Signal classes sort the information an asset produces by how far its consequences reach, so that disclosure obligations can scale rather than being all-or-nothing:
- Private signal belongs primarily to the owner or participant, because consequences remain largely internal.
- Operational signal may be legitimately restricted, because disclosure would impair proper functioning.
- Affected-party signal must reach those whose standing is materially touched by the asset or project.
- Ecological signal becomes broadly relevant when consequences are systemic enough that the wider field has legitimate reason to know.
Why the gradient matters
The classes let a society answer the ownership-and-disclosure question without either extreme — neither everything the owner touches is private nor everything must be public. A private garden generates almost entirely private signal; a chemical plant cannot. A household AI may be mostly private; a frontier system capable of affecting millions cannot claim the same. Signal rights therefore scale with ecological reach, the informational form of consequence-weighted governance. The gradient is also bounded from the other side: an affected party’s claim reaches only the class of signal their standing touches, never general surveillance — the discipline of purpose-limited access. See Ownership and Signal.