What happens to your information.

Who operates this project

We Will Not Be Silent: Survivor Stories is operated by Michael Haukoos in South Dakota, United States. Privacy, access, correction, withdrawal, and deletion questions may be sent to stories@wewillnotbesilent.org.

This service is intended only for people who are at least 18 years old. It is not directed to children, and the project does not knowingly accept submissions from anyone under 18.

What is collected

The submission form collects only what you choose to provide: a name or pseudonym, optional email address, email-contact choice, publication identity preference, title, typed story, private note, uploaded document, and the consent statements you accept. It also records the submission time, a random submission identifier, upload metadata, the accepted legal versions and text, and a protected hash of the private code shown after submission.

A temporary, one-way identifier derived from connection information is used to limit spam and repeated login attempts. The identifier is kept outside the story record and rate-limit files are routinely pruned. Hostinger and other network providers may separately create ordinary server, security, and access logs that can include an IP address, browser information, request path, and time.

Why it is used and the legal bases

Information is used to securely receive and review a story, follow the selected email choice, communicate when permitted, edit within the permission granted, consider material for publication, prepare full or excerpted publications and read-aloud versions, document the agreement, prevent abuse, maintain security, comply with law, and establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

Selected material may be published in books, websites, blogs, social-media posts, short-form or long-form video, audio or spoken-word readings, podcasts, advocacy materials, and related formats, including platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Publication uses the identity choice recorded with the submission unless the survivor later agrees otherwise.

Michael may use a private AI-assisted review tool to create a short internal summary, suggest a reading queue, and flag possible editing, privacy, legal, safety, or short-form read-aloud considerations. The tool is an organizing aid only. It does not decide whether a story is true, publish or reject anything, delete a submission, or contact a survivor. Michael reads the work and makes every decision.

Where a law requires a legal basis, the project relies on your explicit consent and publication license for sensitive story material, steps connected with the Submission Agreement, legitimate interests in operating and securing the service, and legal obligations or legal claims where applicable. You may withdraw consent for materially new unpublished uses, but withdrawal does not undo lawful earlier processing or rights already granted for an edition or item already published.

If you select Do not email me, any address typed into the email field is discarded before the permanent encrypted record is created.

How it is protected

Permanent submission records and uploaded documents are encrypted and stored outside the public website directory. The private decryption key is encrypted with the administrator passphrase. Access to readable submissions is limited to the protected administrative area, and the site uses HTTPS, restricted sessions, rate limits, and file inspection.

Administrator notifications and optional survivor confirmations contain a random submission ID, time, and attachment status. They do not contain the survivor name, story title, story, private note, or uploaded document. A confirmation is attempted only when an email option is selected.

No internet, email, hosting, backup, publication platform, or storage system can promise absolute secrecy or security. Someone who gains control of the hosting account or changes the live application could intercept future information. A private note is not legally privileged.

Who may receive information

Human access to readable submissions is limited to Michael Haukoos and people specifically authorized to review, edit, legally assess, or prepare selected work for publication. Limited information may be processed by service providers such as Hostinger for hosting and email, infrastructure and security providers, and printers, publishers, distributors, retailers, social and media platforms, editors, lawyers, insurers, and other production or professional partners when needed for an authorized purpose.

If a story is selected for publication, the authorized story material, excerpt, read-aloud performance, and selected publication identity may become public to readers, viewers, or listeners on the publication channels described in the Submission Agreement. Public platforms and third parties may retain, share, index, quote, or repost material after publication outside the project's direct control.

When Michael actively requests an assisted review, OpenAI processes the story title, typed story, and submitted document through its API to return a private organizational suggestion. The project does not separately send the name field, email address, contact choice, private note, submission ID, or private code, although the story or document itself may contain identifying details. The request disables response storage and does not use web browsing, outside retrieval, or connected tools.

OpenAI states that API data is not used to train its models by default. Under its standard data controls, abuse-monitoring logs may be retained for up to 30 days, and provider safety systems may inspect inputs. Different retention may apply if OpenAI is legally required to keep material or if a project later qualifies for and enables stricter data controls.

Raw submissions are not sold, rented, used as advertising contact lists, or shared for targeted advertising. This site does not load advertising pixels, third-party analytics, social feeds, or third-party CAPTCHA scripts.

Information may be preserved or disclosed when reasonably necessary to obey law or legal process, protect a person from serious harm, investigate abuse or security incidents, report material that must legally be reported, protect the rights of others, or establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

International processing

The project is based in the United States. Hosting, email, publishing, platform, and other providers may process information in the United States or other countries, which may have different privacy laws from where you live. When a privacy law applies, the project will use the safeguards required by that law. People outside the United States should contact the project before submitting if they need information about a location-specific transfer safeguard.

Retention, withdrawal, and deletion

Unpublished submissions that are not selected for active review should be deleted from active storage within 24 months. Material in active review may be retained longer while a documented publication decision is pending. Selected or published submissions, consent records, deletion receipts, and limited rights records may be retained as reasonably needed to publish, distribute, document permissions, comply with law, and establish, exercise, or defend legal rights. Retention should be reviewed at least annually.

You may request access, correction, a stop to materially new unpublished use, or deletion from active storage by emailing stories@wewillnotbesilent.org. Include the submission ID and private code if available so the request can be verified without collecting more identity information. If the code is lost and no email was stored, the project may be unable to verify control of the submission.

Verified deletion removes the readable submission and attachment from active application storage and leaves only a minimal encrypted deletion receipt. Data may remain temporarily in access-restricted provider backups until those backups are overwritten under the provider backup cycle. Deletion can be delayed or limited when retention is legally required or reasonably necessary for safety, fraud prevention, an existing publication, or legal claims.

A withdrawal cannot recall printed books, distributed copies, platform posts or recordings already published, third-party reposts, or an edition or item already published. The Submission Agreement explains the continuing rights for already published material.

Your privacy choices and rights

You may submit anonymously, use a pseudonym, choose no email, and avoid an uploaded document by typing directly into the form. Where applicable law gives additional rights, you may also request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability, or withdrawal of consent and may complain to your local data-protection authority. The project will not discriminate against someone for exercising an applicable privacy right.

No decision with legal or similarly significant effect is made solely by automation. Nothing is automatically published, rejected, deleted, treated as true or false, or used to contact you. Michael can ignore or override every assisted-review suggestion. Essential cookies are used only for form security and protected administrator sessions.

Safety, children, and sensitive records

Do not upload sexual or intimate images, video, audio recordings, irreplaceable evidence, government identification numbers, financial account information, medical or counseling records, sealed court records, malware, or material you are prohibited from sharing. Minimize identifying information about children and uninvolved third parties.

This project is not monitored continuously and is not an emergency, reporting, legal, medical, mental-health, victim-advocacy, or evidence-preservation service. It is not a HIPAA-covered care service, and a submission does not create a privileged or professional relationship. Contact local emergency services if anyone is in immediate danger.

Changes and contact

The effective date and version appear above. Material changes apply prospectively. The agreement and privacy versions accepted with a submission are recorded inside that encrypted submission. Questions or requests may be sent to stories@wewillnotbesilent.org.

Related terms

The Submission Agreement describes publication permission, editing, identity use, compensation, forbidden material, and what a later withdrawal can and cannot undo.