Web Conduct and Privacy Policy

Mission Statement

On NIOT.org, you can learn about community efforts to combat intolerance across the US and around the world. You can also share your own ideas, strategies, events, and support with other active citizens. We encourage you to forge relationships with people outside your own community who are also working to repair and strengthen the social fabric of their communities. NIOT.org is a space that fosters positive and inclusive community-building.

Violence, hate and intolerance divide our communities and tear at the social fabric of our civic life. This blog is a tool for community members to use in their efforts to bridge divisions and create a climate where everyone can feel safe and included.

Web Conduct Policy

NIOT.org is a space for people to discuss strategies for responding to and preventing hate in their communities. The Not In Our Town project encourages dialogue and discussion on all topics related to our videos and educational materials. Our website is a place where people can share their thoughts and stories to inspire hope, and for individuals and groups to know they are not alone. We encourage you to share what you have done to positively and effectively respond to issues of bullying, harassment and hate. We encourage you to share your ideas, experiences, and support for each other through comments. However, we carefully monitor submissions and want to make our website dialogue safe for everyone.

NIOT.org is not an open forum; this website has a clearly stated mission, and users are expected to respect the nature of this mission when commenting. Also, we are not a counseling organization and do not have trained or professional staff to handle serious emotional issues.

All users must submit a valid email address in order for comments to be published. Though all comments are moderated by the NIOT.org team, Not In Our Town is not liable for user-generated content.

We retain the right to:

Control content and comments.
Delete comments.
Permanently ban users who continually attempt to post comments that violate our commenting policy.
Review and moderate unsolicited submissions from users.
Delete names or contact information for specific individuals or groups.

More specifically, we will not publish:

Comments that do not address the topic of the post.
Hate speech. 
Disrespectful or vulgar comments.
Inappropriate language and explicit sexual references.
Slanderous comments or personal attacks.
Videos or images that include copyright material without necessary authorization. Copyright material will be removed upon discovery.

Please remember that we moderate these comments at our discretion in order to maintain a safe and inclusive space.

Privacy Policy / Security

NIOT.org takes the privacy of its users seriously. All information provided to NIOT.org will only be used to communicate with users about user-selected interests via email. The data is stored on a server in a secured facility. Though highly unlikely, users will be notified immediately if there is a security breach.
Further, the Not In Our Town e-News is distributed through Constant Contact, which is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, organization whose mission is to build user's trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices.
Through this program, email addresses are protected against loss, misuse and alteration. Emails are not shared or sold without advanced permission or unless ordered by law. All emails sent to NIOT.org users are permission-based and include an easy and automated way for users to stop receiving email or change preferences in each email. Finally, Constant Contact ensures Not In Our Town regularly complies with this privacy policy by either having users opt-in to email lists or verifying that Not In Our Town has permission from users.