Code of Conduct
This code of conduct applies to all CDR spaces, either in online interactions or associated events or social gatherings. Members, Service Providers and participants are responsible for knowing and abiding by the rules detailed below.
CDR is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for addressing and discussing issues related to the digital security of the communities in which we work. In particular, we aim to banish any shame or stigma surrounding members’ digital security vulnerabilities or mistakes, so we encourage all those involved to approach interactions with open and supportive attitudes, and to engage constructively with others at all times.
CDR is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), technology choices, skillset or level of knowledge.
We do not tolerate harassment of community members in any form. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from these spaces at the discretion of CDR.
Harassment
Harassment may occur online or in person. Examples of unacceptable behaviors include:
- Threats of violence
- Deliberate intimidation
- Stalking or following
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm
- Offensive comments which reinforce social structures of domination and/or are related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion
- Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment
- Deliberate misgendering or use of “dead” or rejected names
- Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior in spaces where they are not appropriate
- Physical contact and simulated physical contact (e.g. textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub”) without consent or after a request to stop
- Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
- Unwelcome sexual attention or physical contact
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting / assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
- Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect vulnerable people from intentional abuse
- Drugging food or drink
- Publication of non-harassing private communication
- Sustained disruption of discussion, talks or other events
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
- Publishing another person’s private information, such as physical or electronic addresses, without explicit permission
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviors
We prioritise marginalised peoples’ safety over privileged people’s comfort. Our team will not act on complaints regarding:
- ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
- Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as ‘leave me alone,’ ‘go away,’ or ‘I’m not discussing this with you’
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
- Criticising racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions
Let someone leave a conversation that makes them uncomfortable, and do not follow people who asked to be left alone. If you discuss difficult topics that may be traumatic for participants, provide warnings so people may leave a conversation or plan coping strategies.
Reporting
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please notify CDR Executive Director Holly Kilroy ([email protected]) or CDR Community Director Nicolas Sera-Leyva ([email protected]). All reports are confidential. You will not be asked to take actions that make you feel unsafe.
This code of conduct applies to CDR spaces, but if you are being harassed by a person involved in CDR outside our spaces, we still want to know about it. We will take all good-faith reports of harassment seriously. This includes harassment outside our spaces and harassment that took place at any point in time.
CDR reserves the right to exclude people from CDR based on their past behavior, including behavior outside CDR spaces. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of members or people involved with CDR. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.
Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our community for everyone. We want you to be happy in our community as people like you make it a better place. If the person who is harassing you is part of the organising staff, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respond as promptly as we can.
Consequences
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, CDR may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from all CDR spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to other CDR members or the general public.
Licensing
This policy is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. It is public domain, no credit and no open licensing of your version is required. This anti-harassment policy is based on the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki created by the Geek Feminism community.
