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Rules of Participation Summary

1. Real Names — Sign posts including your real name and city.
2. Limits on Posting — Two per member per day in most forum charters.
3. Keep Topics within Forum Purpose — Local issues on a local forum for example.
4. Be Civil — No name-calling. Respect among citizens with differing views is our cornerstone.
5. No Attacks or Threats — This keeps the forums safe. If content is illegal it will be forwarded to the proper legal authorities.
6. Private Stays Private — Don't forward private replies without permission.
7. Avoid False Rumors — Asking for clarification of what you've heard in the community can be appropriate if issues-based. You alone are responsible for what you post.
8. Right to Post and Reply — Sharing your knowledge and opinions with your fellow citizens is a democratic right.
9. Items Not Allowed in Forums — No chain letters, etc.
10. Public Content and Use — You are sharing your content forever, but retain your copyright.
11. Warnings — You may receive informal or official warnings from the Forum Manager.
12. Suspension — With your second official warning in one year, you are suspended for two weeks. It goes up from there.
13. Appeals Process — You can appeal a warning(s) once you receive a third warning and six month removal. Rare appeals are not received most years.

The detailed rules are also avaliable.

Participation in E-Democracy.Org is fundamentally about public life.

We seek to create a safe, trusting environment where people know who has the ability to communicate publicly with them in our forums. While this is a community experience not a private life activity, we do take actions to protect your privacy.

E-Democracy does not sell, rent, or exchange private information with third parties on individuals using our web site, forums, or services. Representatives of E-Democracy.Org including staff, contractors, Board members, Forum Managers, and local volunteers may not use personally identifiable information that is provided to E-Democracy.Org for any purposes that are unrelated to the mission and official activities of E-Democracy.Org and its local affiliates.

• For forum registration and verification purposes, we require real names, community, country, and at least one valid e-mail address.
• Only members may post to a forum, and by submitting such a post, members share their e-mail address with other members via e-mail as typical with e-mail discussion lists. We obscure e-mail addresses in the web versions of posts.
• The names of registered members of our public forums are listed with each forum on the web.
• Anyone may read posts via our web site, but non-members do not have access to posters' e-mail addresses, and cannot post to a forum. If you wish to remain anonymous, do not register and do not join a forum.
• Our forum system uses cookies to allow you to maintain a logged in status and we use basic web statistic analytical tools. We do not monitor the viewing activities of users nor disclose such information.
• Our Content Removal Policy does allow requests to redact personal information you or others shared via a public forum that is determined to present a potential threat to that individuals safety.
• Posts, including the name of the author, made to our public forums, similar to print letter to the editor, may be publicly accessible in perpetuity.
• Forums include optional member profiles with public fields will be accessible to others. Sharing public biographic information among members builds reciprocal trust. We hide e-mail addresses, but allow a request contact feature to ensure participation equality for web-based participants. Do not include information in these optional fields that you do not want to be public. Internet search engines may index your public posts and voluntarily provided profile information.

Any personal information collected by specific forums, local committees/chapters, or for use with other services owned and operated by E-Democracy.Org, labeled private will not be disclosed publicly. By default, as a public life initiative, information fields not clearly labeled private should be considered public, viewable, and potentially accessible.

Specific non-forum services, such as e-mail newsletters, surveys requesting demographic information, and online donation systems will have clearly stated additional privacy guarantees as appropriate.

Adopted by the E-Democracy.Org Board, February 2009