Policies
SWB Volunteer Code of Conduct
Thank you for being part of our SWB community. This Code of Conduct is designed to provide all SWB volunteers with a set of expectations for appropriate conduct and behavior. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, SWB reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership for those who do not adhere to these expectations.
Be professional
- Be respectful of the clients and of other SWB volunteers who you work with on projects and be comfortable working on collaborations or in groups with other SWB volunteers.
- Ensure that SWB projects that you participate in are completed in a timely manner. Make sure communications with the client, the PCM, and any other volunteers are handled promptly.
- Disclose any potential conflicts of interest to your PCM before starting on a project. Do not participate in a project if there is an identified conflict of interest. Do not volunteer for a project if you have a moral objection to it or if you are certain that you do not possess the knowledge necessary to fulfill the request.
- Report honestly on the quality of the data and results to the clients.
- Make sure to maintain an impartial and neutral approach to a project at all times. Do not volunteer to work on a project if you hold a fixed opinion on what the results should show.
Be respectful and responsible
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect. You should act in an appropriate manner at all times including acting honestly and ethically while volunteering for SWB.
- Do not verbally, emotionally or physically abuse SWB volunteers or clients, including using profanities or derogatory remarks. Do not harass, bully, or mistreat SWB volunteers or clients.
- Do not do anything that brings harm or is likely to bring harm to the reputation of SWB.
Confidentiality
- All SWB volunteers should maintain professional confidentiality standards when working on a project. Do not discuss the project details to an inappropriate level with any third parties or share data without the express permission of the clients.
Legality
- SWB volunteers should comply with all laws in their jurisdictions about data gathering and sharing.
Confidentiality
- All SWB volunteers should maintain professional confidentiality standards when working on a project.
- Do not discuss the project details to an inappropriate level or share data without the express permission of the clients.
Remuneration
- SWB does not accept remuneration or payment of any kind. SWB volunteers must refuse any offers of recompense for their work on a project. If there is any uncertainty about remuneration, please contact the project PCM.
- Any analyses that SWB volunteers perform should be done without profit as a motive.
Publications
- SWB volunteers and clients should communicate clearly about the possibility of publication involving the results of an SWB project. SWB volunteers must have written permission from the client for volunteers to publish analysis results.
Download the SWB Volunteer Code of Conduct
SWB Data Security and Privacy Policy
This document outlines policies and procedures concerning data handling, storage, transfer, and information gathering and dissemination practices for Statistics Without Borders (SWB).
Data Security Policy
The primary objectives of data security at SWB are to:
- Protect the privacy of individuals
- Protect the integrity and confidentiality of the data
- Prevent inappropriate disclosure of the data
Data confidentiality, privacy and security are priorities for SWB to ensure the protection of its clients. The protection of data is a critical business requirement, as is flexibility in accessing data and working effectively.
This policy does not deal with a malicious theft scenario or a legal promise that it will reliably protect all data. Its primary objective is user awareness and to avoid accidental loss or disclosure scenarios.
Data Definition and Use
In this policy, data includes all information that is communicated between the client and SWB project participants. This includes documents, written and verbal communications, and other types of information that are shared or created during the course of the project.
Data received by SWB in any form as part of client communication or during the project will be used solely for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of the intended project and will not be used for other purposes without prior permission from the client organization.
This policy covers all types of data, including sensitive information pertaining to both physical persons and organizations: invention description(s), technical and business information relating to proprietary ideas and inventions, ideas, patentable ideas, trade secrets, drawings and/or illustrations, patent searches, existing and/or contemplated products and services, research and development, production, costs, profit and margin information, finances and financial projections, customers, clients, marketing, and current or future business plans and models. This policy applies regardless of whether such information is designated as sensitive at the time of its disclosure.
Data Classification
All information covered by this policy is classified as one of three categories according to the level of security required. In descending order of sensitivity, these categories are “Confidential”, “Internal Use Only,” and “Public.”
- Confidential: includes sensitive personal information (SPI) or personally identifiable information (PII) and must be given the highest level of protection against unauthorized access, modification or destruction. SPI/PII is information that can be used to identify or locate a specific individual. Examples of confidential information include, but are not limited to, information protected under privacy laws, names, date or place of birth, address, national ID, medical/health information, account number of any type, IDs, handles, and URLs, among others as well as any content that can be used to determine the identity of the individuals through triangulation and deduction.
- Internal Use Only: less sensitive than confidential information, but if exposed to unauthorized parties could contribute to identity theft, financial fraud and/or violate State and/or Federal laws, or is restricted by the client.
- Public: generally available to the public, or if it were to become available to the public, would have no material adverse effect on individual members of SWB, the client organization and/or any related parties.
