Glossary entry

Time to halt (TTH)

Definition

Seconds between a harmful process beginning and the system stopping it. It is the measured side of stoppability.

Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly p95; monthly p99. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 30s (automated) / ≤ 5 min (human), floor 15 min, ceiling 60 min. Owner: traceable ownership (required). Breach action: trigger ethical circuit breakers, safe pause, or rollback lane activation with escalation. Public surface: receipt + time transparency showing halt status and decision artifact.

What is time to halt (TTH)? — the explainer, with a worked example

Related mechanisms

Related terms

Moral behavior (of systems) Control loops (constraints framing) Composed latency Recourse performance Ethical interrupts Backstop Silence defaults to approval
Cite this glossary entry · v1.17.1 · updated Oct 6, 2026 · CC BY-SA 4.0

APA

Ethotechnics Institute. (2026). Time to halt (TTH). Ethotechnics glossary. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/time-to-halt

MLA

Ethotechnics Institute. "Time to halt (TTH)." Ethotechnics glossary, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/time-to-halt.

Chicago

Ethotechnics Institute. "Time to halt (TTH)." Ethotechnics glossary. Oct 6, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/time-to-halt.

BibTeX

@misc{glossary_time-to-halt,
  title={Time to halt (TTH)},
  author={Ethotechnics Institute},
  year={2026},
  howpublished={Ethotechnics glossary},
  url={https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/time-to-halt},
  version={v1.17.1}
}

RIS

TY  - WEB
TI  - Time to halt (TTH)
AU  - Ethotechnics Institute
PY  - 2026
UR  - https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/time-to-halt
ER  -

Authorship

Contact: hello@ethotechnics.org

Publication details

  • Published: Dec 3, 2025
  • Last updated: Oct 6, 2026
  • Version: v1.17.1

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Credit Ethotechnics Institute, include the term title and version, and link to the glossary permalink.

Archive: Wayback Machine history

Latest change

v1.17.1 · Oct 6, 2026 — Editorial revision. Titles are in sentence case. Pasted spec blocks are replaced with prose and worked examples, 79 operational tests are rewritten as pass conditions, 22 origin notes are rewritten or sourced, and unsourced superlatives are cut. No terms were added or removed, and permalinks are unchanged.

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