Terms of Service

Last Updated: May 1, 2026

Welcome to Stop Secrecy. These Terms and Conditions, also called “Terms,” govern your access to and use of stopsecrecy.org and any related pages, content, forms, newsletters, tools, or services that link to these Terms.

By using this website, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website.

For purposes of these Terms, “Stop Secrecy,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Stop Secrecy and its operators, affiliates, contractors, and service providers. “You” and “your” refer to any visitor, reader, subscriber, contributor, or other user of the website.

1. Purpose of the Website

Stop Secrecy is a public-interest website focused on transparency, accountability, public records, civic information, advocacy, reporting, and related educational content.

The website may include articles, commentary, public-records information, research, resources, links, forms, updates, and other materials. Content on the website is provided for general informational purposes only.

2. No Legal, Financial, or Professional Advice

The content on this website is not legal, financial, tax, professional, or other specialized advice. You should not rely on website content as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.

Although we may discuss public records, government transparency, legal processes, policy issues, or civic matters, nothing on this website creates an attorney-client relationship, fiduciary relationship, advisory relationship, or other professional relationship.

3. Use of the Website

You agree to use the website only for lawful purposes and in a manner consistent with these Terms.

You agree not to:

  • Use the website in a way that violates any law or regulation
  • Submit false, misleading, defamatory, abusive, obscene, threatening, harassing, or unlawful material
  • Interfere with or disrupt the operation, security, or functionality of the website
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any system, database, account, or server
  • Use automated tools, scraping, bots, crawlers, or similar technologies in a way that burdens or disrupts the website
  • Upload or transmit malware, viruses, or harmful code
  • Impersonate another person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or organization
  • Use the website to collect information about other users without authorization

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate access to the website if we believe a user has violated these Terms or acted in a way that could harm the website, our work, other users, or third parties.

4. User Submissions

The website may allow you to submit information through forms, email links, contact pages, campaign pages, tip forms, public-records-related forms, or similar features.

By submitting information to us, you represent that:

  • The information is accurate to the best of your knowledge
  • You have the right to submit it
  • Your submission does not violate the rights of any third party
  • Your submission does not violate any law or regulation

You retain any rights you may have in content you submit. However, by submitting content to us, you grant Stop Secrecy a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, review, store, reproduce, edit, publish, display, distribute, and otherwise process the submission for purposes related to our work, including transparency, accountability, reporting, research, advocacy, communications, public-records activity, and website operations.

Please do not submit confidential, privileged, sensitive, or private information unless you are comfortable with us reviewing and storing it. Submissions are not guaranteed to be confidential.

5. Public-Interest, Reporting, and Advocacy Use

Stop Secrecy may use information submitted to the website in connection with public-interest reporting, transparency projects, public-records requests, civic advocacy, research, communications, or related work.

We use reasonable judgment when handling information submitted by private individuals, but we cannot guarantee that submitted information will remain confidential, privileged, or unpublished.

If you submit a tip, document, message, request, or other information, you understand that we may review it, follow up on it, use it to inform our work, or decline to act on it.

6. Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise stated, the website and its content, including text, graphics, logos, images, design, layout, articles, reports, and other materials, are owned by Stop Secrecy, licensed to us, or used with permission.

You may access and use the website for personal, non-commercial, informational purposes.

You may quote, link to, or share website content in a reasonable manner, provided that you do not misrepresent the content, remove attribution, imply endorsement where none exists, or use the content in a misleading or unlawful way.

You may not copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, modify, sell, exploit, or create derivative works from substantial portions of the website without our prior written permission, except where permitted by law.

7. Third-Party Content and Links

The website may link to third-party websites, public documents, government records, social media posts, articles, videos, databases, or other external resources.

We provide third-party links for convenience, reference, attribution, or informational purposes. We do not control and are not responsible for third-party websites, services, content, policies, security, accuracy, or practices.

A link to a third-party site does not mean that we endorse that site, its operators, or its content.

8. Accuracy and Availability

We try to provide useful and accurate information, but we do not guarantee that all website content is complete, current, error-free, or suitable for any particular purpose.

Public records, government information, legal materials, news, statistics, and linked resources may change over time. Website content may become outdated or may contain errors.

We may update, remove, revise, suspend, or discontinue any part of the website at any time without notice.

9. No Guarantee of Results

Stop Secrecy does not guarantee that any public-records request, advocacy effort, campaign, investigation, report, contact submission, or other action will produce a particular result.

We may choose whether, how, and when to respond to submissions, publish content, pursue records, contact public bodies, engage in advocacy, or take other action.

10. Privacy

Your use of the website is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, store, and share information.

Please review the Privacy Policy carefully. By using the website, you acknowledge our privacy practices.

11. Email and Communications

If you provide your email address or other contact information, we may contact you in response to your inquiry or send updates related to Stop Secrecy’s work.

You may unsubscribe from promotional or update emails where an unsubscribe option is provided. We may still send non-promotional communications, such as responses to your direct inquiries or administrative notices.

12. Disclaimers

The website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stop Secrecy disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, reliability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, availability, and security.

We do not warrant that:

  • The website will be uninterrupted or error-free
  • Defects will be corrected
  • The website or server will be free from viruses or harmful components
  • The content will always be accurate, complete, current, or reliable
  • The website will meet your expectations or requirements

13. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stop Secrecy and its operators, affiliates, contractors, contributors, service providers, and representatives will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to your use of the website.

This includes, without limitation, damages for loss of data, loss of profits, reputational harm, service interruption, reliance on website content, third-party conduct, technical issues, or unauthorized access.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to the website or these Terms will not exceed $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so some of these limitations may not apply to you.

14. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Stop Secrecy and its operators, affiliates, contractors, contributors, service providers, and representatives from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from or related to:

  • Your use of the website
  • Your violation of these Terms
  • Your submission of content or information
  • Your violation of any law or regulation
  • Your violation of any third-party rights

15. Copyright Complaints

If you believe that material on the website infringes your copyright, please contact us with enough information to identify the material and explain your claim.

Your notice should include:

  • Your name and contact information
  • Identification of the copyrighted work
  • Identification of the material you believe is infringing
  • A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized
  • A statement that the information in your notice is accurate
  • Your physical or electronic signature

Send copyright notices to the contact information listed below.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above.

Changes are effective when posted unless otherwise stated. Your continued use of the website after changes are posted means you accept the updated Terms.

17. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of [insert state], without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Any disputes arising from or relating to these Terms or the website will be handled in the state or federal courts located in [insert county and state], unless applicable law requires a different forum.

18. Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to all or part of the website at any time, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms, created risk for us or others, or used the website in an unlawful or harmful way.

19. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

20. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other legal notices posted on the website, constitute the entire agreement between you and Stop Secrecy regarding your use of the website.

21. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Stop Secrecy
Email: terms@stopsecrecy.org
Website: stopsecrecy.org