Data Provenance & Sensor Protocol
The standard governing every supplementary data signal that enters a BCI reading beneath the primary financial proxies BSIP v4.0 defines.
Relative to the January 2026 working draft, published under the retired "Brand Climate Index" name, this version removes that name; repositions this Protocol explicitly as governing the DRG-B and DRG-C evidentiary layer defined in BSIP v4.0 §2 — supplementary to, and never a substitute for, the DRG-A primary financial proxies defined in BSIP v4.0 §3; and rewrites each Sensor class to reference BCI's actual established secondary and tertiary indicators.
Most significantly, Friction Sensors now map directly onto the four demand-side PL cross-validation indicators disclosed in BSIP v4.0 §9.1 — giving this Protocol direct operational relevance to BCI's most significant open methodological question, rather than an unrelated list of behavioral data sources.
This Protocol defines the quality standards, auditability principles, and data-sovereignty boundaries governing the DRG-B and DRG-C signals used to supplement BCI's core structural readings. Its purpose is to ensure that every such signal satisfies requirements of traceability, verifiability, and institutional legitimacy before it is used as a cross-validation input.
This Protocol does not govern, and does not substitute for, the DRG-A primary financial proxies — audited financial statements, government statistical data, exchange data — that remain each variable's canonical primary input under BSIP v4.0 §3. Where this Protocol and BSIP v4.0 §3 appear to describe different inputs for the same variable, BSIP v4.0 §3 governs the primary proxy and this Protocol governs the supplementary layer; the two are not competing definitions of the same thing.
Within BCI's analytical framework, markets are not treated as collections of discrete data points, but as complex systems that continuously emit structured behavioral signals. Collection methods based on keyword frequency, click volume, or raw engagement counts primarily capture distribution intensity, not structural meaning.
BCI applies this Sensor Protocol to transform multi-source behavioral data into signal vectors suitable for use as DRG-B and DRG-C cross-validation inputs. This Protocol does not define data ownership; it defines the precision, stability, and auditability conditions a signal must satisfy before it enters a reading, and the DRG grade it may carry once it does.
Only signals validated under this Protocol may be used as DRG-B or DRG-C inputs or cross-validation indicators.
Across the four dimensions of the BCI model, this Protocol defines three classes of sensor interface, each scoped to the supplementary evidentiary layer described above.
Gravity Sensors — MT secondary and tertiary signals
Gravity Sensors govern the DRG-B secondary proxy — the ratio of search volume for a brand's name alone against the brand's name paired with discount or resale terminology, seasonal peaks excluded — together with candidate DRG-C signals, including deep community engagement and secondary-market price deviation, used only for cross-validation. Collection logic favors semantic aggregation and deviation detection over raw keyword frequency; cleansing excludes dissemination substantially driven by paid promotion, and where marketing interference exceeds a defined threshold, the affected signal's weight in cross-validation is adjusted downward.
Friction Sensors — PL secondary and tertiary signals
Friction Sensors govern the four demand-side cross-validation indicators identified in BSIP v4.0 §9.1: discount depth and frequency; order backlog or waitlist duration; price elasticity derived from real historical repricing events; and organic or direct-navigation traffic share. These indicators exist because BCI's default financial PL proxy does not, on its own, distinguish genuine brand-driven pricing discipline from a self-retail distribution model that structurally depresses SG&A ÷ Revenue independent of brand strength. They are layered in as cross-checks against the DRG-A reading, never as its replacement; where the two point in different directions, the divergence is flagged for manual review rather than averaged away.
Entropy Sensors — ES and TS secondary and tertiary signals
Entropy Sensors govern, for ES: the four DRG-C secondary observation points confirmed in Core Definitions v1.0 §1 — dependence on a single core individual for continued output, modularization cost for a new node, cross-node structural isomorphism, and the cost of a new participant understanding the system — together with sourcing for the acquisition-structure term's organic-versus-paid data. For TS, Entropy Sensors govern sourcing for category-specific residual-value, longevity, and secondary-market data. Signals must span at least two full business cycles to support a robust estimate of Time Structure, consistent with the Temporal Neutralization discipline in BSIP v4.0 §1.3.
Immutability. All raw signals are timestamped and cryptographically validated prior to entering a reading, to preserve integrity.
Source Independence. BCI prioritizes diversified data combinations that are difficult for any single party to control, reducing manipulation risk. This principle does not involve unlawful or unauthorized data acquisition of any kind.
Standardized Cleansing. All cleansing and filtering rules follow predefined algorithmic standards; manual or ad hoc weight intervention is prohibited, consistent with the Calibration Governance discipline in BCI-MOD-2026-007.
BCI requires the evolution of traditional data pipelines into structural signal pipelines validated under this Protocol, including but not limited to:
Interface Instruction 01. Execute MT DRG-B/C vectorization per the Gravity Sensors standard above: exclude nodes with material marketing interference, and retain only semantic clusters exhibiting persistent, non-promotional deviation characteristics.
Interface Instruction 02. Calibrate Friction Sensors to the four demand-side indicators defined in BSIP v4.0 §9.1, covering the full decision pathway from initial interest to confirmed purchase, and compute the divergence, if any, between these indicators and the DRG-A SG&A ÷ Revenue reading for the same asset.
All interface descriptions define signal-transformation logic only and do not impose a mandatory data-source requirement or an exclusivity constraint on any provider.
Model and Sensor Evolution. BCI's sensor standards and cleansing rules may evolve as data environments change. Within reasonably practicable limits, material changes are versioned and their traceability institutionally supported.
Review and Challenge. BCI permits its methodologies to be reviewed and discussed, within reasonable bounds, by third parties and academic institutions, and supports independent methodological validation without disclosure of commercially sensitive information.
Privacy and Compliance. BCI does not collect or process personally identifiable information, applies anonymization where legally required, and complies with applicable data-protection and cross-border transfer regulations.
Correction and Disclosure. Where signal misclassification, bias, or a methodological defect is identified, BCI commits to timely correction and disclosure of the revision.
Not every DRG-B/C indicator named in Section 02 has completed independent validation; BSIP v4.0 §9.1 describes the four Friction Sensor indicators as being "layered in" as cross-checks, a process still underway rather than complete. Where a specific indicator's validation status is material to a published reading, the reading discloses it individually, consistent with the per-variable DRG disclosure standard in BSIP v4.0 §8.
Citation Standard. When referencing this Protocol, cite as: “Data Provenance & Sensor Protocol (BCI-TEC-2026-008), BCI Lab, 2026.”
This Protocol is a companion document to the BCI Structural Integrity Protocol (BSIP v4.0), which governs the four core structural variables, the master formula, and the Data Reliability Grade framework. Where this Protocol references a defined term, a proxy, a DRG grade, or a boundary value, BSIP v4.0 is the authoritative source; this Protocol does not restate or independently redefine any of them. Where a future revision of BSIP creates a conflict with this Protocol, BSIP governs, consistent with BSIP v4.0 §10 and the Methodology Version Register.