Confidentiality Policy: Board of Directors

In the course of performing their duties, the OTW Board of Directors will have access to information not available, or not yet available, to the public or to individuals who are not members of the Board.

To protect volunteer information and account integrity, and to ensure that people who share confidential information with us feel confident it will be treated securely, Board members are required to agree and adhere to this policy in addition to their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy.

Board members are expected to uphold the highest standards of confidentiality, and may not disclose, to anyone outside the sitting Board of Directors or the relevant committee(s), any information considered confidential and/or privileged that they learn.

Scope

This policy applies to:

  1. All current and former Board members.
  2. Liaisons to the Board of Directors, who:
    1. have access to private Board spaces or information, and
    2. have not yet signed an OTW confidentiality policy authorised as equivalent to this policy by the Board President.

Confidential Information

Any information that is created or shared within the Board of Directors 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 Board of Directors for any reason. This includes details of OTW external contractors, private communication to the Board of Directors via contact form, and those who mistakenly contact the Board of Directors instead of another OTW committee;
  2. Volunteer Information: real names; personal email addresses; IP addresses, connections between individuals’ legal; professional, and/or fannish identities, or any other private volunteer information learned in the course of Board of Directors work; and
  3. Internal Committee Discussion: private discussions in locked Board of Directors spaces.

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 either the Board President or Board Vice President that the information should not be considered confidential.

Treatment of Confidential Information

Board members may discuss Confidential Information within the confines of private OTW-controlled spaces used for Board work (including cross-committee channels) and/or restricted solely to currently-serving Board members (such as locked Board channels).

Board members shall not disclose Confidential Information to anyone outside the Board, except:

  • when the disclosure is required for day-to-day work by the Board or another committee, such as forwarding misaddressed emails to the correct committee or sharing communications with relevant committees. This includes disclosures to the Board Assistants Team for beta and to other committees (such as the Legal committee) for consultation; or
  • when the disclosure is under circumstances compliant with the OTW Whistleblower Protection Policy; or
  • in other circumstances as approved by the Board President or Board Vice President.

All external communications between Board members and other parties will continue to be treated as Confidential Information by the Board, even if the other party has shared the contents of the exchange(s) publicly.

Enforcement

Failure to uphold the terms of this policy may result in disciplinary action depending on the severity of the violation. This could include suspension, dismissal, or permanent ineligibility to rejoin the Organization for Transformative Works.

If a non-Board member 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 committee(s) as well as to the Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution subcommittee.

If Confidential Information is disclosed, the individual who disclosed and/or discovered the information is required to notify the Board President immediately upon discovery so that damage from the release may be minimised.

Survival

Agreeing to this policy binds an individual during their service with the Board of Directors and will continue to bind those individuals after their service with the Board has ended. This policy also binds the individual during any subsequent service for the OTW in any other capacity, as well as after they retire entirely from service with the OTW in any capacity.

Volunteers are required to sign the policy before being inducted into the Board of Directors.

Biannual Affirmation

At least twice per year, each Board member shall affirm that they:

  1. Have received a copy of the Board Confidentiality Policy,
  2. Have read and understand the policy,
  3. Have agreed to comply with the policy, and
  4. Understand that the Board Confidentiality Policy applies during their current OTW service and shall continue to bind them after they step down from the Board or retire from the OTW.

Failure to reaffirm their agreement to the above points, as demonstrated by submitting the Board Confidentiality Policy webform within two weeks after receiving a request for affirmation of the Board Confidentiality Policy, will result in being placed on a formal hiatus from the Board of Directors. Failure to affirm this policy within four weeks after receiving a request for affirmation will result in a formal vote of removal.

Effective Date and Review Schedule

This policy was first reviewed by OTW Legal and approved by the Board on December 28, 2023. The policy will be reviewed regularly, no less than biennially.

Should substantial changes be made to this policy during such a review, consultation of OTW Legal and formal vote of Board approval will be required prior to implementation.

This policy was last reviewed on November 15, 2025 (2025/11/15).