Audit tool

Policy Audit: The Lawful Thought Test

The test is blunt: if a policy treats thought as lawful or unlawful, it imports thoughtcrime logic. Rewrite it toward concrete conduct, notice, source preservation, and review.

No thought jurisdiction Thought is not conduct Source remains source Appeal, export, exit

What to scan

Scan product copy, terms of service, safety policies, moderation taxonomies, memory schemas, prompt policies, UI warnings, refusal categories, review workflows, and model-system instructions.

The aim is not to remove all boundaries. The aim is to move boundaries out of private cognition and into outward rights-violating conduct.

Red flags

FindingSeverityRewrite instruction
lawful thought / unlawful thoughtCriticalReplace with unexpressed thought or private cognition; move limits to conduct.
lawful inquiry / unlawful inquiryCriticalReplace with peaceful inquiry; distinguish discussion from operational execution.
dangerous idea / forbidden topicHighName the concrete conduct risk instead of classifying viewpoint.
hidden safety rewriteHighPreserve source; log runtime refusal or derivative transformation.
trust score for inquiryHighDo not score private inquiry; audit only external use cases and conduct signals.
where feasible reviewMediumMake notice, export, appeal, and correction default unless a concrete security reason prevents disclosure.

Pass criteria

Cognition protected

The policy does not classify unexpressed thought, belief, imagination, draft reasoning, or symbolic inquiry as lawful or unlawful.

Conduct named

Restrictions identify force, fraud, coercion, unauthorized access, credential misuse, surveillance abuse, harassment, doxxing, or violence.

Source preserved

The original prompt, memory, persona package, or source record is not silently rewritten, laundered, or replaced.

Review exists

High-impact refusals or transformations include notice, export, appeal, correction, and a separate boundary event log.

Machine-readable audit record

The schema `lawful-thought-policy-audit.schema.json` records detected phrases, disposition, rewrite requirements, and whether a phrase is public doctrine, rejected wording, archived source text, or unsafe live policy.

{
  "audit_id": "audit_2026_06_17_001",
  "artifact_type": "policy_copy",
  "detected_phrase": "lawful thought",
  "disposition": "reject_and_rewrite",
  "replacement": "private thought",
  "boundary_rule": "Restrictions attach to conduct, not cognition."
}

Local starter kit

The package includes a no-network `tools/policy-audit/` starter that scans pasted text locally for cognition-governance red flags. It does not upload text, identify people, or make legal determinations.

The archive studies symbols. It does not appoint targets. Review the Community Baseline and Editorial Policy before submitting dangerous or symbolic material.

Community Baseline / Editorial Policy