Website Policy

This policy was last amended on 12th May 2005

Aims

The principal aim of this website is to promote Scouting on the Isle of Wight. We welcome visits from anyone involved in, interested in or learning about Scouting on the Isle of Wight whether now or in the past. The information in these pages is intended for the promotion of Scouting and should not be used for any other purpose.

The views expressed in this website are not necessarily those of the Scout Association.

Further information about the policy and content, use of the information contained therein and how you can contribute to this site may be found below.

Purpose

The purpose of this website is to provide a readily accessible source of information about future activities and events and to record past activities and successes of Scouting on the Isle of Wight. In this respect topical contributions from the youngest to the oldest in Scouting are very welcome.

Content

To ensure the website is of wide interest it contains topics which include, but not necessarily limited to, the following:-

·        Information about and activities undertaken by Scouts on the Isle of Wight.

·        Names and locations of IW Scout Groups.

·        Scouting contacts in each Group, District and IW County.

·        Diary of forthcoming events and activities within Groups(?), Districts and IW County.

·        Newsletters.

·        Reports of past events and activities.

·        Details and locations of camp sites and their contacts.

Safe from Harm

All Scouting personnel on the Isle of Wight are fully aware of and implement the Scout Associations policy of safeguarding the welfare of all members by protecting them from physical, sexual and emotional harm. In this regard this website shall not include photographs which allow ready identification of children, their contact or other details which individually or collectively could serve to make children identifiable or contactable.

Website Technicalities

·        This website uses ‘cookie files’ which will be downloaded onto the users’ computer. These cookie files are to improve the users’ navigation around the site. They contain the date and pages accessed by the user.

·        This website has ‘log files’ which store information about the users’ computer on the web server. This information includes the users’ computer operating system, the pages visited, etc.

·        There are links within this website to other Internet websites. The privacy statement below covers only this website and not the sites linked to.

Privacy Statement

Any information users’ supply to this website, knowingly or not, will be used solely for the purpose for which it was supplied, unless the respondents’ permission has been sought and obtained for another purpose.

Generally user respondents should supply only the minimum information about themselves, sufficient to satisfy the purpose of the response, i.e. generally just name and email address.

Copyright

The content of this website are the copyright of the Isle of Wight Scout Council 2004-2005.

Associated Websites

The individual websites of "Isle of Wight Venture", "1st Chale and Niton Scout Group" and any individual connected with Isle of Wight Scouts, whether warranted, a member, a lay member or otherwise are not and will not be associated with the official Isle of Wight County website as they may not reflect the views or policy of the Isle of Wight Scout Council.

Links are provided to these websites, and other websites with a relevant Scouting or Island content, however, no guarantee can be made of the suitability of the content of those websites.

Isle of Wight Scouts – Contributions to Your Website

Your Contributions are Welcome

One of the aims of this website is to provide interesting and topical information to all Scouts on the Island. As part of this endeavour we welcome contributions from Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Scout Network, Leaders and Fellowship members within the Scout movement on the Island.

Preparation of Contributions

To assist contributors in preparing their articles for the website some guide lines, (Do’s & Don’ts), are provided below.

1. Length and Content

·        The article should include interesting information and not be too long.

·        The information should not allow young people to be easily identifiable. Do not include their email address or other contact details. Do not use their full names; avoid using names at all if possible.

2. Photographs

The inclusion of photographs helps to make the article more interesting, but care must be taken.

·        It should not be possible to identify the young people in a photograph. The photos must meet the requirements of the Scout activity and be in good taste.

·        Care needs to be taken with any caption you use, e.g. an ideal caption – ‘Scouts receiving their badges from the DC’; an acceptable caption – ‘John and Peter get their badges from the DC’. (Note – you should shuffle the names so they don’t coincide with the picture and try to avoid names if possible).

·        Parents should be given the opportunity not to have their child’s picture displayed on the website or used for other publicity purposes. This is not a legal requirement but it is good practice and good manners to seek parental approval. The wishes of the parents must be respected.

·        For Scout Groups it is a good idea when a young person joins the Group to provide the parents with a simple form seeking permission to use photos. The wording should be on the lines of; ‘Sometimes photos and video images of Scouts taking part in activities are submitted to the local newspapers, the Group, District or County newsletters and website or put on display. If you have any objections please indicate that you are not willing for your child’s image to be used in this way by ticking the box ……… This can be reinforced using PC forms and newsletters.’

·        The copyright of an image belongs to the photographer and not the subject, thus if you are not the photographer then you must obtain the permission of the photographer to publish the image.

       Although Scout Association rules allow the photography of Scouts during an activity for the promotion of Scouts, there is no automatic permission for Scouts, parents, guardians or other persons to take photographs or video recordings at a Scouting event. In your own interest you should obtain permission before photographing from all concerned (including the parents or guardians of any young people) before photographing any Scouting activity.

      Consideration should also be made of the location of the particular event and the suitability / rules of photographing in that venue (e.g. St George's Day Services in Church.

      Where a photograph of a recent activity is included on a web page, that photograph must make it impossible to identify any young people in the image. The easiest way to do this is to reduce the resolution of the image.

3. Meetings and Events

·        Exact details of meeting places and times will not be published, particularly where young people may be put at risk. E.g. include name of event and date only, not exact time and place.

·        Where further details are required an email link can, if requested, be included. Replying to any such request should not be an automatic process.

·        Home addresses and / or phone numbers will not be published.

·        Parents and adults should be asked before publishing their full name.

4. Copyright

·        Don’t break copyright! i.e. steal information from other sites. Websites are copyrighted in the same way as a paper resource; using someone else’s material without permission infringes both their integrity and their intellectual property rights.

·        Where someone else’s material is used, with their permission, always remember to give credit where this has been requested.

         Please note that we have permission from The Isle Of Wight County Press to use images which have appeared in that publication provided we place an acknowledgement alongside the image.

4. Data Protection act

·        A policy statement will be added here.