Phosra Spec
PCSS v1.0 — DraftGovernance
How PCSS v1.0 is stewarded today, and how the Adopter Council steers v2 and beyond.
Current stewardship
Phosra stewards v1. The Adopter Council steers v2.
Phosra holds editorial stewardship of PCSS v1.0 through ratification. Four working groups — AI Safety, Privacy, Algorithmic Transparency, and Hard Blocks — own the day-to-day evolution of their respective rule areas. Working group reviews are public and held quarterly. At v1.0 ratification, governance authority transfers to the Adopter Council.
Versioning policy
Semver for safety standards.
- 01Semver. Minor versions ship clarifications and additive rules. Major versions ship breaking changes.
- 0218-month deprecation window. Any rule marked for removal must remain valid for at least 18 months after the deprecation announcement.
- 03Guaranteed v(N)/v(N+1) overlap. Every adopter has a guaranteed reading of both the prior major version and the next, so migration is never forced.
- 04Council ratifies majors. A governance committee elected from the Tier 1+ adopter pool approves every major version before publication.
- 05RFC-first. Every change — minor or major — is published as an RFC at least 30 days before adoption.
Working groups
Four groups, one rule area each.
Working group seats are open to Tier 2+ adopters. Apply by emailing hello@phosra.com.
AI Safety
AI chatbot tier gates, simulated companionship limits, risk-scale enforcement.
- Chair
- Open seat — apply
- Join
- Tier 2+ adopters apply via hello@phosra.com
Privacy
Data minimization, retention, deletion rights, commercial-data bans for minors.
- Chair
- Open seat — apply
- Join
- Tier 2+ adopters apply via hello@phosra.com
Algorithmic Transparency
Recommender audits, dark-pattern interventions, explainability requirements.
- Chair
- Open seat — apply
- Join
- Tier 2+ adopters apply via hello@phosra.com
Hard Blocks
Mandatory blocks for prohibited content and apps — including coalition-curated Not-for-Kids lists.
- Chair
- Open seat — apply
- Join
- Tier 2+ adopters apply via hello@phosra.com
The Adopter Council
Nine seats, two-year terms, elected from the Tier 1+ pool.
The Adopter Council is a 9-seat body, elected for 2-year terms from the Tier 1+ adopter pool. Seats are reserved by category to ensure no single industry segment dominates. The Council ratifies every major version of PCSS and approves the conformance suite.
Reserved seats
- 3 parental-controls operators[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
- 2 device / OS makers[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
- 1 carrier / network operator[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
- 1 civil-society standards body[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
- 1 regulator observer[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
- 1 academic[Open — Charter cohort closing Q3 2026]
RFC process
How a change becomes part of the spec.
- Anyone can file. File an RFC at github.com/phosra/spec/issues. No tier required to open the conversation.
- Tier 2+ adopters propose. Formal proposals — those that move beyond a discussion thread — must be sponsored by a Tier 2+ adopter. The relevant working group reviews and recommends.
- Council ratifies majors. Major changes go to the Adopter Council for ratification. Minor changes ship after working-group sign-off and the 30-day RFC window.