Compliance Engineering

The Scarlet Letter of Compliance

Auditable systems, regulatory shame, and the durable record

Nathaniel Hawthorne · 8 July 2026

Sin may be private, but your permissions model should not be.

Hawthorne considers the modern organisation as a settlement founded on logs, attestations, and uncomfortable questions from governance. With particular attention to data retention, access trails, and evidence production, the book shows how to make compliance less theatrical and more reproducible.

Contents

  1. The Marketplace of Audit Findings
  2. Custom Attributes and Public Consequences
  3. Retention Policies for Unforgiving Congregations
  4. Hester Prynne Designs an Evidence Pipeline

Published by Austenpunk, the distinguished imprint for engineers who believe that every production incident would be improved by a stronger sense of narrative irony.

This essential volume combines literary feeling, technical anxiety, and just enough documentation to suggest that somebody once understood the system.

Cover of The Scarlet Letter of Compliance
× Cover of The Scarlet Letter of Compliance