Rules of discussion:

1. Keep it legal

   comCensus participants agree to abide by UK legislation concerning online communication, in particular the 1988 Malicious Communications act and the 2003 Communications act.
   The law expressly forbids communications that are either:

   • grossly offensive: as it would be perceived by “reasonable members of the public […] (not just the recipients/intended recipients)”.
   • indecent and obscene: meaning “shocking, lewd and indecent”.
   • menacing: aimed at “creating a sense of apprehension or fear” in the recipient.
   • false: “information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender”.
   • persistently sent with the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety in another person.

   
   However, Official legal guidance clarifies the importance of respecting the Human Right to Freedom of Expression, which "expressly protects speech that offends, shocks and disturbs", if done in a context where there is a genuine intention to communicate and inform.
   Therefore, please try to be sensible and constructive in your writing, and follow the next two rules to fully stay out of trouble.

2. Keep it impersonal

   "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
   (uncertain attribution)
   comCensus is about great minds sharing ideas, feelings, thoughts, knowledge and information.
   We forbid posts that contain personal, private or confidential information, or links that lead to such information. For example:

   • Physical addresses, emails or other contact details.
   • Personal information, including name, identifiable nickname or contact details.
   • Your own information as the author of a post. Even if you don't care, your de-anonymisation might impair the anonymity of others. If you cite your own work, for example, try to avoid making it obvious that it is yours.
   • Gossip or private anecdotes about identifiable individuals. For example, "Company X's director confidentially told me that..." is not ok.

3. Keep it civil

   Your objective on comCensus is to inform others and help them change their minds.
   This requires compelling arguments, tact and diplomacy. Sterile insults or threats won't get you anywhere.
   We forbid post that contain:

   • Incitements to hate or violence against any individual, group or organization.
   • Gratuitously insulting remarks about individuals, groups or organization.
   • Potentially defamatory or slanderous information. This includes any post that makes or refers to allegations not already publicly substantiated about identifiable individuals, groups or organizations.
   NOTE:
   It is perfectly ok to criticize policies, actions, decisions and statements, but make your criticisms substantial and about the facts in object, not the person who made them (see rule 2).
   comCensus is not a whistleblowing resource, and we will not publish, record, convey or act upon any work complaints, allegations and grievances.

How moderation works

• Potential breaches of the rules can be flagged by any participant (see below).
• If the post breaches any of the rules above, it will be permanently removed.
• The author will be informed of the reasons for the removal, and will be encouraged to submit a corrected post.
• Repeated or particularly egregious offences will result in a banning of the author from the discussion.

How to flag potential breaches

• When reacting to other posts, by clicking on the "illegal" option, participants can inform moderators and the community that a message may be illegal or inappropriate or offensive.
• Flagged posts will be initially removed from the page and reviewed by moderators.
• If not in breach of the rules, the post is made visible again. However, posts that are subsequently flagged again will be reviewed again for moderation.

Terms of Use

back to the top

• Use of the Website

  We (the Company Science of Science ltd) grant You permission to use this Website subject to the restrictions in this User Agreement.
  User of this website is available on Mobile devices. Do not user the website in a way that distracts You and prevents You from obeying traffic or safety laws.
  By submitting, posting or displaying Content (which includes votes, posts, reactions as well as any related meta-data and usage statistics) on the Website, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use and display such Content on the website.
  Limitations to the use of Content are determined in advance by the Convener of each Page, and any modification must be agreed with the Convener. In particular:

  • Public pages

    These are intended for public viewing.
    Anyone can share a link to a public Page on social media, blogs, videos etc.
    The Content of such pages may be repurposed by us in the ways listed above for further public consumption (for example, it may be discussed and quoted in Blogs, articles, videos, etc.).
    However, you are NOT allowed to extract Content and data from a page, either manually or automatically, and re-use it without explicit consent by the Company and the Convener.
    Please address your requests to: admin [at] comcensus [dot] org.

  • Private pages

    These are intended only to be seen by the Participants and the Convener.
    The Content of these pages may be processed and analysed by us to provide Services to the Convener and participants (for example, to provide additional analytics and insights) and to improve our Services (for example, to improve the User Experience), but must not and will not be published or shared publicly, by us or anyone else, except with the explicit agreement of the Convener.
    By participating to a private page, you agree never to copy, save or redistribute any of the Content, except with explicit permission of the Convener. For example, taking a screen shot of the Page and sharing it publicly is not allowed, unless the Convener has authorized you to share the specific image you intend to share.
    The identity of the Convener of a private Page will normally be displayed in the page itself. Even if anonymous, the Convener can also be contacted directly via the internal messaging form.
    In case of difficulty contacting the Convener, you can address your requests to: admin [at] comcensus [dot] org.

• Reliance on Information Posted

  The information presented on or through this website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
  Content on this Website may quote or connect with web hyperlinks to material provided by third parties, including links to materials provided by other users, bloggers, media sources, scientific articles, and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other Content are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials.
  The materials on the Website do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Company. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.

