Purpose

Over the course of their work, Communications volunteers will have access to information not available, or not yet available, to the public or other non-Communications OTW volunteers.
To protect volunteer information, account integrity, and ensure people who share confidential information with us can feel confident it will be treated securely, Communications volunteers are required to agree and adhere to this policy in addition to their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct and Speaking About the OTW in Public policies.

Whom This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to:

1. All current and former volunteers on the Communications committee.
2. Liaisons to the Communications committee who have access to private Communications spaces or information.

This policy does not apply to members of the News Post Moderation subcommittee (NPM) as they are bound by their own confidentiality policy. In the event an NPM volunteer takes on a Communications role outside of NPM, they are required to agree to this policy.

Confidential Information

Any information that is created or shared within the Communications committee with the expectation of confidentiality is considered Confidential Information unless otherwise indicated. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. User and Contact Information: full names, usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, connections between individuals’ legal, professional, and/or fannish identities, and other private information about users and other parties who contact or work with the Communications committee for any reason. This includes details of OTW guest posters, private messages to Communications-run social media accounts, and those who mistakenly contact Communications instead of another committee;
2. Volunteer Information: real names, private details, personal email addresses, IP addresses, connection between individuals’ legal, professional, and/or fannish identities, or any other private volunteer information learned in the course of Communications work;
3. Unpublished News Information: besides publicly available information, such as news post titles on the posting calendar, these pertain to any drafts of news posts and initiatives shared by other committees with Communications (such as planned Open Doors imports or Fanlore challenges) that have not yet been published on the posting calendar;
4. Internal Committee Discussion: private discussions in locked Communications spaces;
5. Social Media Analytics: website, social media, or specific engagement statistics; and
6. Shared Accounts Logins: all items in the Communications 1Password vaults.

In situations where it is unclear whether information should be considered confidential, the default will be to treat the information as confidential, unless determined by the Communications Chair(s) that the information should not be considered confidential.

Treatment of Confidential Information

Communications volunteers may discuss Confidential Information within the confines of private OTW-controlled spaces used for Communications work, which includes cross-committee channels, and/or restricted solely to currently-serving Communications volunteers (such as locked Slack channels).
Communications volunteers shall not disclose Confidential Information to anyone outside the Communications committee, except:

• when the disclosure is required for ordinary work by Communications or another committee, such as forwarding misaddressed emails to the correct committee, or sharing news post drafts with relevant committees (such as Translation, or in #_beta-newsposts). This also includes disclosures to other committees (such as the Legal committee) for consultation; or
• in other circumstances as approved by Communications Chair(s).
  All external communications between Communications volunteers and other parties will continue to be treated as Confidential Information by Communications even if the other party has shared the contents of their exchange(s) publicly.

Enforcement

Failure to uphold the terms of this policy may result in disciplinary action depending on the severity of the violation, which could include suspension, dismissal, or permanent ineligibility to rejoin Communications.
If a non-Communications volunteer who has agreed to this policy is found in breach of it, they will be reported for formal disciplinary action to the Chair(s) of the relevant committees, including the Volunteers & Recruiting committee.
If Confidential Information is disclosed, the individual who disclosed and/or discovered the information is required to notify the Communications Chair(s) immediately upon discovery so that damage from the release may be minimized.

Survival

Agreeing to this policy binds an individual during their service in Communications and will continue to bind those individuals after their service in Communications has ended, including during any future service for the OTW in any other capacity. Volunteers are required to sign the policy before gaining access to tools and the password vault; refusal to sign will result in denial of access.

Last Reviewed and Updated

March 2025