Policies

Terms of service

1. Acceptance

By accessing or using any part of the Bay Area Action Archives, you (“User”) agree to these Terms. If you disagree, please do not use our content or services.

2. Content scope

“Archive Materials” include:

• Photographs, documents, articles, audio, video, transcripts, scans, images, and metadata.
• User-submitted or digitized content hosted on our platform.

3. Access and use

• Archive Materials are publicly accessible for non‑commercial, educational, and scholarly use.
• You are allowed and encouraged to download, share, cite, adapt, or reproduce materials for teaching, research, personal, or institutional purposes, in accordance with licensing terms herein.

4. Licensing

• Archive Materials are available primarily for use under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 4.0 / Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International), unless otherwise noted.
• For any material under a different license or with additional restrictions (rights held by a third party, donor agreements, etc.), a specific license notice will appear alongside it. For such materials, no license beyond viewing it in the Archives is authorized by the BAA History Project. For such third-party license permissions, contact the original rights owner. We can try to facilitate this if you contact us and briefly explain your request (preferably linking directly to the content in question).
• Usage of archival images and materials in the BAA History Project for personal or business promotions is not allowed without prior consent. If you have questions about this policy, please contact us and briefly explain your request.

5. Attribution / citations

Attribution must include at minimum:

• “[Artifact name],” by [Author if applicable]; [Collection name if applicable]. Courtesy Bay Area Action Archives, [CC License Name & Link]

Example:

• “Baylands Cleanup, 1992” by Jane Doe; Courtesy Bay Area Action Archives, CC BY‑ND 4.0

In the language above, we highly encourage you to link back to the exact Artifact’s URL, and the BAA History Project’s main URL: https://BayAreaAction.org.

6. Prohibited uses

You may not:

• Remove or alter rights notices, credit lines, or metadata.
• Use materials to defame, deceive, or infringe on privacy rights.
• Redistribute content under a more restrictive license or claim exclusive rights.
• Utilize our platform or content to violate laws or the rights of others.

7. Changes, removals, and disclaimers

• We reserve the right to add, remove, or modify materials or metadata as needed (e.g., corrections, new rights info).
• Materials are made available “as is”; we make no guarantees regarding accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose. But we try really hard.

8. Privacy and data

• We collect minimal personal data (e.g., emails to process permissions or inquiries).
• Our Privacy Policy (below) explains how personal information is handled.

9. DMCA and rights complaints

• If you believe content infringes your rights, please file a copyright or privacy complaint through our contact page.
• We comply with DMCA procedures and investigate each claim.

11. Modifications

We may update these Terms periodically. We’ll publish changes and notify users where practical. Continued use after updates constitutes acceptance.

[Version 1.1 / July 3, 2025]

Privacy policy

1. Entities

This policy applies to the Bay Area Action History Project (BAAHP), which documents and archives the history of the now-defunct nonprofit Bay Area Action (BAA).

2. What’s covered

This privacy policy covers BAAHP’s website, the BAA Archives, and associated digital platforms. If future publications (such as books or documentaries) are produced, this policy will serve as the foundation for how personal data is handled.

3. Values and ethics of archiving

The BAA History Project adheres to the Core Values of Archivists and Code of Ethics for Archivists (revised August 2020) set forth by the Society of American Archivists.

4. Where the historical information comes from

The information presented in this website is assembled from various sources, including but not limited to:

• Personal archives of BAA founders, volunteers, and staff, including photos, fliers, notes, etc.
• “Corporate” records of BAA such as articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, administrative documents, contracts, etc.
• BAA newsletters and other published materials
• Third-party newspapers and other media accounts
• Books, magazines, and newsletters
• Blog posts and comments
• Personal interviews

5. Personally identifiable information (PII)

Archival materials from the 1990s may include personal contact information (e.g. home phone numbers, addresses, or email addresses) originally published in newsletters, flyers, or emails.

Before uploading scanned documents, we redact or pixelate private contact information for all individuals — no request is necessary.

Business contact details, public-facing profiles, and information already available through public records or search engines are not subject to redaction.

6. Photos of you

Some images in our collection may reflect moments or behaviors that feel awkward or dated by today’s standards. We include them when they serve a clear historical or journalistic purpose, and we strive to provide context that helps explain the time, place, and social norms in which they were created — recognizing that perspectives change over time.

You may hate how your hair looks in that photo from the 1990s, but it’s part of history.

7. Your name

The BAA History Project’s goal is to compile, recount, and celebrate the efforts of the thousands of organizers, volunteers, members, and supporters who built Bay Area Action and helped shape the Bay Area’s environmental movement in the 1990s. We believe those actions are worth honoring and remembering.

That’s why we include the names of individuals involved — to recognize their contributions, ensure historical accuracy, and preserve the integrity of the public record. Just as journalism names those who take part in significant events, we do so to tell the full story of a grassroots movement that made lasting change.

