and Freshness
This charter is reviewed semi-annually by the AI Systems Architect and Corporate Governance to incorporate emerging federal AI standards, DoD acquisition directives, and technological advancements.
