Privacy Policy

Cookie Alert!
I'm testing a new system that will allow me to remember what stories you read, so I can (someday) offer you new ones each time you visit. That involves setting a cookie, which I have labelled "metameme." Contact me if you don't like this "so-called feature" or leave an anonymous comment at the bottom of this page.

Email Newsletter
The Email Newsletter is free. Registration requires your email address (obviously) and, optionally, your name.  I only use this information to periodically send you a newsletter. With 150,000 subscribers, this is no easy task, so I don't want to email anyone against his will. My own ethics aside, the newsletter does not include paid ads, so there is no payoff whatsoever for inflating the membership at the risk of alienating readers. The list will never be used for evil, i.e. to send unsolicited email. You will only receive Darwin Awards newsletters. Subscribers are free to leave the newsletter list at any time. Subscribe or Opt-Out (methods described below.)

Story Submission
To submit a story, you must place it in the moderation queue, from whence it will eventually be transferred to the public Slush Pile or Trash Heap. You do not have to include your name or your email with the submission, but if you do include your email, you will be notified when the moderators decide its fate. The submission form allows you to indicate whether your name or email should be shown to the public. If you decide to reveal your email, it will be prefixed with letters such as "REMOVE-" in order to thwart automatic spam harvesters. Some submissions are (rewritten and) moved to the permanent Darwin Awards archive. If you allowed your name to be shown on the submission, I will add your name as the submitter, but I currently do not add email links. You can contact me to have your name or email removed from, or your email added to, a story at any time. See the Opt-Out Methods below.

IP Logging
The server logs IP address to help diagnose problems, and to administer the website. I use a standard statistical package from Wusage to analyze the logs. Aggregate data is publicly available, and visitors are free to browse through this statistical information by surfing to "DarwinAwards.com/wsage" (not linked to thwart robots). I will not make IP addresses available to interested parties without a court order. There is no way to opt out of IP logging, but you may wish to use an anonymizer to safeguard your privacy.

Email-a-Friend
The Email-a-Friend feature allows you to email a story summary (currently limited to 256 characters, but improved to send the whole story soon) and page link to a friend. Both email addresses are automatically discarded after sending the note. Using Email-a-Friend will never result in unsolicited email from me, since email addresses are not retained. However, I do archive unattributed comments, which may be added to the story or used to add humor to the Darwin Awards. If you are having trouble with this feature -- for instance, if a mean-spirited person is using it to send you unsolicited email -- please contact me and I will install a block.

Surveys
Reader surveys occasionally appear, requesting your opinions and demographic data. Surveys are voluntary. I use the data for entertainment, and to help design future iterations of the Darwin Awards. Aggregate survey results can be viewed by all. Non-participants can also view survey results simply by pressing the submit button without selecting an option.

Emails to Darwin
Email excerpts may be printed on the Darwin Awards website and in other media, such as books. I will contact you when a selection from your email is used on the website. You may have your attribution removed from this website at any time.
See the Opt-Out Methods below.

Philosophy Forum
The Philosophy Forum is open to browsing by all visitors. Those who wish to post messages must register a username and password. Remember that all messages you post become public. Exercise caution when revealing personal information, and contact me immediately if you need to withdraw a message, or delete your registration. The Forum uses cookies to save your name and password so you don't have to reenter them each time you visit. It also uses cookies to save the date of your last visit, in order to highlight new messages on your next visit. You can delete the cookies by clicking the "Delete Cookies" link on the bottom of the Forum page.

Security
This site has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of information. My alarm system is comprised of millions of readers who will quickly alert authorities if the website is hijacked. The server also has redundant backups and is internationally mirrored.
Visit www.DarwinAwards.com and darwinawards.de

Opt-Out Methods
Anyone can opt to not receive Darwin's communications. When a person opts out of the newsletter, his email is retained but marked "unsubscribed." This is done so that, in the event that records must be rebuilt, there is less likelihood that a person will be inadvertently re-added subsequent to unsubscribing. I sincerely strive to never contact an unwilling recipient. Please use the links below to opt out:
Newsletter Subscription/Cancellation (scroll down the page)
Philosophy Forum Preferences
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