Definition
The ability to leave a system without ruinous cost, retaliation, or silent lock-in. Consent means little when departure is punitive, so right of exit is a precondition for consent.
Operationally, exit requires data portability, clear closure paths, and protections against downstream penalties.
Exit is real only when it is priced. A measured substitution cost and demonstrated institutional reversibility are what separate a right of exit from a clause nobody can afford to invoke. Consent depth is the reason the pricing has to be redone: the choice made at adoption was not a choice about the dependency that grew afterward.
AgencyStructural
Hypothetical example
- Workers can opt out of an automated scheduling tool and keep equivalent access to shifts while a manual process remains available.
References
- Worked examples · Essay
- Design role guide · Guide