Privacy Notice

The forms store the information you provide: a topic or category, subject or title, message or description, source details where applicable, optional contact information, uploaded files, and submission or review records such as a reference, timestamp, and status. A copyright complaint also stores its rights explanation, work and page identifiers, signature, and declarations. The editor may retain decision notes, confidentiality terms, permission receipts, file digests, version history, and preservation settings. Files can contain embedded metadata and personal information beyond what appears on screen.

The site’s submission database does not save visitors’ IP addresses, browser details, or ChatGPT identities as submission fields. That is a limited statement about this database, not a claim that browsing or submitting information is anonymous throughout the hosting system.

Connection suggestions store the chosen document and item, relationship description, optional follow-up contact, receipt date and review decision. Project access requests store a site account ID, the name and email supplied by the applicant, their selected background, introduction, optional phone number and affiliation, dates, role and access status. These application and contact details are visible only to the owner. Applications do not require sign-in and do not grant access. Approved members log in with email and a site password. Passwords are stored as salted hashes; temporary passwords expire after 24 hours and must be changed before entering the workspace. Temporary passwords are displayed once to the owner for private delivery. We use a secure, HTTP-only session cookie; signed-in sessions expire after 30 minutes of inactivity or eight hours total. Password changes, password resets, role changes and revocation invalidate prior access. Session activity timestamps are stored to enforce expiration. Short-lived login rate-limit counters use hashed email and network-address values, with no raw network addresses stored in those counters. Staff access changes and review decisions also record the acting account ID. Connection contacts and review identities are excluded from public pages. A short-lived anonymous cookie and hashed session values support one-time submission checks and rate limits; they do not require an account or store an IP address. Private post drafts, edit history and uploaded draft images are visible to approved staff. Only published posts and their selected images are public.

Password help requests store the submitted account email, optional name, request date, review status and owner review identity. Only the owner can read or review them. Submitting this form does not reveal whether an account exists, change a password or grant access. The owner verifies a member through their established account contact details before arranging recovery. Recovery rate-limit counters use hashed email and network-address values; raw network addresses are not stored in those counters.

Submitted information is used for editorial review, verification, follow-up, corrections, managing the public records collection, and protecting the service against abuse. Unpublished tips and publication requests remain restricted to the site owner. Pending public documents, connection suggestions and their optional follow-up contacts are accessible to the owner and approved moderators. Moderators cannot access the private tip inbox, retained earlier document versions, deletion controls or access management. The owner approves each staff account, can revoke access.

Optional contact details are not published by default. Relevant submitted material may inform reporting after review. When a document is approved for the public collection, its title, description, source notes, filename, and approved file become public under our document submission policy. Information may also be disclosed when legally required or when reasonably necessary to address a specific security threat or protect someone’s safety, subject to applicable law. We do not promise absolute secrecy or immunity from lawful legal process.

The submission services use temporary form cookies and short-lived counters to validate requests, control duplicates, and limit abuse. These are operational controls, not a promise that all technology providers process no other data. Hosting and sign-in providers may process connection, technical, or account information in their own systems.

Shared traffic and upload-volume limits apply across submission forms, including when a form cookie is reset. These temporary counters do not contain IP addresses, names, email addresses, account IDs, or browser fingerprints. During unusually high traffic, submissions may be paused until capacity renews; the form displays an error and keeps the information you entered for a later attempt.

Some articles contain embedded third-party media, including Facebook videos, and the site links to external websites. Loading an embed or visiting an external service can transmit connection information and allow that provider to use cookies or other technologies under its own privacy practices. We do not control those services; review their notices when deciding whether to use them.

Our retention schedule prompts review rather than automatic destruction. We keep material while it is reasonably needed for verification, follow-up, an accurate public-interest archive, security, a dispute, or a legal obligation. Review dates guide the editor’s decision; passing a date does not itself erase a submission.

• New private tips and publication requests: a first retention review is set for 180 days after receipt. On a new closure or resolution, an unchanged review date is replaced with a 90-day follow-up review.
• New pending public document submissions: a first retention review is set for 180 days after receipt. The editor reviews continuing need when rejecting or withdrawing a document.
• Approved records and protected reporting evidence: retained for publication, verification, and follow-up while that purpose remains. Legal holds and specifically protected evidence block permanent deletion.
• Password help requests: removed after 30 days when the help form or owner inbox next performs cleanup, including unresolved requests.
• Legacy submissions: entries without a retained classification enter individual review. Historical consent, decisions, or review dates are not invented.

At review, the editor can document a continuing need, set a further review date, or confirm deletion after the case is closed or the document is withdrawn. Permanent deletion requires checking preservation duties and confirming the item reference. It removes the item, private contact data, associated history and permission records, and retained files from active site storage. A minimal deletion receipt retains the reference, item type, date, and file count, without the message, contact details, filenames, or substantive decision.

Hosting providers may maintain backups, logs, or recovery copies under their own practices; active-storage deletion does not promise immediate erasure from every provider system. A failed file-removal attempt remains private and is marked for completion. The editor can retry removal; the system does not report it as complete until the active item is removed.

To request access, correction, deletion, or review of information you submitted, use a privacy request with the available reference and enough detail to locate the record. We may need proportionate evidence of the requester’s authority; do not send identity documents unless a justified need and suitable method have been agreed. Requests are considered subject to applicable rights, journalistic purposes, preservation needs, and legal obligations; not every request requires removal of an accurate public-interest record.

Access restrictions help protect unpublished information, but no online service can guarantee perfect security. Submit only what is necessary, avoid credentials and identity documents, and consider whether metadata or the facts themselves could identify you. The forms are intended for adult contributors. Do not submit a child’s sensitive information without appropriate authority and a clear public-interest reason.

Questions & notice updates

Use publication requests with the relevant reference or page URL and a safe contact method if you want a reply. Avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information.

The revision date identifies this notice. A later notice does not by itself expand permission to use previously submitted material. See our policy-update practices and legal notices.