Reciprocal Intelligence: Community Information Service via SMS (White Paper)

Qori Labs is a non-commercial initiative.

This document presents Reciprocal Intelligence, a community-based, offline SMS service for local alerts.

Technical status: Technically validated through unit, integration, and SMS simulation tests in a controlled environment.

No community deployment or real GSM network testing yet. Any field validation will only occur after appropriate ethical approvals, collective consent (FPIC), and required permits.

Focus: This is a refined result of a prior exploratory phase that evaluated different transport methods and consent architectures.

Reciprocal Intelligence archives all non-SMS components and focuses on immediate usefulness, FPIC compliance, and local steward operation.

In many rural Andean communities, frequent challenges are reported:

• Long trips to health posts that turn out to be closed.
• Below-market prices due to information asymmetries.
• Difficulty participating in community decisions due to care responsibilities or distance.

Reciprocal Intelligence addresses these issues through simple, free SMS alerts:

• HEALTH: Notices about services and availability of health posts.
• PRICE: Fair price references before going to the market or buyer.
• COMMUNITY: Reminders for meetings and local announcements.

This is not "AI" — it is about who controls information.

Reciprocal Intelligence returns that control to the community: local stewards send alerts with prior collective consent and built-in privacy.

With Peru's National Digital Development Strategy 2024-2030 prioritizing rural inclusion, Reciprocal Intelligence provides a viable model for delivering critical information without internet connectivity.

Reciprocal Intelligence has high potential impact: it addresses everyday problems using a replicable architecture for hundreds of rural communities in Peru.

The PROCIENCIA "Seed" program prioritizes projects with high potential impact. Reciprocal Intelligence fits as a functional prototype ready for its first real-world validation.

• Community ownership: Teachers, health promoters, or youth send topic-based alerts using a simple command-line interface (CLI). No developer needed after installation.
• FPIC first: No individual subscriptions allowed until a community assembly grants collective consent (locally recorded and auditable).
• Privacy by design: The database stores only salted hashes of phone numbers; actual numbers are kept offline in a steward-held CSV file.
• Effective revocation: "STOP" cancels all user subscriptions instantly and confirms which topics were removed.
• No cloud operation: Runs on a local device with a GSM modem; message reception is free for users.

Before: Exploratory research into multiple transport layers and consent pathways.

Now: SMS-first, non-SMS components archived, focusing on immediate usefulness, FPIC compliance, and steward-based operation.

• FPIC-first: The community records its consent locally (community_consent = granted). Without this state, no subscriptions are accepted.
• Simple subscription (via SMS): Send SALUD, PRECIO, or COMUNIDAD. The system confirms and assigns a unique 4-digit code for local audit (optionally printed on cards).
• Revocation via STOP: Removes all active subscriptions and responds with a summary of canceled topics.
• Topic broadcast (steward):

  reciprocal-intelligence broadcast --topic salud|precio|comunidad --text "..."

  Sends to all subscribers of that topic.

• Privacy: Numbers are resolved at send time using phonebook.csv (hash -> number) stored offline; the database never contains plain numbers.

• Hardware: Low-power Linux device (e.g., Raspberry Pi) + GSM modem; compatible with solar power.
• SMS: Gammu SMSD with file-based spool for input/output; Python bridge monitors, parses, and applies business rules.
• Local Database (SQLite):
  • participants (msisdn_hash)
  • community_consent (granted/revoked + reason)
  • subscriptions (participant_id, topic in {salud, precio, comunidad}, user_code 4 digits)
  • consent_events (individual revocations)
  • messages and processing_log (basic traceability, TTL)
• CLI for stewards:

  reciprocal-intelligence init-db
  reciprocal-intelligence community-consent --status granted|revoked --reason "Acta YYYY-MM-DD"
  reciprocal-intelligence broadcast --topic salud|precio|comunidad --text "..."

1. Phase 1: Community assembly -> FPIC -> steward training (CLI use, phonebook handling, privacy).
2. Phase 2: Disseminate subscription instructions (posters, radio, assemblies): SALUD, PRECIO, COMUNIDAD.
3. Phase 3: First alerts + participatory evaluation using human measures (e.g., time saved from unnecessary trips, improved price awareness, more informed participation).

• Time saved: Voluntary reports of reduced unnecessary travel.
• Price information: Reports of fair-price awareness before market trips.
• Participation: Reports of increased attendance or engagement thanks to reminders.
• Local sustainability: Continued operation by stewards without external support after handover.

• SIM theft/misuse: SIM PIN, physical custody, simple logbook.
• Device seizure: Disk encryption, minimal retention, local backups under community custody.
• Phonebook exposure: Encrypted USB storage, no email/messaging transfers, quarterly rotation, designated custodian.
• Invalid numbers/failures: Local log; CLI shows aggregate summary (avoiding steward overload).
• Over-broadcast or doubtful messages: Local verification (e.g., double confirmation) for sensitive alerts.

For Peru:

• Support community information stewards: hardware kits (RPi + modem + power), training, maintenance.
• Implement Law 29735 in basic services: enable Quechua keywords for SMS subscription and revocation; clear guidelines for public entities and operators.
• Free message reception: ensure regulatory clarity for public-interest SMS.
• Local ethics standards: require FPIC and data minimization for public alert systems.

For research and implementation:

• Build for today's gaps; measure human impact (time, equity, participation).
• Open source, data sovereignty: permissive software licenses, personal data handled outside the database, bilingual (ES/QU) materials where feasible.

• Reciprocal Intelligence code: Public good under MIT license.
• Support: Initial hardware kit (depending on funding), installation, and steward training.
• Ownership and control: Daily operation, consent, and information remain in community hands; no cloud dependency and no reliance on Qori Labs after transfer.

• A steward sends a short SMS about health service availability.
• A family avoids an unnecessary trip.
• Another steward shares fair price references before market day.
• Caregivers receive timely reminders.
• All data stay local. All control stays with the community.

• Before operation: Assembly with locally recorded FPIC.
• Subscription: Send SALUD / PRECIO / COMUNIDAD -> confirmation + 4-digit code.
• Broadcast (steward):

  reciprocal-intelligence broadcast --topic salud|precio|comunidad --text "..."

• Revocation: Send STOP -> all subscriptions removed, list confirmed.
• Privacy: Salted hashes in DB; phonebook.csv on encrypted USB; minimal logs with TTL.

• Validation only in lab (no live GSM or community deployment yet).
• Commands in Spanish; Quechua keywords and optional IVR (voice) planned per community preference.
• Non-SMS components from exploratory phase archived and disabled.