Privacy is priceless.  To have ones privacy invaded in an unwanted manner is quite unwelcome.  Unfortunately, the Internet Age has made it easier than ever to expose individuals to unwanted invasions of their privacy.  

At this site we respect the right of every individual to have their personal privacy protected.  To this end, we have made every reasonable attempt to insure that this site has been designed with the protection of personal privacy foremost in our minds.  During design, we adhere to the following guidelines:

We do not now, and will not in the future, give, sell, or create access to any information of a personal nature that is contained upon this site.  This includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. of anyone associated with this site.  To enforce this policy, the following steps have been implemented:

• All email addresses given on this site are protected using an 'alias' to prevent any email originating from this site revealing the recipient's actual email address.  For example, an address such as "example@aztoastmasters.org" is such an alias. Although displayed on this site, any email sent to this address will be redirected to that individual's personal email address.  Such redirection is done behind the scenes and is not known to the sender of the email message.
• At the express request of the information owner, an exception to the alias address can be made and thereby allow a personal email or other information to be published to this site.  Although strongly discouraged by the site administrator, personal information will be published only with the express written consent of the owner.
• District-Use-Only email distribution lists are not published.  Only authorized users have access to District distribution lists.  In addition, distribution addresses are to be used exclusively in the 'bcc:' field of the message, forcing the server to burst the group name into individual names.  This action insures that recipients of the message do not see/capture all the individual email addresses include in the distribution list.
• Some information accessible from this site is for the exclusive use of members serving in District Leadership roles or roles supporting District Leaders.  To prevent use of this information by unauthorized users, those portions of the site are protected by the use of passwords.  Passwords to these areas will only be distributed by the site Administrator directly to the individual requiring access to the secured information.  Passwords must be personalized on first use.  Passwords will also be changed at anytime the Administrator directs users to do so.  Users who abuse this privilege will lose their access rights.

Another point on use of internal distribution lists - these lists are usually limited to recipients who are serving in District Leadership roles.  By the nature of their service, these individuals imply permission to receive notification of District events and promotions.  Any misuse of the distribution lists for non-Toastmasters related material should be reported to the Site Administrator immediately.  Abuse by any irresponsible Toastmasters member(s) will result in cancellation of their site privileges and modification of the former distribution address to avoid any future misuse.

We would prefer to not be forced into using all moderated lists for District communications.  We believe the use of moderators further delays distribution of the information by having to wait for an individual(s) to deem a message appropriate for distribution.  Rather, we believe that through reasonable precautions and appropriate training of our leadership members we can maintain a free-flowing electronic communication environment that everyone can benefit from.

Last but certainly not least, this site will continue to evolve over time.  We will try, and fail, and try and succeed at our attempts to improve the member experience received during their use of this site.  Please be patient with our attempts to grow and mature.  We also encourage you to visit regularly to see our latest changes.  Suggestions are always welcomed and encouraged.

Thank you for using District 3 Toastmasters Online!