Every case in RECONSTRUCTION ends the same way. One vendor had a record the others did not, and the name of what they used is FORAY. This page is where that word leads. It is the only place on this blog where it is explained.
What it is
FORAY is an open protocol for recording what software decided, when, and on what. It is free to use. The specification is published at foray.dunin7.com. Anyone can implement it; nobody needs permission.
What it does
It proves what was recorded, when, and that nobody has changed it since. The record is written at the moment of the decision, in a form that the people who made the decision cannot quietly alter, and a fingerprint of it is held outside their reach, so that an outsider, a regulator, a customer, a court, can check it without asking them.
Nothing changes quietly. That is the whole of the claim.
What it does not do
It does not make a decision right. It does not make a recording true. It does not prove that nothing was left out. A record can be complete and still describe a mistake. What FORAY gives you is the ability to show exactly what was there, which is the one thing every case on this blog turned on.
Who it is for
Anyone running software that decides: moves money, judges a person, keeps or deletes records, sets a price, holds a train. If the four questions at the end of every case are hard to answer for something in your company, this is the problem it addresses. Where is the decision recorded? In what form? Who outside your company can check it hasn’t changed? Can it be read now?
Where I stand
I built it. My company, DUNIN7, helps organisations put it in place, and audits the records they already keep against the four questions. If you want either of those, write to me at marvinp@dunin7.com. If you only want to read the cases, nothing here will ever ask you for more than that.