MicroWiki:Child protection

This article details MicroWiki's policies regarding child users and how we protect them.

If you have any serious concerns or issues around safeguarding at MicroWiki or in its community, please contact a member of the MicroWiki administration team as soon as you can. Appropriate actions will be taken. Should the admin team determine that a given safeguarding incident has reached the level of crime, proper authorities (eg, the police) will be notified and all relevant information will be shared with them, including chatlogs. In such serious situations, please also consider reaching out to Child Helpline International.

Minimum age requirement

MicroWiki takes the protection of children's privacy very seriously and is committed to complying with COPPA and UK GDPR. Accordingly:

• There is a minimum age of 13 years to use the site, and MicroWiki makes reasonable efforts to verify the ages of users during account creation. MicroWiki, to the maximum extent allowed by law, will not be held responsible for users who lie about their age; but we will do what is in our power to permanently ban such users.
• Any user anywhere in the world, not just in the US, who is found to be under the age of 13 or who is found to have lied about their age when creating their account will be permanently banned.
• Any user subject to GDPR and found to be beneath their respective macronation's cutoff age (could be as high as 16) will be permanently banned and merged into User:Deleted, thus fully anonymizing their edits. (This is the closest a MediaWiki wiki can get to deletion.)
• Any user who suspects that an account on MicroWiki was created by an individual under the age of 13 is strongly encouraged to report this to the MicroWiki administrators, who will investigate and take appropriate action.

Pseudonyms

MicroWiki is committed to promoting the safety and privacy of all users, including those under the age of 18. This policy encourages the use of pseudonyms or screen names for users under the age of 18 and reminds all users of the importance of protecting their personal information online.

• MicroWiki encourages users under the age of 18 to use pseudonyms or screen names, rather than their real names when registering an account on the site.

• When selecting a pseudonym or screen name, users are encouraged to choose a name that is not easily identifiable, such as their full name or their school name.

• Users are prohibited from using a pseudonym or a screen name that is offensive or inappropriate in any way.

• MicroWiki will use reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of all users, including those under the age of 18, and will avoid disclosing any personal information without the user's consent, except as required by law or the proper functioning of the services provided.

• Parents or guardians of users under the age of 18 are encouraged to monitor their child's activity on MicroWiki and to discuss the importance of online safety and privacy with them.

MicroWiki administrators

MicroWiki administrators shall ensure all one-on-one online interactions between staff and children are transparent with important information that must be shared with identifying information removed to protect anyone, as well as being aware of the contents of the pdf provided and being aware of safeguarding policies and programs from around the world as well as constantly looking to better the policies and practices used in safeguarding, BSA Safeguarding Policies, this is one such example of information staff are required to read, information is always changing and will be updated accordingly.

• MicroWiki administrators are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully when interacting with children who use the site.
• Administrators are prohibited from engaging in any behaviour that could be perceived as inappropriate, including but not limited to, sexual advances, inappropriate language, or sharing of inappropriate materials.
• Any reports of inappropriate behaviour by an administrator towards a child will be investigated promptly and thoroughly. If the report is found to be true, the administrator may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of their account.
• Administrators are encouraged to report any concerns about the safety or well-being of a child to the appropriate authorities, such as law enforcement or child protective services.
• Administrators must comply with all applicable laws and regulations related to the safety and protection of children, including but not limited to, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation.

Photos containing minors

MicroWiki reserves the unilateral right to remove any image that contains identifiable features of minors below the age of 13 and that were uploaded by a third party. In this case, a "third party" is anyone except the parent of the minor. This includes photos depicting multiple people, group photos in general, and photos uploaded at any point in MicroWiki's history, even if they depict people who are no longer minors.

MicroWiki reserves the right to remove these images proactively to ensure the safety and privacy of the depicted minor. MicroWiki also reserves the right to remove any images of minors which might pose legal or safeguarding risks; likewise, MicroWiki reserves the right to contact relevant macronational authorities should such a need arise.

Policy updates

MicroWiki shall update its safeguarding policies to reflect the new realities for children and micronationalists learning, playing and engaging in activities in the community every year and following any major incident in the community where policies were lacking.

These policies are up to date as of 3 September 2024.