Hong Kong Civil Society News Archive (hereafter the Archive) is a free, nonprofit platform supporting research, education, and the preservation of public records. This policy explains how users may access and use the Archive’s news registry, reference information, and links to externally hosted articles and archived records.
1. General principles
- The Archive helps users discover and study news reports and public records, including materials at risk of revision, removal, or disappearance.
- The registry provides reference information and links to original publications and third-party web archives. The Archive does not host or republish the full text of the articles listed in the registry.
- Access to The Archive is free. However, public accessibility does not mean that materials are in the public domain or available for unrestricted reuse.
- The Archive supports responsible, community-driven archiving that respects intellectual property, personal privacy, and the safety of individuals and communities.
2. Individual use
Users may browse and search the registry for personal, research, and educational purposes. They may download, copy, or print materials only to the extent permitted by applicable law or the relevant rights holder.
When citing or sharing materials, users should acknowledge the original source and, where relevant, identify the archived version and its date. Users should distinguish original reporting from descriptions, summaries, or other information prepared by The Archive.
Access to and use of linked websites and web archives are subject to those services’ own terms and policies. The Archive cannot grant permission to use materials hosted by third parties.
3. Copyright and intellectual property
Copyright and other intellectual property rights in linked articles and records remain with their respective rights holders. The Archive does not own those source materials and cannot authorize their reproduction, republication, or redistribution.
To the extent protected by applicable law, The Archive retains rights in its original editorial content, summaries, annotations, and the original selection and arrangement of its registry. This does not assert ownership over underlying facts, source URLs, standard citations, or third-party materials.
Uses permitted by applicable law do not require additional permission from The Archive. For uses of The Archive’s protected content beyond those permitted by law, please contact The Archive in advance. Requests for research, educational, or community archiving projects are welcome.
4. Automated access and bulk collection
Automated access must comply with this policy and any published technical access instructions, including The Archive’s robots.txt rules where provided.
Users must not bypass access restrictions, evade rate limits, or use automated tools in ways that disrupt the service, compromise privacy, or interfere with other users’ access. Please contact The Archive before undertaking bulk collection or systematic downloading of the registry.
The Archive may restrict or block automated access to maintain service availability, protect individuals’ privacy, honor applicable licensing obligations, and respond to removal, correction, or anonymization requests.
5. Reuse by other platforms and publishers
The Archive is not a supplier of full-text source articles for republication. Commercial and noncommercial publishers seeking to reproduce linked articles or archived records must obtain them from appropriate sources and secure any necessary permissions.
Systematic reproduction or redistribution of The Archive’s protected content or registry compilations requires prior permission, unless otherwise permitted by applicable law. This applies to both manual collection and automated extraction.
The Archive welcomes proposals for responsible research, educational collaboration, and community-driven archiving. Any agreed reuse arrangements should address attribution, privacy, and the handling of subsequent corrections or removals.
6. Responsible use
Users must not use the Archive to facilitate harassment, intimidation, unlawful surveillance, or other unlawful conduct. When collecting, combining, or republishing information, users should consider whether their actions could expose individuals or communities to harm, particularly where records contain personal or sensitive information.
Users who identify inaccurate entries, broken links, privacy concerns, or potential intellectual property infringements may contact the Archive through the website’s contact page.
7. Changes to this policy
The Archive may update this policy as the service develops. Revised versions will be published on this page with an updated effective date.