It is the responsibility of the SWB Project Consultant and the client to identify which data used during the project belongs to which category, and to agree on protocols to protect the confidential and internal use categories.
Data Access
It is the responsibility of SWB volunteers working with client data to ensure that data identified as confidential or internal use only is not made available outside the project team. Access to confidential and internal use only data, whether raw or in a format specific to an application or software tool, normally is limited to the SWB volunteers processing and/or analyzing the data.
Storage and Retention
Copies/duplication of data will be kept to the minimum necessary to complete the project.
All confidential or internal use only data will be removed from computers and computing environments within 120 days of sign-off for project completion, or sooner if requested by the client. All data not publicly available will be encrypted according to industry best practices and destroyed at the end of the maximum retention period.
Data Transfer
Any transfer of data (email attachments, email body, FTP, removable media, etc.) with confidential or for internal use only information will be encrypted, transmitted using secure file transfer protocols, and/or transferred via a secure file sharing service.
Encrypted data file and a password/key for unencrypting it will not be transmitted via the same channel.
Other
- Minimum encryption level for data with sensitive information is PGP, AES-128, or equivalent or stronger. The encrypted data file may be keyed or self-extracting (password).
- All back-ups and other copies due to current operational process must adhere to the same standards above.
- Any unauthorized use or disclosure of sensitive data will be reported to the organization within 72 hours of discovery by SWB.
Privacy Policy
"Personal Data" is any information that can be used to identify you, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as your name, identification number, location data, online identifier or one or more factors specific to your physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.
By visiting the SWB website (https://www.statisticswithoutborders.org/), you acknowledge that you have read and understood the processes and policies referred to in this Privacy Statement. If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Statement, please contact us using the Contact Us section on our site. Alternatively, you can contact us by sending an email to statisticswithoutborders@gmail.com.
User Information
Users of this website may differ in their access or needs. We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and administer our website.
The information in this statement is summarized into two broad headings: the membership portion of the website and the main SWB informational website. The website uses cookies to keep track of users as they navigate from one screen to another, such as when you log in to your account using a password. See below for more information about cookies.
Member Information
We collect members’ contact information (e.g., name and email address) and statistical background information (e.g., areas of study and interest). Contact information is only used to send information about our organization and calls for volunteers. This contact information is also used to get in touch with members when necessary. Members’ contact information is never shared with other organizations or individuals without members' permission.
We may share your Personal Data for the purposes described in this Privacy Statement with:
- The SWB Executive Committee and other project team members
- Client organization for projects
- Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimization of our website
- The American Statistical Association (parent organization of SWB)
Our website is not intended for minors. If you are a minor under the laws of your country, do not use our website. Please have your parents contact us on your behalf. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from minors. If we learn that Personal Data of minors has been collected through our site, we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information.
Security
The SWB website has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. Members’ personal information is behind a firewall, modifiable by each member only by password access through secure forms pages. Member Directory information is not accessible by search engines that target HTML pages.
A Secured Server Certificate is used to identify a secured connection to the SWB informational website. Personal information ("Basic Contact Information") collected through the membership site is entered and transmitted over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) with a maximum encryption strength of 2048-bit.
Correct/Update
Members can change their address and related information at the SWB website.
Cookie Information
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a simple text file stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Most websites use cookies to improve your experience by allowing the website to "remember" you, either for the duration of your visit (using a "session cookie") or for repeat visits (using a "persistent cookie"). Cookies may be set by the website you are visiting ("first-party cookies") or they may be set by other websites that run content on the page you are viewing ("third-party cookies").
What do cookies do?
Cookies perform different functions, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, storing your preferences, and improving your experience of a website. Cookies make the interaction between you and the website faster and easier. If a website doesn’t use cookies, it will think you are a new visitor every time you move to a new page on the site. For example, even after you log in, the site won’t recognize you or be able to keep you logged in if you move to another page.
How does SWB use cookies?
SWB uses different types of cookies to enhance and improve your experience. By continuing to browse our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. We use the following types of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are required for the operation of our website, including cookies that enable you to log in to secure areas or update membership information.
- Analytical/performance cookies: These cookies allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring you are finding what you are looking for easily.
- Functionality cookies: These cookies are used to recognize you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name, and remember your preferences (e.g., your mailing and notification preferences).
Note that third parties (e.g., providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, which we have no control over. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.
Most internet browsers are initially set up to automatically accept cookies. You can change the settings to block cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent to your device. There are many ways to manage cookies. If you disable the cookies we use, you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
Cookies used by SWB on the website:
| csrftoken | used for CSRF (cross-site request forgery) security | |
| django_language | used to store user's language preference |
Download the Data Security and Privacy Policy