Legal Guidelines

What Information Do I Have?

sfdevops.net has certain information from users and commenters. The following is a summary of the information that we may collect and store:

  1. Basic account information such as:
    • Username;
    • Email Address;
    • Name;
    • Phone Number.
  2. Posting and revision history information, such as:
    • The data and time (UTC) at which a post was created;
    • The IP address from which a post was created;
    • IP Address and user-agent for a post or revisionWe may retain  the above information even if a post or comment is deleted.

      Deleted posts remain in a user’s trash folder for 30 days, after which point our servers may retain a backup for an additional time period.

  3. Information on commenters on the Services:
    • Commenter infromation is retained until the comment owner deleted the comment.

More Information On Data Release And Retention

Before revealing any of this information to a party that is not the owner of the account, I require a validly issued and served subpoena, warrant, or court order that specifically requests it unless I have a good faith belief that there is an emergency involving death or serious physical injury. I do not voluntarily provide governments with access to data about users (private or public) for law enforcement, intelligence gathering, or other surveillance purposes. More information on my requirements for releasing private user information can be found below.

If you are concerned about maintaining your anonymity when using our services, you may want to consider logging in and interacting with sfdevops.net through a VPN. You can find more information here.

Requesting Private Information Of sfdevops.net Users

Safeguarding my users’ private information is a vital aspect of the trust my users place in my service to keep them safe, and in some cases, anonymous.

To obtain information for a specific post or comment, the URL of that post or comment must be included in the request. I am unable and unwilling to process overly broad or vague requests.

sfdevops.net accounts can contain various information. This information is unverified and is provided at the user’s discretion.

If your inquiry or request brings to our attention an ongoing violation of our policies or Terms of Service, we will address it per our usual procedure. This may or may not include contacting the user regarding their misconduct, removing content, or suspending the account entirely.

If we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to engage in crime where we are the victim, we will not inspect a user’s private content ourselves. Instead, we may report the matter to law enforcement.

Requests From Government Agencies/Law Enforcement

Except in emergencies (see more below), it is my policy to turn over private user information only upon receipt of a valid subpoena, search warrant, or court order, in each case issued by a US authority, in compliance with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and/or California state law.

If these pieces of information are available, we can provide the first and last names, phone number, email address currently assigned to an account owner, the date/time stamped IP address from which a post created, and the physical address to government agencies/law enforcement upon receipt of a valid subpoena.

Except in emergencies, we require a court order or a warrant before providing additional IP addresses, or information relating to a specific post or a specific comment.

We require a warrant before disclosing content of user communications to government agencies/law enforcement. We also require a warrant before providing any non-public content information (such as private or draft post content, or pending comments).

In all incidences above, regardless of the nature of the inquiry, requests for user information or site data specific to a user or commenter WILL be disclosed to that individual prior to release.

I DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AND REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE INQUIRY, ASSIST WITH ICE INVESTIGATIONS OR PROSECUTIONS.

Requests In Civil Cases

It is my policy to turn over private user information only upon receipt of either (1) a valid order from a US court, or (2) a subpoena served as part of an existing lawsuit that complies with Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and/or the California Discovery Act. Litigants should ensure that any such requests comply with the US SPEECH Act, 28 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.

Requests must identify the specific information (as listed above) sought.  If a request is overly broad or seeks information not applicable to sfdevops.net, no information will be provided.

Any request for specific post or comment information must include the specific URL of each post or comment. We will not provide any content information in response to civil orders or subpoenas, pursuant to the E.C.P.A.

Please note that we charge an administrative fee of USD $125/hour for compliance with validly issued and served civil subpoenas. We will bill for and collect this fee prior to furnishing information in response to a subpoena.

In all incidences above, regardless of the nature of the inquiry, requests for user information or site data specific to a user or commenter WILL be disclosed to that individual prior to release.

I DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AND REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE INQUIRY, ASSIST WITH MPAA OR RIAA INVESTIGATIONS OR PROSECUTIONS.

