The Alumniportal Deutschland's Code of Conduct

  • 2022-08-10

On the Alumniportal Deutschland, we would like to create an environment where all alumni and visitors of the online community enjoy joining in the discussions. That is why we have established the following rules regarding the behaviour of all community users as well as content in profiles, groups and blogs, for images, links and the handling of data which is available via the network:

  1. A respectful tone and polite communication are the basis of our online community. It is therefore not permitted to negatively distinguish, mob or ridicule others
  2. Do not send messages repeatedly if the addressee has stated that they do not wish this.
  3. No chain mails, pyramid schemes, competitions, lotteries, gambling games or similar may be sent or organised.
  4. Data in profiles and groups must be based on reality. Content from profiles, groups and blogs, as well as images and links may only be published for private purposes. No further use whatsoever may be made of data which is published in the network by other users. Please consider carefully which of your own data you wish to make freely available on the internet.
  5. Users are fully responsible for all publication of any kind (data, information, images etc.) and for all their consequences.
  6. The online community is based on contacts between users. Users should therefore be recognisable in their profile pictures.
  7. Users may only publish content for which they hold all necessary rights. Publications with reference to third parties require their assent.
  8. Users are not permitted to publish commercial or political advertisement. This ban includes political content which is not compatible with the values of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Political discourse within the parameters of a democratic society as well as the discussion of political positions and programmes, on the other hand, are of course permitted and welcome.
  9. Discrimination and defamation of other users or social groups on the grounds of their religion, origin, nationality, economic capacity, sexual orientation, age or gender are explicitly forbidden.
  10. Images of nudity and pornography or pictures of physical or sexual violence are not permitted. Also forbidden are images of the victims of violence, war or natural catastrophe, the use of un-constitutional symbols, or images which glorify violence or depict acts of war.
  11. Messages are to be treated as confidential. They may only be made public to third parties with the sender’s express assent.
  12. It is not permitted to export, save, edit, change, forward, use commercially or otherwise misuse data manually or automatically for the purpose of data acquisition without permission.
  13. No community profiles or internet pages may be created for the purpose of exporting, saving, editing, changing, forwarding or otherwise misusing information.
  14. It is not permitted to use or distribute viruses, links, programmes or any other processes.
  15. The disclosure or exchange of passwords, codes and security codes of all kinds are not permitted within the community.
  16. It is forbidden to employ technical attacks against the data of individual users with the aim of changing, misusing, deleting or damaging it in any way, either in part or as a whole. Any form of technical attack against the Alumniportal Deutschland’s online community is also forbidden.

The following explains how infringements against these rules will be dealt with:

  1. A breach of the code of conduct will result in a warning issued against the user, a temporary or permanent blocking, or a deletion of the profile.
  2. Profiles which reflect an identity other than the user’s real one will be deleted without warning at the first offense.
  3. The Alumniportal Deutschland’s editors preserve the right to immediately delete any profile or group in the case of any gross breach without issuing a prior warning.
  4. Should a group’s administrator be deleted, the Alumniportal Deutschland’s team will install one of the group’s moderators as its new administrator. Should there be no moderator, the user who has been a member of the group for the longest period of time will be installed as its administrator.

And finally…

As a rule, we recommend that users of the Alumniportal Deutschland re-read all their own contributions before publication. Could this comment be construed as an insult by other users? Is it really unambiguous? Sarcasm and irony are often hard to recognise in written comments. Try to avoid these stylistic devices, so that you will not be misunderstood and inadvertently add to the heat of the discussion.

Have fun joining in the discussion, comments and blogs on the Alumniportal Deutschland!

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