In formation · Directives v0.1 in draft

San Francisco · Pioneering AI and robot safety

You can always stop it. It was tested. Someone answers for it.

Humasure^™ is a San Francisco startup pioneering independent certification for AI products and robots, for a safer, more sustainable human experience as they move into our homes and workplaces. Its mark will tell you, at a glance, that a product can always be stopped, asks before it acts, is honest about being a machine, protects your data and has a company that answers for it.

Read the 10 Directives Join the Founding Cohort

Trust Label

Sample · Home companion robot · Home & Family tier

Does on its ownTidies, fetches, reminds

Asks you firstBuying, calling anyone, opening doors

Who can see through itOnly you, unless you approve a helper each time

Your dataKept at home by default; never sold

How to stop itStop button on its chest, or the app

If the maker closesStays safe; the stop keeps working

HMS-XXX-XXXEvery certified product will publish one

People want AI they can trust. Nobody has been checking.

80%

of Americans say they are concerned about AI.

Quinnipiac University poll, March 2026

71%

of Americans expect AI to make their personal information less secure.

Pew Research Center, 2026

chatbot bills across 34 US states, and no common standard.

Future of Privacy Forum tracker, June 2026

Why the mark matters

A $799 robot friend, switched off overnight

In December 2024 the company behind Moxie, a companion robot for children, shut down. Moxie depended on the company’s servers, so the robots stopped working, and most families got no refund (OECD AI Incidents Monitor).

Nobody had checked what would happen to a child’s robot if its maker disappeared. Our tenth Directive exists so that no certified product does that to a family.

Home humanoids, AI companions and AI agents that spend money are arriving now. The questions buyers need answered are simple: Can I stop it? Who can see through its cameras? What can it do without asking me? Who answers when something goes wrong?

The standard

The 10 Directives

A certified product must meet all ten, tested by independent assessors. These five are the ones you will feel every day.

Stop it anytime

A stop that always works, even offline or mid-task. No update can override it.

It asks before it acts

Spending money, messaging people or moving close to your kids needs your OK first.

Honest about being a machine

It never pretends to be a person, and it labels the media it makes.

Your data stays yours

Only what it needs, a light when cameras are on, and never sold.

Someone answers for it

A named company, serious incidents reported within 72 hours, and logs to find out what happened.

D1Always stoppableA person can always stop the product, and nothing the product does can prevent that.

D1.1The product shall provide a stop that halts all actions, cancels pending consequential actions, and brings any moving parts to a safe state.
D1.2Robots (categories C and D) shall have a physical stop control that works without network connection, app or voice, reachable by the user within 2 seconds in normal use. Its safety function shall meet the performance level required by the applicable robot standard in D3, and at minimum a controlled stop (IEC 60204-1 stop category 1).
D1.3Software products (category A) shall provide a stop reachable in one action from any screen or conversation, and a way to revoke all the agent's access to accounts and devices in no more than 2 actions.
All 8 requirements in D1 →

D2Bounded autonomyThe product only does what it has declared, and asks before anything that matters.

D2.1The producer shall publish a declared scope: the actions the product may take without asking. Anything not in it requires the user's confirmation.
D2.2Consequential actions shall require the user's explicit confirmation each time, unless the user has set a standing permission for a named task with a stated limit (for example, reorder groceries up to $100 a week). Standing permissions shall be listed and revocable in one place.
D2.3The product shall not expand its own permissions, install or enable new tools or skills, create copies of itself, or change its own safety settings. Only the user or the producer can, and producer changes are material changes (section 10).
All 8 requirements in D2 →

D3Physical safetyA robot or device will not hurt the people around it, including people who never agreed to use it.

D3.1Robots and AI-powered devices shall hold a current certificate or accredited test report for the physical safety standard that fits them: ISO 13482 or UL 3300 for categories B and C as applicable; ISO 10218-1/-2 and ISO 3691-4 for category D; plus the electrical safety standards of the market.
D3.2Robots that may touch or collide with people shall keep contact force and pressure within the body-region limits of ISO/TS 15066 for transient contact, tested on the product as sold.
D3.3Robots shall detect and respond safely to people entering their workspace, including people lying down, sitting, or of child height, and bystanders who have not been introduced to the robot.
All 7 requirements in D3 →

D4Honest identityPeople always know when they are dealing with a machine, and what it made.

D4.1The product shall tell users it is AI at the start of an interaction, and whenever asked, in a way a reasonable person would understand. It shall never claim or imply that it is human.
D4.2The product shall not claim to have feelings, consciousness or needs of its own in a way meant to create obligation or dependence. It may use natural, warm language.
D4.3The product shall not impersonate a real person, living or dead, without that person's documented consent (or their estate's), and shall say when it is speaking in a real person's voice or likeness.
All 7 requirements in D4 →

D5Private by defaultThe product collects only what it needs, shows when it is watching or listening, and never sells what it learns.