Emergency Requests From Government Agencies/Law Enforcement

As permitted by US law, we may disclose user information to the government or law enforcement, without a subpoena or warrant if we have a good faith belief that an emergency (imminent danger of death or serious physical injury) requires disclosure of information related to the emergency without delay. If you have an emergency request, please submit your request by following these steps.

Notification To sfdevops.net Users And Transparency

I aim for total transparency with my users when requests or complaints affect their accounts or information. It is my policy to notify users and provide them with a copy of any civil or government legal process regarding their account or data (including formal requests for private information). I will not abide by nondisclosure orders and users will be notified of the request for their personal account or private information prior to release.

If a request for information is valid, I will preserve the necessary information before informing the user. In most cases, upon notification to the user, that user will be provided with either 7 days or the amount of time before the information is due, whichever is later, during which time the user may attempt to quash or legally challenge the request. If, prior to the deadline, I receive notice from user that he or she intends to challenge a request, no information will be delivered until that process concludes. I also review any information requests received and may lodge our own challenge to the scope or validity of legal process received, on behalf of a user, whether or not the user pursues his or her own legal challenge.

Nondisclosure Orders

As mentioned above, I notify users and provide them with a copy of any legal process regarding their account or data and nondisclosure orders will not be adhered to.

Withdrawing Requests

If a legal request is formally withdrawn before information is provided as the result of a valid subpoena or search warrant, we will notify the user of the withdrawal.

Preservation Requests

Requests for the preservation of information must originate from a law enforcement agency.

My notification policy with regards to preservation requests is meant to protect user privacy and promote transparency. To that end, we notify users of preservation requests regardless of the nature of the inquiry.

Enforcement OF Protection Orders Against Users

sfdevops.net is not responsible for enforcing protection orders that apply to users on my service. If you represent a client with an active protection order that may apply to a sfdevops.net account or user, please contact the appropriate court or law enforcement agency for assistance.

Liability

sfdevops.net will respond only in compliance with US law and in reply to valid legal process as stated in our policies.

sfdevops.net, as a United States-based internet service provider, is protected by the safe harbor provisions of §230(c) of the United States Communications Decency Act, which states that internet service providers cannot be held liable for the contents (including allegedly harassing, defamatory, inaccurate, or offensive content) posted to our service by our users.

sfdevops.net does not and will not exercise editorial oversight on the posts and comments on our site, nor are we considered the author, editor, or publisher of that content in any way.

Requests For Takedown Of Copyrighted Content

DMCA processes can be found here. Requests for removal of copyrighted material must include an order of copyright ownership before any action will be taken.

Requests For Takedown Of Other Content

sfdevops.net strongly believes in freedom of speech and fair use. To cultivate a vast audience spread across many cultures, countries, and backgrounds with varying values, my service is designed to let users freely express any ideas and opinions without censorship or endorsement.

I review and investigate all complaints that I receive. If I determine that reported content violates my Terms of Service, I will take action as appropriate. Regardless of whether or not I take action, I will forward a copy of the complaint to the account owner.

If I receive a complaint and am not in a position to make a determination (for example whether something is defamatory or not), I defer to the judgment of a court.

Content removal can be requested here.

Servicing Process On sfdevops.net And Making Inquiries

Any request for user information must include a valid email address for us to return the information or contact with questions. WordPress.com communicates only via email.

Legal process can be served by mail or in person at:

sfdevops.net
C/O Donnye Bouey
1451 Larkin Street #16
San Francisco, CA 94109

Where permitted, we also accept service via email to legal@sfdevops.net.

General inquiries regarding our policies can be sent via email to legal@sfdevops.net.

Back Doors And Encryption

I furnish user information to law enforcement agencies via the processes described in these legal guidelines. I do not provide access to user data through “back doors” in my systems.

Similarly, I support and promote encryption of user data. I encrypt all traffic (served over SSL) for all sfdev.net pages, by default.

Some governments have recently sought to weaken encryption, in the name of law enforcement. I disagree with these suggestions and do not believe that it’s feasible to include any deliberate security weaknesses or other back doors in encryption technologies, even if “only” for the benefit of law enforcement. As a wise man said, “there is no such thing as a vulnerability in technology that can only be used by nice people doing the right thing in accord with the rule of law.” I agree wholeheartedly.