v3.4.0


Version	3.4.0
Status	Final Consolidated Draft
Release date	9/10/2026, as printed in the specification's Document Control table (the date format is ambiguous)
Comment period ends	[Date + 60 days], a placeholder in the specification
Effective date	[TBD after finalization], a placeholder in the specification
Increment	The specification does not state this release's increment. By its own definitions, a Minor change includes additions to or removals from Table 2 and changes to validation or normalization requirements, which fits v3.3.0 to v3.4.0.
Builds on	v3.3.0

Source: the Executive Summary and Document Control sections of the specification. See Summary and Purpose and Document Control and Comments.

What changed

The specification's Executive Summary lists these changes. Each links to the proposal (GitHub issue) that produced it.

Table 2 is split into two categories (Proposal v3.3.1).
- Category 1: 30 rules that already carry an individuating field, evaluated in one step, unchanged from v3.3.0.
- Category 2: 8 rules (7 amended, 1 new), evaluated in two disjoint steps: a Household Match, then an Individual Match within that household.
- See Table 2: Category 1 Rules and Category 2: Household and Individual Rules.
Two new rules, 39 and 40, for guardian-verified minors and for newborn matching via maternal linkage (Proposal v3.3.3). See Category 2: Household and Individual Rules and Applying the Tables.
Placeholder-value handling is extended from names to every field Table 2 relies on (Proposal v3.3.4). See Placeholder Values.
Compliance is split into Path A (Assumed Compliance, rules-based) and Path B (Empirical Compliance, performance-based) (Proposal v3.3.2). See Audit and Monitoring.
A new commitment to an empirically validated accuracy floor (Proposal v3.3.5). See Core Principles (Principle 13) and Validation Requirements.

None listed in the Executive Summary.

Proposal v3.3.6, Institutional Address Identification Methodology, is under review.
Proposal v3.4.1, Remove Rule 29, is under review. Rule 29 is still in Table 2 in v3.4.0.

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