Draft Privacy Policy, was: Re: Promoted topic added to the site, was: Re: [Imc-uk-process] promoted newswire - moving forward

[Chris]

Hi

On Tue 20-Dec-2005 at 11:33:11AM +0000, Chris wrote:
> 
> before the templates are updated we need to finalise /
> agree the feature about the change:
> 
>   https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/UkPromotedNewswire#Feature_article

Ekes has just sent an email about this [1].

> And also the privacy policy:
> 
>   https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/UkPrivacyPolicy

I think this is now good enough for the moment, it dosn't
do exactly what we discussed at the Bristol meeting last
year -- there is no clear statment about what we do if
personal information is posted to the site (though this is
touched upon), but it does cover cookies and it can be
further developed...

I guess we would also want to add a link to it from the
navigational menu at the top of pages?

I have created a static page for the privacy policy and
added the current text from the wiki page (with some HTML
tweaks), this is the content:

  Privacy Policy

    UK Indymedia is very concerned about users privacy and
    anonymity. Optional personal information is only
    collected when people post to the newswire. All cookies
    are optional. IP addresses are not logged.
 
    The UK Indymedia web site contains links to other
    websites. These are controlled by Indymedia affiliates
    or unrelated third parties. UK Indymedia is not
    responsible for the privacy policies and practices of
    any linked website.

    * IP Address Logging
    * Cookies
          o Publishing Cookies
          o Newswire Cookies
    * Personal Information
          o Posting to the Newswire
          o Contacting UK Indymedia by Email

  IP Address Logging

    Every computer on the web has an IP address. The IP
    adresses of remote users can be logged by servers.
    Through these logs, people's activities can be traced
    when they are matched with records from ISP's about who
    is has been allocated any given IP address at any time.
   
    All the web servers that are used for the UK Indymedia
    web site are set up not to log IP adresss. This
    ensures the privacy of people who are browsing the
    site and posting news and comments to it. However, it
    is technically possible for networks between the
    servers and users to log IPs — if you are concerned
    about privacy need to ensure your anonomity please see
    the security page for more information about measures
    you can take.

  Cookies

    A cookie is a small file that is stored on your
    computer, and is sent to the Indymedia UK website each
    time you visit it. Cookies can record a variety of
    information and are used by some sites for collecting
    information about their visitors browsing activity by
    setting a persistent cookie with a unique identifier
    in it. This is not what UK Indymedia uses them for.
 
    Broswer specific instructions for deleting cookies and
    controlling cookies are available on the
    aboutcookies.org web site.
 
    UK Indymedia uses optional cookies for two purposes:

      Publishing Cookies
  
        When you use the publishing form to post an
        article to the newswire or to submit a comment to
        an existing article a session cookie (ie a cookie
        that will only last as long as your browser is
        open — it will be deleted when you exit your
        browser) will be saved to your computer because
        this is the way the software (Tomcat servlets)
        running the dynamic parts of the site works. This
        cookie will be deleted when you exit your browser.
        Since the publishing form is only available via a
        encrypted interface, this cookie will also be
        encrypted. If you reject this cookie, the
        publishing form will still work.

      Newswire Cookies
  
        The newswire on the front page of the site has two
        versions: the open newswire and the promoted
        newswire.  You can set an optional persistent
        cookie (a cookie that is stored by your web
        browser and lasts until a set date in the future —
        it persists between brower sessions) to change
        your front page newswire preference to the
        promoted newswire. If you do this the site will
        attempt to set a cookie. If you accept it, your
        computer will "remember" to show you the promoted
        newswire each time you visit the site.
      
        To use this feature, you must have cookies enabled
        in your browser. You can delete the cookie at any
        time. If you do so, your computer will "forget"
        your preference for the promoted newswire. If you
        click the link to revert to the default newswire,
        this will have the same effect: the cookie will be
        deleted.

  Personal Information

    If you wish to post news to this site anonymously then
    please do so. You may also contact UK Indymedia
    anonymously if you wish. If you are thinking of
    publicising your phone number or adress, please be
    aware that people might turn up at your doorstep. We
    discourage users from posting other people's personal
    details.
   
      Posting to the Newswire
   
        You have the option to use your real name or a
        psydonyme when publishing news articles on this
        site.  The email address field is optional, fill
        this in if you would like people to be able to
        contact you. The email address will appear on the
        published article. The postal address and phone
        number fields are also optional. This information
        is not made public, it is only accessible to the
        volunteers who administer the site.
   
      Contacting UK Indymedia by Email
   
        To get in touch with UK Indymedia, or any of the
        UK IMC collectives please use one of the email
        lists. Most of these are set up to accept posts
        from non-members. Be aware that most of the lists
        are publicly archived. For details of the
        non-public lists please see the contact page for
        the UK or the regional contact pages for the
        regional addresses.

  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/static/privacy.html

How long do we need to agree this text and the text of the
feature article and the changes Ekes suggested to the
Editorial Guidelines -- a week or so (9th Jan 2006)? I
don't think that the changes to the site should be
deployed before these things are agreed...

Chris

[1] http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-process/2006-January/0102-78.html

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