Policy
If something here is wrong, we would rather fix it than argue about it.
How to get something changed, what happens when you ask, and the two things we will not do whoever is asking.
- A sourced correction, usually
- Same week
- Possible outcomes
- Three
- Every change on file
- Logged
What to send
The profile, the sentence, and what is wrong with it.
If you can point at a source that shows the correct position, send that too, with a link or a document. A correction backed by a source is usually resolved the same week.
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1
Name the profile
Which page, and which sentence on it.
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2
Say what is wrong
The correct position, stated plainly.
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3
Point at a source
A link or a document showing it. This is what makes a correction quick rather than slow.
What happens
We go back to the source the sentence cites.
The published sentence is compared with the source it was built from. One of three things follows.
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The source was misread
The entry is corrected and the profile is rebuilt from it.
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The source itself was wrong
If a better one exists, the old source is superseded and the new one is recorded with its own date.
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Two credible sources disagree
The claim is marked disputed. A disputed claim is removed from the published page and stays off it.
Limits
What we will not do.
A subject can withdraw consent at any time, and their profile comes down in full. What they cannot do is keep the page and edit the parts of it they dislike.
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Remove an accurate, sourced statement
We do not take down a statement that is true and cited because a subject would prefer it were not there.
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Add a claim because someone wants it
We do not add a claim because someone would like it to be true. It has to come from a source first, like everything else.
The record
Changes are logged, and we will tell you.
Every change to a source, a claim, a draft or a published page is recorded with who made it and when. If you want to know whether a profile has been altered since you read it, ask.
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A correction
An editorial address has not been published yet. Until it is, the contact form on an individual profile reaches that person directly, and they can pass a correction to us.
Find the profile in the directory -
How a claim got there in the first place
The sourcing rules a sentence had to pass before it was published, and the three standings a claim can hold.
Read the method
Recognition
A record that can be corrected.
Every profile stays open to correction against its sources for as long as it is published. That is part of what recognition here means.