Post by Admin Team on May 17, 2018 8:36:03 GMT
The following information explains the procedure that we follow when admitting new members to the forum.
It may also be of interest to existing members as there is information at the end on the data we hold and when this is deleted. This thread will remain locked but any member has any questions regarding any of the information here, please contact a member of the Administration Team in the first instance.
Applications to Join District Dave’s Forum
District Dave’s is the premier online forum relating to the London Underground and its associated infrastructure. We have approximately 1000 members, many of whom have been members for a decade or more and/or have connections with London Underground or the wider railway family. This means that, as a community, we are lucky to have an unparalleled pool and depth of knowledge among our ranks.
We actively encourage new members, from those with little experience who would like to broaden their knowledge, right up to railway professionals who may know more about specific roles than just about anyone else in their field.
The volunteers who staff the forum want District Dave’s to continue being a positive, respectful and welcoming place and in consequence, do not operate an ‘open’ joining process where anyone can automatically become a member without checks. With having some members under the age of 18 we must also be mindful of safeguarding issues and do our upmost to ensure the forum is a safe environment for everyone.
Non-members are free to read the forum but will not be able to post. In order to do so, applicants must apply to the forum through ProBoards (the software company who host the Forum) registration page, available using the Register link on our homepage. If you have one you are welcome to use an existing Proboards account that you have used to register with another forum also hosted by Proboards.
To be a member on any ProBoards-hosted forum you must agree to their general Terms of Service which includes being at least 13 years old and that you will not post objectionable content.
Specifically related to District Dave’s forum where a member of staff feels it is needed and justified, we may require some additional information from a new member, for example if an account has a suspicious username or if we have doubts about the reason for application. We are acutely aware that we have a responsibility both to our existing members and also to London Underground to minimise the risk of inappropriate online behaviour. However, we are fully aware that we also need to strike a reasonable balance between knowing a little about a person and that person’s right to online privacy. While we try to make our requests as brief as possible, thanks to our vigilance and background checks over the years, we have successfully kept out various people who later turned out to have had nefarious motives.
Those applying to become a member have an opportunity within a text box as part of the registration process to say something about their interest in London Underground and their reasons for wanting to become a member. This often expedites the process of joining. It is important to note that this information is only ever seen by Forum Staff and never shared with any third parties.
If the Forum Staff consider the detail provided on the initial application to be sufficient, we will then accept you and email some welcome information alongside the standard ProBoards welcome.
Should we feel we still need further details we’ll email you directly asking for it, then wait approximately seven days for your response after which the application will be deleted if nothing is forthcoming.
We will always contact you using the email address provided - if you haven’t appeared to have received anything in this seven-day period, please check your spam folder.
Please note that all newly accepted accounts can be deleted without warning by an Administrator within the first three months if they feel that any unacceptable behaviour or postings have, or are likely to, take place.
Your data
Upon application Proboards provides us with:
During the annual purge of dormant members, in line with GDPR regulations, all information associated with deleted members is also deleted.
Forum staff are not ordinarily informed of members who self-delete. If you wish for your data to be deleted upon self-deletion, please contact a member of staff by PM before terminating your account and we will action this.
If we have serious concerns, for example as a safeguarding issue about any member, we may keep this data for a reasonable amount of time after the account has been deleted in case it is needed elsewhere. Once Forum Administrators are satisfied that it is no longer needed, this data will also be deleted.
We hope that the above information is clear and that you enjoy being a member of District Dave’s Forum.
It may also be of interest to existing members as there is information at the end on the data we hold and when this is deleted. This thread will remain locked but any member has any questions regarding any of the information here, please contact a member of the Administration Team in the first instance.
Applications to Join District Dave’s Forum
District Dave’s is the premier online forum relating to the London Underground and its associated infrastructure. We have approximately 1000 members, many of whom have been members for a decade or more and/or have connections with London Underground or the wider railway family. This means that, as a community, we are lucky to have an unparalleled pool and depth of knowledge among our ranks.
We actively encourage new members, from those with little experience who would like to broaden their knowledge, right up to railway professionals who may know more about specific roles than just about anyone else in their field.
The volunteers who staff the forum want District Dave’s to continue being a positive, respectful and welcoming place and in consequence, do not operate an ‘open’ joining process where anyone can automatically become a member without checks. With having some members under the age of 18 we must also be mindful of safeguarding issues and do our upmost to ensure the forum is a safe environment for everyone.
Non-members are free to read the forum but will not be able to post. In order to do so, applicants must apply to the forum through ProBoards (the software company who host the Forum) registration page, available using the Register link on our homepage. If you have one you are welcome to use an existing Proboards account that you have used to register with another forum also hosted by Proboards.
To be a member on any ProBoards-hosted forum you must agree to their general Terms of Service which includes being at least 13 years old and that you will not post objectionable content.
Specifically related to District Dave’s forum where a member of staff feels it is needed and justified, we may require some additional information from a new member, for example if an account has a suspicious username or if we have doubts about the reason for application. We are acutely aware that we have a responsibility both to our existing members and also to London Underground to minimise the risk of inappropriate online behaviour. However, we are fully aware that we also need to strike a reasonable balance between knowing a little about a person and that person’s right to online privacy. While we try to make our requests as brief as possible, thanks to our vigilance and background checks over the years, we have successfully kept out various people who later turned out to have had nefarious motives.
Those applying to become a member have an opportunity within a text box as part of the registration process to say something about their interest in London Underground and their reasons for wanting to become a member. This often expedites the process of joining. It is important to note that this information is only ever seen by Forum Staff and never shared with any third parties.
If the Forum Staff consider the detail provided on the initial application to be sufficient, we will then accept you and email some welcome information alongside the standard ProBoards welcome.
Should we feel we still need further details we’ll email you directly asking for it, then wait approximately seven days for your response after which the application will be deleted if nothing is forthcoming.
We will always contact you using the email address provided - if you haven’t appeared to have received anything in this seven-day period, please check your spam folder.
Please note that all newly accepted accounts can be deleted without warning by an Administrator within the first three months if they feel that any unacceptable behaviour or postings have, or are likely to, take place.
Your data
Upon application Proboards provides us with:
- The email address that you applied with (so we can contact you)
- Your chosen username
- The date of application
- The IP address used to register
During the annual purge of dormant members, in line with GDPR regulations, all information associated with deleted members is also deleted.
Forum staff are not ordinarily informed of members who self-delete. If you wish for your data to be deleted upon self-deletion, please contact a member of staff by PM before terminating your account and we will action this.
If we have serious concerns, for example as a safeguarding issue about any member, we may keep this data for a reasonable amount of time after the account has been deleted in case it is needed elsewhere. Once Forum Administrators are satisfied that it is no longer needed, this data will also be deleted.
We hope that the above information is clear and that you enjoy being a member of District Dave’s Forum.