Your name may appear in the Archives in a number of ways, such as:

• Author of an article in BAA’s newsletter
• Quote in a third-party newspaper article
• Caption of a photo on the 1990s-era BAA website
• Donor or in-kind supporter (although we strive to honor the wishes of donors who wished to remain anonymous)
• Publicly thanked in a newsletter or annual report
• Target of a BAA campaign
• Petition signer
• etc.

Additionally, your name may also appear in modern contexts, such as:

• Interview participant
• Commenter on a post or article
• Donor to the History Project (although we strive to honor the wishes of donors who wished to remain anonymous)
• etc.

8. The right to erasure / the right to be forgotten

In chronicling this history, the BAAHP strives to uphold journalistic ideals of transparency in reporting, which requires attribution, accountability, and source transparency.

However, we also recognize that certain actions of the past may be viewed in a somewhat different light in retrospect today, and some individuals may wish some or all of their involvement to remain obscured by the mists of time. We hope you’d be proud of that protest sign you held in 1996, but we also understand you might not want that to be the top image result when someone Googles your name.

There’s a growing movement to allow people to have greater control over their digital footprints — including the ability to request the removal of outdated, irrelevant, or harmful personal information from public archives, search results, and online publications. This is sometimes known as the right to be forgotten.

The right to be forgotten is not absolute and may have exceptions depending on the context, such as when the information is necessary for journalistic purposes, public interest, or legal reasons. Removal must balance the public’s right to access with the individual’s personal rights to privacy, dignity, and historical redress.

The BAAHP has developed a policy for removing or redacting people and will endeavor to do so when requested.

There are several scenarios for your identity to be forgotten or obscured:

Names

• Your name can be changed to a pseudonym of your choosing, e.g. Abbie Jones becomes Mary Branson.
• Your name can be shortened to initials, e.g. Abbie Jones becomes AJ.
• Your name can be completely redacted; all public record of your involvement is removed, and any strictly necessary citations are coded, e.g. Abbie Jones becomes ID 8097.

We are also open to other suggestions and will accommodate to the best of our ability. Make a request

Photos

• Your photo can be removed completely.
• You can be edited out of a photo, redacted, or pixelated.

Make a request

Videos

• Similar to images, we can remove or pixelate.

Make a request

Google search results removal

The BAAHP does not control Google or other search engines. If prior internet bot crawling resulted in your name or photo showing up in unwanted Google search results, you have some options for removing your PII from Google.

9. Name changes

We recognize that some individuals’ names have changed since the 1990s. Whether first name, last name, or both, we will make every reasonable effort to reflect your current identity while preserving the historical record.

• Archives Materials — Original documents, newsletters, and other materials from the 1990s will not be altered, as they reflect the historical record of that time.
• Contemporary bios — Profile or contributor pages on the BAA History Project website can show your current name, and may include a note referencing the name used in historical materials for clarity.

If you have questions or would like to request a name update on your profile page, please contact us.

10. Timeframe

We treat removals or redactions as permanent. However, we may reach out every 5 to 10 years to ask whether you wish to restore your identity in the historical record — should your view of the past change.

What you’re not proud of today, you may fly as a flag of defiance and freedom a decade from now.

11. Retention and archival integrity

Personal data embedded in archival materials is retained as part of the permanent historical record.

Transactional or contact data (such as donations or correspondence) is kept only as long as necessary and is then deleted or anonymized.

12. Information we collect

We collect two types of data:

• Voluntary submissions — Names, emails, surveys, survey responses, oral history consent forms, etc., used to support contributions, outreach, and research.
• Automatically collected data — IP addresses, browser type, session duration, etc., used to analyze site usage and improve digital access to archival materials.

13. Rights and choices

You may:

• Opt out of email mailing lists.
• Request access, correction, or deletion of personal data we hold.
• For archival materials, note that while content is preserved for historical integrity, metadata (e.g., email or contact info) can be corrected or anonymized upon request.

14. Security

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal data, acknowledging no method is fail‑safe.

15. Updates to this policy

We may update this policy periodically. Significant changes will be announced on our website and/or via email.

[version 1.1 / July 3, 2025]

Generative AI policies

We believe the judicious use of cutting-edge tools can be good, but human checks are necessary.

1. Content

Articles and content on BayAreaAction.org is written by human beings, not machines. Short article summaries are sometimes written by an AI tool, summarizing the original content written by humans.

We often use generative AI tools to conduct research. We prefer Perplexity AI as it provides linked sources that we can double-check. We follow a rigorous fact-checking process for our content and strive to cite any external sources we use.

An AI tool is often used to transcribe our audio interviews and video content. The transcriptions are always manually checked and corrected by a human.

2. User / member data

We do not put confidential member or end-user data into AI tools. See our Privacy Policy for more info.

3. Images

We sometimes use AI imaging tools to do things such as: upscale small images, remove dust and scratches, and improve image fidelity.

[Version 1.1 / July 3, 2025]

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