---
schema: 1
type: term
title: _contextual flow control_
description: >-
  _Contextual flow control_ is Alex Komoroske's proposed alternative to the
  web's same-origin security model: an architecture, inspired by Helen
  Nissenbaum's _contextual integrity_, in which data is used only in contexts a
  person understands and that align with their interests — going beyond consent
  forms and end-to-end encryption, and enabled by breaking his iron triangle of
  untrusted code, sensitive data, and network access through tools like
  information flow control and confidential computing
  [^bb2c42aa-478f-5c9a-ac26-e83a54c63127@1771].
canonical: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/contextual-flow-control-ab6587f773d7
markdown: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/contextual-flow-control-ab6587f773d7.md
llms: null
parent: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt'
channel: everyinc
updated: '2026-10-23T22:12:35.346Z'
language: null
children: []
---


# \_contextual flow control\_

Canonical: https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/contextual-flow-control-ab6587f773d7

Parent: [Channel index](https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt)

## Definition

_Contextual flow control_ is Alex Komoroske's proposed alternative to the web's same-origin security model: an architecture, inspired by Helen Nissenbaum's _contextual integrity_, in which data is used only in contexts a person understands and that align with their interests — going beyond consent forms and end-to-end encryption, and enabled by breaking his iron triangle of untrusted code, sensitive data, and network access through tools like information flow control and confidential computing [^bb2c42aa-478f-5c9a-ac26-e83a54c63127@1771].

**_Contextual flow control_** is Alex Komoroske's name for the alternative architecture he proposes in the interview — inspired by Helen Nissenbaum's *contextual integrity*, the idea that privacy means data being used in contexts you understand and that align with your interests, beyond consent forms or end-to-end encryption.   Komoroske frames the current situation with his **iron triangle**: a safe system can have only **two** of these three — 1. **Untrusted code** 2. **Sensitive data** 3. **Network access** - The web chose untrusted code + network access, keeping sensitive data out. - The app store model keeps sensitive data + network access, but only by vetting all code centrally. His favorite historical counterexample is the **file system**, where multiple apps work on the same data and coordinate without any single app owning your life. Breaking the triangle — with tools like **information flow control** and **confidential computing** — is what makes contextual flow control possible.   Under the web's **same-origin paradigm**, each origin is an isolated island that sees everything you put into it — data goes in and the origin can do whatever it wants with it. That data gravity leads to aggregation. Contextual flow control is his proposed change to the laws of physics: instead of consent forms or one mega-context that **mushes** everything together (his example: a chatbot surfacing a salary negotiation from months earlier in a totally unrelated conversation), data would flow in contexts people intuitively understand and that align with their interests.    - **Contextual flow control** = Komoroske's name for a privacy/security architecture inspired by Nissenbaum's *contextual integrity*. - It exists to break his **iron triangle** (untrusted code / sensitive data / network access) the way the file system historically did. - It is grouped with **information flow control**, **confidential computing**, and **open attested runtimes** as the leverage point against data gravity and aggregation.