User Code of Conduct
(12/3/2020)
To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all who engage with or are employed by American Ancestors – New England Historic Genealogical Society (hereinafter “American Ancestors”), members of American Ancestors, i.e., all non-statutory members and online subscribers or guests, will in the course of their engagement with the Society conduct themselves in accordance with this Code of Conduct.
Any members determined to be in violation of this Code of Conduct will be subject to permanent or temporary suspension or removal of certain privileges, such as access to the organization’s website/s, building, events, staff, etc., or to cancellation of their membership. Below is a list of actions that may result in suspension or termination of membership. This list is not exhaustive, and therefore, any member that engages in improper, unethical, illegal, or immoral conduct toward another member, or an employee, officer, or Board or Council Member of American Ancestors will also be subject to this policy.
- Any violation of American Ancestors anti-harassment and anti-discrimination prohibition, including but not limited to discriminatory/harassing comments, communications, writings, postings, or behaviors based on protected class status, such as race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, color, ancestry, age, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, military/veteran status, or genetics.
- Cruel, abusive, or profane language or communications, in person, in writing or online, or by any other means, toward anyone affiliated with American Ancestors.
- Physical, mental abuse, or bullying of any kind toward anyone affiliated with American Ancestors.
- Threats or intimidation toward anyone affiliated with American Ancestors.
- Defamatory (including libel or slander) or disparaging statements or communications about anyone affiliated with American Ancestors or about American Ancestors.
- Intoxication at an American Ancestors event, program, or tour, or on the American Ancestors premises.
- Use or abuse of American Ancestors resources for inappropriate purposes, such as those that would violate the American Ancestors anti-discrimination prohibition or that serve divisive goals.
- Inappropriate sexual conduct, including innuendo, explicit comments/communications, touching, propositions, sending/posting of explicit or offensive pictures, gossip, inappropriate comments about someone’s appearance, body, or clothing, inappropriate questions about someone’s personal or sexual life, or leering.
- Membership in or association with an organization that supports discriminatory treatment of others or that can be viewed as propagating hate.
- Unethical or illegal conduct, including but not limited to commission of a crime that would diminish the American Ancestors reputation.
All users of AmericanAncestors.org, whether members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society or not, agree to the following terms and conditions, which define their rights, responsibilities and benefits.
License Terms and Conditions of Use
AmericanAncestors.org is owned and operated by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors). "You" or "your" means an adult user of the Service for itself and you as parent or guardian for any minor which you allow to access the Service, for whom you will be held strictly responsible. Your use of the Service indicates that you are bound by this agreement with us. If you do not agree with any of these terms and conditions, do not use the site. American Ancestors may alter this agreement at any time. Check each time you use the site for changes to the agreement. Your continued use of the site after any change indicates your acceptance of that change. If you do not accept the change, do not use the site.
All material on this site (content) is owned, copyrighted or licensed by American Ancestors. AmericanAncestors.org is protected by copyright as a collective work, compilation, and/or original work, pursuant to United States copyright laws, international conventions, and other copyright laws.
You are licensed to review, download, and print the content only for your personal or professional genealogical and family history research. You may not publish material from this site in whole or in part in any electronic, print or other medium, except as unique elements that are part of a unique family history or genealogy. You may not use this site or content therein (including names and contact information for those who submit information) for any purpose other than your personal or professional client family history research, including, but not limited to, contacting individuals for purposes other than genealogical research, selling or promoting products or services, soliciting clients or any other commercial purpose.
Violation of this license may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action for injunction, damages, or both.
Online Postings
You may make appropriate postings to any of our forums, discussion boards, blogs, or similar platforms. No user may post, transmit, or display anything that is illegal, threatening, harmful, abusive or otherwise objectionable on AmericanAncestors.org or any web platform owned, operated, or provided for use by American Ancestors. For example, but not limited to, actions that are harassing, invasive of another's privacy, degrading, defamatory, vulgar, hateful, libelous, fraudulent, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable are strictly prohibited. American Ancestors reserves the right to remove any posting that comes to its attention and that it believes, in its sole discretion, is illegal, obscene, indecent, defamatory, incites racial or ethnic hatred or violates the rights of others, or is otherwise objectionable. American Ancestors has no liability for statements made by users on AmericanAncestors.org, or any web platform owned, operated, or provided for use by American Ancestors. Statements other than those by American Ancestors are not necessarily the statements of American Ancestors.
Links
AmericanAncestors.org contains links to other websites that American Ancestors believes will be of assistance to you in your genealogical research. These sites are not maintained or controlled by us, and we are not responsible for their content. Although we have made a good faith effort to link only to tasteful, appropriate sites, some may contain inappropriate or objectionable material. If you find such material while using AmericanAncestors.org, please notify us immediately. Due to the vast number of sites appearing and being removed from the Internet on any given day, it is impossible to list all genealogical web sites. We do not guarantee that your search results will be complete or accurate. We believe that those who make information available on the Internet expect that it will be publicly and widely available. Therefore, we believe that linking to other sites is consistent with the expectations of those who use the Internet. However, if access to a particular site should be restricted, the site operator should promptly notify us.
Liability Disclaimer
The information, products, and services included on this Web Service may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. American Ancestors provides all content "AS IS", and without any warranty of any kind.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society makes no representations concerning the suitability, reliability or accuracy of the content or the service provided on AmericanAncestors.org for any purpose. We disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, in connection with the content and the services provided, including conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. In no case will we be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, special or other damages including, without limitation, lost or delay of use, lost profits, loss of data or any other damage in contract, tort, equity or any other legal theory, even if advised of the possibility thereof.
Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, this limitation may not apply in part to you. If you are dissatisfied with this website or any terms of its use, your sole remedy is to discontinue using it.
Disclaimers
All material on this site and any linked site is provided "As Is" and without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, to the fullest extent permissable by law. We do not warrant that the functions on this site will be uninterrupted or problem free, that errors will be corrected or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other damaging materials.
Trademarks
AmericanAncestors.org, American Ancestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors, Newbury Street Press, the oak leaf logo, and the American Ancestors seal are trademarks of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. They may not be used without the express permission of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Modifications to Terms and Conditions
American Ancestors reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time and the changes take effect when we post them on AmericanAncestors.org.