Site Policies

Policy:

Comment Policy

If you want to post a comment on this site, I ask that you abide by these principles:

• be courteous
• add value
• give accurate information in the spirit of being helpful
• if you disagree with me or another commentator, disagree respectfully
• use the correct venue for your comment — keep your comments on-topic
• admit the possibility of fault and respect different points of views
• if you screw up, take responsibility for your actions

The key to the comments policy is respect for others. In your comments, treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Anyone is free to disagree with me, or with other commentators, as long as it is done politely. In short, my comments policy is simple: play the ball and not the (wo)man.

I am no fan of personal abuse. I do not want this site to become a bear pit for sledge fests. I am more interested in the contest of ideas than the contest of egos. If your best argument is to call someone a Nazi, a left wing loony or a f*ckwit, you have already lost the argument.

If you cannot play by these rules, you should at least read my moderation policy.

Moderation policy

I will delete those comments I judge to be offensive, aggressive, abusive, bullying, trolling, sexist, racist, slanderous, defamatory, lewd, illegal, repetitive, or otherwise unacceptable. Unacceptable comments include but are not be limited to:

• insults, name-calling, abuse and vilification
• a pattern of commenting that harasses, stalks, or threatens others
• libelous or knowingly false comments
• comments that infringe upon any copyright, trademark or trade secret of any third party. (If you quote or excerpt someone’s content, it is your responsibility to provide proper attribution to the original author).
• violating an obligation of confidentiality or the privacy of others
• excessively frequent comments, where the effect of such comments is to discourage the participation of others or turn a debate around into one about themselves
• consistently repeated and/or aggressively stated opinions which fail to engage with others is regarded as a form of trolling
• comments which are designed to derail threads
• comments contesting earlier moderation decisions

If a comment is off-topic, I may move it to another thread rather than delete it.

I expect comments on the blog to add value. They should be on-topic and say something that has not been said before; something others will want to read. They should avoid repetition.

Making a comment on this blog is not a right. It is a privilege. Use it wisely.

Dispute mechanism

There is no dispute mechanism. It is my blog, and it operates at my discretion.
No correspondence will be entered into regarding moderation decisions.
Comments complaining about moderation decisions may be subject to moderation.
If you don’t like my comments policy, don’t post any comments.

Legal notes

The opinions expressed in comments threads are entirely the responsibility of the various contributors. While I will do everything within reason to ensure that they are not defamatory, I accept no liability for them or the content of links included in them. If there is a comment that needs be sanitised or removed, please contact me.

I reserve the right to amend this comments policy without notice and without consultation.

Privacy Policy

I promise not to disclose your private information to any third party except if required to do so by law, or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with legal process, respond to claims, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Matt's Googly Site users or the public. I take all reasonable care in handling your personal information to ensure its security both offline and online.

I reserve the right to amend this privacy policy without notice and without consultation. Types of Information I Collect

You are free to the site without submitting any personal information at all. Your IP address (your current Internet address) is stored in the server logs at the time of your visit, as it is on all web sites. I do not collect any personal information (such as a name, address or e-mail address) when you visit the site unless you register to the site or provied the information when leaving a comment. Postings Comments on Articles

It is important remember that when you provide personal information (e.g., last name, address, phone number) in a online posting that that information is visible to anyone, and may be used by someone in a manner unintended by you. For that reason, I discourage you from posting any personal information on this or any website in comments or otherwise.

Cookies

The Habari blog software use browser cookies to keep track of which messages you have read, and other information about your session. Cookies are small pieces of text that are stored on your hard drive between visits. For example, I use a cookie to store your name and URL when you post comments so you don't have to re-enter them each time you visit. These cookies do not collect, store or maintain any private, personally identifiable information. You do not have to accept these cookies to visit or use the site (although turning cookies off will impair the site's functionality), and you can choose to refuse the cookies, delete the cookies from your hard drive or turn off cookies at any time by updating your user profile preferences. Questions And Concerns

If you have any concerns or questions about any aspect of this policy, please feel free to contact me using my contact form. Please use the Subject "Privacy Policy" or similar.

Thanks to Matt Read for letting me copy his policy statements