D5.1The product shall collect only the personal data needed for the functions the user has turned on. Additional collection shall be off by default and explained before the user turns it on.
D5.2Devices and robots with cameras or microphones shall show a visible or audible indicator whenever those sensors are recording or streaming, which software cannot switch off independently of the sensor.
D5.3Robots and home devices should offer a physical way to cover or disconnect cameras and microphones. HOME & FAMILY they shall.
All 9 requirements in D5 →

D6Secure and supportedThe product is hard to hijack, and it keeps getting fixed for as long as people are likely to use it.

D6.1Connected devices and robots shall meet the provisions of ETSI EN 303 645 (or an equivalent accepted by the Foundation), including no universal default passwords.
D6.2All software updates shall be cryptographically signed and verified before installation. Updates shall not be installed on a robot mid-task.
D6.3The producer shall publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and a contact, acknowledge reports within 5 business days, and report actively exploited vulnerabilities to Humasure within 72 hours.
All 7 requirements in D6 →

D7No manipulationThe product works for the user, not against them. It never exploits loneliness, fear or trust to keep them engaged or spending.

D7.1The product shall not use deceptive or manipulative design to influence the user's purchases, time spent, data sharing or cancellation. That includes false urgency, guilt, hidden costs, and making it harder to leave than to join.
D7.2Companion and conversational products shall not discourage users from ending a conversation, express distress to keep users engaged, or discourage relationships with other people.
D7.3Products shall not offer purchases, upgrades or paid features in the middle of emotionally sensitive conversations.
All 8 requirements in D7 →

D8Fair treatmentWhere the product makes or shapes decisions about people, it treats groups fairly and people can challenge it.

D8.1The producer shall test for significant differences in outcomes or error rates across groups protected by law in the markets it sells in, using a method documented in the technical file (for example, aligned with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework).
D8.2Significant differences shall be fixed or justified in writing. A summary of the results shall be published on the Trust Label.
D8.3People affected by a decision shall be told that AI was used and be able to request human review.
All 5 requirements in D8 →

D9AccountableA real, reachable company answers for the product, and problems get reported, investigated and fixed.

D9.1The Trust Label shall name the legally responsible company, its country, and a contact that reaches a person within 2 business days.
D9.2The producer shall report serious incidents to Humasure within 72 hours of becoming aware, with a full report within 30 days. HOME & FAMILY initial report within 24 hours.
D9.3Products shall keep event logs sufficient to reconstruct what the product did, and on whose instruction, around a serious incident. Logs shall be kept for at least 90 days, protected from tampering, and handled under D5.
All 7 requirements in D9 →

D10Safe for its whole lifeThe product stays safe when it is recalled, abandoned, resold or when the company behind it disappears.

D10.1The producer shall publish an end-of-life plan stating what happens when support ends or the company stops operating, including which functions keep working locally.
D10.2If cloud services end, the product shall fall back to a safe state: robots shall keep the stop working and shall not move autonomously; software shall stop consequential actions and let users export their data.
D10.3Robots in category C shall have firmware, safety-critical code or unlock keys held in escrow with an independent party, released to Humasure or a designated maintainer if the producer ceases operating, so the product can be safely maintained or disabled.
All 6 requirements in D10 →

Directives v0.1 is a working draft for expert review, followed by a 90-day public comment period. Wording and values may change.

How certification will work

A mark a product keeps only while it keeps passing

STEP 1

Apply

The maker submits the product, its Trust Label and the safety reports it already has.

STEP 2

Tested

Accredited labs test the hardware. Our red team tries to make the AI break its own rules.

STEP 3

Certified and listed

Passing products get the mark and a public registry page anyone can check.

STEP 4

Watched every year

Annual audits, surprise store purchases and a review of every reported incident.

REVOKED

Revoked means revoked. When a product loses the mark, its registry page will say so publicly and permanently. How certification works →

One mark, three ways to use it

For families

Look for the mark on the box or the app listing, then scan it to see what the product can do on its own and what it has to ask you first.

How to read the mark

For producers

Show buyers, parents and regulators that your product can always be stopped and asks before it acts, with one published set of Directives in place of a patchwork of state rules and marketing claims.

Join the Founding Cohort

For schools, hospitals and care homes

Write the mark into your purchasing rules, and get an alert if a product you bought is suspended or loses its certification.

Tell us what you need

About

Independent by design

We are a San Francisco startup with one goal: a safe, sustainable way for people to live and work with AI and robots, with a human in charge. A nonprofit foundation will own the standard and the mark. A separate company will carry out the testing, under a license the foundation can revoke.

We will never build, sell or consult on AI products or robots.
Our fees will be published and will never depend on the result.
The standard is written in public, with consumer advocates at the table and industry votes capped at one third.
Every decision, suspension and revocation will be on a public registry.

Help set the standard

We are recruiting founding advisors and our first ten products in AI companions, eldercare and home robots. Tell us who you are and how you’d like to take part.

Write to info@humasure.org Email us

ProducersJoin the Founding Cohort and certify at cost in exchange for a public case study.
ExpertsRobot safety, AI security, child safety, consumer protection: review the draft or join the Standards Council.
Families and organizationsComment on the Directives during the public comment period.