Who we are
DOTS is an informal, grassroots collective seeking to contribute to cultural transformation at the depth, speed and scale our current crises demand. Our online presence has been built from the ground up using commonly available tools and technologies (such as WordPress.org and associated ‘plug-ins’, and common third-party ‘service providers’ like Google and Mailchimp).
We are aware of the concept of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’ as elaborated by Shoshana Zuboff, and of the threats this technological and economic model presents to human freedom and democratic flourishing.
We are also mindful of the revelations of Edward Snowden (and others) regarding the extent of online surveillance by government and corporate actors, and of the harms caused by concentrated corporate power in the tech sector (for example, the Cambridge Analytica scandal.)
Our wish is liberate ourselves and humanity from this toxic and exploitative information architecture. However, we are neither so uncompromising, nor so technologically savvy, as to aspire to much more than responsible privacy and information practice, as might be reasonably expected by a typical web user engaging with ‘mainstream’ web content.
As non-tech specialists, we cannot be confident we are accurately describing the privacy implications of every interaction with our website, but we can assure you that we take privacy and data-security seriously. We take all reasonable measures to protect your data, and to keep you informed of what we do with your information.
We are also entirely non-commercial.
We only ask for personal information when we truly need it to communicate with you. We collect it by fair and lawful means, with your knowledge and consent. We also let you know why we’re collecting it and, to the best of our ability, how it will be used.
We only retain collected information for as long as necessary, and what data we store, we’ll take reasonable measures to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.
Most of what follows is ‘generic’ text, suggested by Wordress and reflecting the way personal data is typically processed on the web.
However, we would like to specifically inform you that DOTS is currently using Google Analytics to help us improve our web design. If you can suggest a more ethical alternative to the Google behemoth and its ubiquitous ‘solutions’, please let us know.
For information regarding the behaviour and privacy implications of Google Analytics see here.
For users that submit data via our online forms, the only third parties used to retain the details provided is Mailchimp. You can view their privacy policy here.
Your continued use of our website will be regarded as acceptance of our practices around privacy and personal information. If you have any questions or suggestions about how we handle user data and personal information, feel free to contact us.
You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Our website address is: https://democracyonthestreets.com.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
This site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.