• Limitation on Liability

  In using the Website, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent, untruthful, inaccurate, objectionable, defamatory or otherwise inappropriate. We do not endorse such content and expressly forbid all Users from submitting or posting such Content to the Website. We have measures in place to remove any Content that is found to be illegal and/or in breach of this User Agreement. Nonetheless, we cannot guarantee that this type of material will not be posted and visible on the Website, at least temporarily.
  By promptly rating as inappropriate any such material, you will help a rapid removal of such Content.
  You may also be exposed to Content that, whilst not in breach of this User Agreement, is felt by you to be offensive, indecent, untruthful, inaccurate, objectionable, defamatory or otherwise inappropriate.
  Encountering and confronting controversial Content is part of the experience that this Website aims to allow, and such material, if not in breach of any rule, will not be removed.
  You can setting the appropriate filters and rate negatively the content you displike, which can help you and others preemptively avoid controversial content, if you wish to avoid it.
  Under all circumstances and to the fullest extent permitted by Law, we (the Company, its director and its employees) will not be liable for any loss of profits, loss of business opportunities, loss of reputation (e.g. offensive or defamatory statements), loss of data (e.g. down time or loss, use of, or changes to your content), any material, emotional, physical, psychological or moral damage, or any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages that may result or may be claimed to result from information shared on the Website.

• Data and privacy

  Participant to a discussion:

  We collect all and only the Content that you, a user, freely decide to contribute to the Website. We do not collect personal or sensitive information, or personal data, or analytics that can be directly connected to your identity.
  The only information that we store in order to ensure the basic functionality of the Website is the following:

  1. First and last name, and an optional category (for example, your professional affiliation).
  • This information is stored on the website in an encrypted, but in a decryptable form
  • This information is made visible in connection with the page you are invited to, but is not connected to your activity or any content you add to the Website.
  2. Ciphered version of your email address.
  • Your email address is stored in a non-decryptable format, which cannot be accessed or used by third-parties.
  • This non-decryptable email address is not connected to the content you provide.

  The information above is obtained and uploaded by the Convener, and its sourcing and content is not our responsibility.
  We presume that such information is obtained legally and ethically by the Convener, and that it is used on the Website with your explicit or implicit consent.
  We do not investigate the source of the information provided by the Convener and cannot take responsibility for it. However, we will investigate any allegation of improprieties in such matters, and will take remedial action against any information that was provably obtained illegally, by removing the illegal information from the website.

  When you are invited to a question, you have the option to permanently remove the information above in connection with that question, autonomously and with no requirement of intervention by us.

  When you are invited to a question, you can opt into temporarily sharing your email address to enjoy additional services in connection with that question. In particular, you can choose to provide:

  1. Email address for general updates about the question you are invited to.
  • This email address is not connected to any of your activity or content on the website
  2. Email address for specific updates and notifications.
  • This email address is connected to your activity.
  Both email addresses are stored in a secure encrypted format, and are deleted once the relevant question closes.

  All Content and information listed above is stored and processed using third-party servers located in secure data centers in the United States.
  In addition to the Content, we also collect usage statistics to help us improve the user experience of the Website. This Data is collected in a fully anonymised form and is stored on secure EU servers.
  We do not use cookies to enable usage of the Website or to collect this Data.
  You can withdraw your participation at any time by stopping to use the Website and asking us, if you wish, to remove the identifying information listed above. Any Data and Content that you have already contributed cannot be connected to your identity, and therefore cannot be retrieved and removed, and it will be retained and processed by us according to the Rules stipulated above.

  Convener of a discussion:

  If you register as a Convener, we will store your email and use it to contact you. Any additional information you provide (including name, professional website, optional photo and biography) may be displayed publicly, in connection with the discussions you convene.
  By registering as a Convener, you authorise this use of your information. You can withdraw your consent at any time and ask to have the information removed from the website.

• Accessing the Website and Account Security

  We reserve the right to withdraw or amend this Website, and any service or material we provide on the Website, in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.
  From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Website, or the entire Website, to users, including registered users.
  You must treat your password and any other information necessary to access the Website as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your passwords or other security information.
  You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your user name or password or any other breach of security. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
  We have the right to disable any user account at any time if we believe you have violated any provision of these Terms of Use.

• Prohibited Uses

  You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use.
  You agree not to use the Website:

  • In any way that would violate any applicable law in the United Kingdom and the EU.
  • To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unwanted advertising or promotional material.
  • To impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company or a Company employee, or to impersonate another user or any other person or entity.
  • Use any robot, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Website.
  • Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website, or for any other purpose not expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, without our prior written consent.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Website.
  • Attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website.

• Intellectual Property Rights

  The Service and all of its content (collectively, "Content"), including all copyrights, patents, trademarks, service marks, trade names and all other intellectual property rights therein ("Intellectual Property"), are owned or controlled by Science of Science ltd, and certain other third parties. All rights, title, and interest in and to the Content and Intellectual Property available via the Service is the property of us, or certain other third parties, and is protected by UK and international copyright, trademark, trade dress, patent and/or other Intellectual Property and unfair competition rights and laws to the fullest extent possible.

• Changes to the Terms of Use

  We may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the Website thereafter. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. You are expected to check this page frequently so you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.

• Contact information

  You may contact comCensus by emailing us as contact [at] comCensus [dot] org or using the contact form.