CharityScorecard:Privacy policy
From CharityScorecard
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Transparency and privacy
The Charity Scorecard project works to encourage openness and transparency, so I'm trying to operate the site itself as transparently as possible.
- for people reading this site
- If all you do is read pages on this site, you should expect to enjoy roughly the same level level of privacy that you get when you visit other web sites, such as google.com, wikipedia.org, or amazon.com. For more detail see the entry below, Reading pages
- for people contributing to the site
- By contributing to this site, you are intentionally publishing your contributions. Even if someone deletes your contributions from the current version of a page, your contributions will still exist in earlier versions of the page, and anyone in the world may read those earlier versions. By contributing to this wiki you are acting publicly, not privately, and you shouldn't expect that any information about your contribution will be kept private.
Reading pages
Most people will probably just read the pages on this site, and not contribute content to the pages. For people who are readers, we are not trying to collect *any* information about you.
Server logs
In theory, we'd like you to be able to read this site anonymously, and privately. In practice, when you visit most web sites, some information is automatically collected in server logs. Server log information is sometimes used to create site statistics pages, which show, for example, how many people visit the site using Macintosh computers vs. Windows computers.
The Charity Scorecard site is hosted by DreamHost.com. The staff of DreamHost may have access to server log information. The staff of DreamHost might use this information in the course of working on technical problems, or in investigating abuse of the wiki such as vandalism or harassment of other users.
The Charity Scorecard project might someday use the server log information to publish site statistics pages, but we have no plans to publicly publish the details of the server log. However, there might be times when we would release some personally identifiable data collected in the server logs. For example, we might release information in response to a subpoena or compulsory request from law enforcement, or when the information is necessary to illustrate or resolve technical issues.
Contributing to the site
When you edit a page on the Charity Scorecard site, you are publicly publishing every word you type. By contributing, you are acting publicly, not privately, and you shouldn't expect that any information about your contribution will be kept private. By contributing content to the Charity Scorecard site, you are placing your contribution permanently and irrevocably in the public domain.
By contributing to the Charity Scorecard site, you agree to the Charity Scorecard Terms of Service. Content that is in the public domain may be copied from the Charity Scorecard and re-used in other works, without restriction. If you are concerned about the possible privacy implications of forgoing any right to control where your contributions appear, then you should not contribute to the Charity Scorecard site.
Deleting content
When you delete text from a page on the Charity Scorecard site, the text is only removed from the current version of the page. The site still maintains the previous versions of the page, and anyone can read those earlier versions and make links to them.
Anonymity
The Charity Scorecard site does not allow anonymous contributions. You cannot edit a Charity Scorecard page without having first created a user account and logged into that account. You are not allowed to use someone else's account, nor may you share your account with someone else. You may not create an account under a false name or a pseudonym. When you create your account, the account information you provide must clearly establish your true name and identity.
As with other pages, when you delete text from your user page, the text is only removed from the current version of the page. Posting information to your user page is effectively a permanant, irrevokable act.
You may at some point decide to stop contributing to the Charity Scorecard site, and you may decide to retire your user account so that you are no longer able to use it, but the account itself will not be deleted, and your user page will not be removed from the Charity Scorecard site.
E-mail addresses
In order to create a user account, you need to provide an e-mail address. That e-mail account will be recorded in the Charity Scorecard database, but will not be posted on your user page, and will generally not be revealed to other Charity Scorecard users.
Information about contributions
When you make any contribution, including minor edits to fix typos, the wiki software will record information about what change you made, when you changed it, etc. You should not assume that any of this information will be treated as private information. All of this information will be treated as being in the public domain.
Security of information
The Charity Scorecard project makes no guarantee against unauthorized access to any information collected about you. This information may be available to anyone with access to the servers.
Release of information
The Charity Scorecard project or the staff of DreamHost may release to other parties any of the information collected about you. For example, we might release information in response to a subpoena or compulsory request from law enforcement, or when the information is necessary to illustrate or resolve technical issues.
