Protective Computing — systems design under human vulnerability.

Canonical archive for the Protective Computing Zenodo corpus, specifications, and reference implementations.

CrisisCore-Systems is the engineering and publication surface for Protective Computing: software designed to remain safe, usable, and ethically constrained under crisis, illness, coercion, displacement, degraded infrastructure, and institutional instability.

We publish:

• canonical papers
• engineering doctrine
• normative specifications
• evaluation tooling
• reference implementations

• Site: https://protective-computing.github.io/
• Zenodo community: https://zenodo.org/communities/protective-computing
• Reference implementation: https://github.com/CrisisCore-Systems/pain-tracker
• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3251-8621

Protective Computing Canon v1.0
The structural overview of the discipline across theory, engineering practice, evaluation, and reference implementation.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18887610

The Overton Framework v1.3
Formal theory and architectural framing for software built under conditions of human vulnerability.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18688516

Protective Computing Field Guide v0.1
Operational companion for engineers implementing protective systems in real environments.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18782339

Protective Computing Specification v1.0
Normative requirements with verification procedures for implementation, design review, and audit.
Spec: https://protective-computing.github.io/docs/spec/v1.0.html

Protective Legitimacy Score (PLS) v1.0-rc1
Operational rubric for evaluating whether systems remain structurally protective under degraded conditions.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18783432

PainTracker
A privacy-first, local-first, offline-capable chronic pain documentation system used as a live Protective Computing reference implementation.
Repo: https://github.com/CrisisCore-Systems/pain-tracker

Protective Computing rejects the Stability Assumption and replaces it with enforceable constraints:

• Reversibility
• Exposure Minimization
• Local Authority
• Coercion Resistance
• Degraded Functionality
• Essential Utility

These are engineering constraints, not branding language.

Most software assumes persistent connectivity, cognitive surplus, environmental stability, and institutional trust.

Protective Computing starts from the opposite condition:

• crisis
• illness
• pain
• coercion
• displacement
• infrastructure instability

When those conditions are present, software failure is not a minor inconvenience. It can become disclosure, lockout, pressure, or irreversible harm.

Protective Computing includes a live specification and verification surface:

• Specification v1.0: https://protective-computing.github.io/docs/spec/v1.0.html
• Reference implementation mapping: https://protective-computing.github.io/docs/reference-implementation/paintracker-mapping.html
• Audit evidence index: https://github.com/protective-computing/protective-computing.github.io/blob/main/AUDIT_EVIDENCE.md
• Compliance audit matrix: https://github.com/protective-computing/protective-computing.github.io/blob/main/COMPLIANCE_AUDIT_MATRIX.md
• Independent review checklist: https://github.com/protective-computing/protective-computing.github.io/blob/main/INDEPENDENT_REVIEW_CHECKLIST.md

This organization houses work related to:

• Protective Computing theory and doctrine
• reference implementations
• privacy-first and local-first systems
• audit and verification tooling
• crisis-aware software architecture
• degraded-state UX
• coercion-resistant patterns

• Cite the Canon DOI for the discipline as a whole.
• Cite the artifact DOI for a specific layer document.
• Cite the reference implementation repo when discussing implementation details in PainTracker.

Canon
Overton, K. (2026). Protective Computing Canon v1.0: A Structural Map of the Discipline. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18887610

Foundation
Overton, K. (2026). The Overton Framework: Protective Computing in Conditions of Human Vulnerability (v1.3). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18688516

Contributions are welcome when they strengthen protective outcomes.

Priority areas:

• verification hardening
• degraded-state interaction design
• coercion resistance
• threat modeling
• exposure minimization
• local-first reliability
• auditability under stress

Issues / PRs: https://github.com/CrisisCore-Systems/pain-tracker/issues

• Docs: CC-BY-4.0 where stated
• Code: project-dependent

Protective Computing is software for the moment stability fails.