Skip to content

LEGAL_COMPLIANCE.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
164 lines (123 loc) · 6.73 KB

LEGAL_COMPLIANCE.md

File metadata and controls

164 lines (123 loc) · 6.73 KB
Raw

Legal Compliance & Data Ethics Guide

This document is mandatory reading for every contributor. Submitting data or code that violates the rules below may expose you — and the project — to civil and criminal liability under U.S., E.U., and other national laws.

1. Scope

The Global UAP Intelligence Hub aggregates publicly available, lawfully obtained, unclassified observational data about Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. The project explicitly does not accept:

  • Classified material at any level (Confidential, Secret, Top Secret, SCI, SAP, or foreign equivalents).
  • Information bearing classified watermarks, banner lines, portion marks, or (U//FOUO), (C), (S//NOFORN), (TS//SCI) markings — even partially redacted.
  • Material covered by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR — 22 CFR §§ 120–130) or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR — 15 CFR §§ 730–774).
  • Defense data unlawfully obtained (e.g. leaked, hacked, exfiltrated, or obtained in violation of a non-disclosure agreement).
  • Material whose release would violate the U.S. Espionage Act (18 U.S.C. § 793 et seq.) or equivalent statutes in any other jurisdiction.

If you are a current or former member of a military, intelligence, or classified-program workforce, you are responsible for ensuring that any material you contribute has been formally declassified and cleared for public release by your originating agency's pre-publication review process.

2. Identifying ITAR / EAR-Controlled Material

ITAR controls defense articles and services enumerated on the U.S. Munitions List (USML, 22 CFR § 121). EAR controls dual-use items on the Commerce Control List (CCL, 15 CFR Part 774). The following are common red flags. If any of these appear in your submission, do not submit.

2.1 Hardware / sensor data

  • Performance metrics for military-grade radar, IR, EO, or SIGINT sensors (e.g. AN/APG-, AN/AAQ-, AN/ALR- series, AESA, LPI, ESM, SAR).
  • Detailed waveform, frequency-hopping, or pulse-compression parameters.
  • Inertial measurement unit (IMU) or guidance system parameters that exceed CCL/USML thresholds (e.g. gyro bias < 0.05 °/hr).
  • Imagery with embedded classified metadata (NITF, KLV, MISB ST 0601 with classified security tags).

2.2 Aircraft / platform data

  • Stealth signature measurements (RCS, IR), low-observable coatings, or shaping data.
  • Flight envelopes, performance, or sensor fit of restricted platforms (F-22, F-35, B-2, B-21, RQ-170, RQ-180, etc.).
  • Tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of military operators.

2.3 Cryptographic / RF / Software

  • Type-1 cryptographic implementations or keys.
  • Software with controlled cryptography exceeding EAR § 740.17 thresholds.
  • Communications intelligence (COMINT) or measurement intelligence (MASINT) collection methods.

2.4 Documents

  • Anything with a classification banner line, portion marks, "Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)" markings, "Distribution Statement B/C/D/E/F", "NOFORN", "FRD", "RD", or "FGI".
  • DD Form 254, DD Form 1540, DD Form 2024 attachments.
  • Anything stamped "Export Controlled" or "ITAR Controlled".

When in doubt, leave it out. If you cannot affirmatively confirm an item is unclassified and uncontrolled, do not submit it.

3. Submission Triage Procedure (for maintainers)

Maintainers reviewing a data-report issue or pull request must:

  1. Visually inspect every attached file for classification banners, portion marks, or CUI labels before any download is propagated to other maintainers.
  2. Strip embedded metadata (exiftool -all=) only after confirming the metadata itself does not contain classified pointers.
  3. Reject and close any submission containing red-flag material. Use the template response in §6.
  4. Report to the project's legal point of contact (see CODEOWNERS) within 24 hours if a submission appears to contain genuinely classified data. Do not redistribute the material while the report is pending.
  5. Never screenshot, quote, or re-host classified material — including in issue comments — even to "show" what was rejected.

4. Contributor Code of Conduct (Data Ethics)

By submitting data or code, you agree that:

  1. You have the legal right to share every byte you submit.
  2. You will respect privacy: redact bystander faces, license plates, and personally identifiable information (PII) unless the data subject has given informed, written consent.
  3. You will attribute sources accurately. Plagiarism, falsified provenance, and AI-fabricated "sightings" are project-banning offenses.
  4. You will not weaponise the dataset for harassment, doxxing, or targeting individuals (witnesses, scientists, or military personnel).
  5. You will not circumvent national laws — including FOIA-exemption handling, GDPR, and equivalents — to obtain data for submission.
  6. You consent to maintainers removing your contribution if a legal or ethical issue is discovered post-merge, with attribution preserved in the git history per the project license.

Violations result in submission rejection, repository ban, and — for suspected criminal violations — referral to the appropriate authorities.

5. Jurisdictional Notes

  • United States: ITAR, EAR, Atomic Energy Act, Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. § 798 (COMINT).
  • European Union: Regulation (EU) 2021/821 (dual-use), GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).
  • United Kingdom: Official Secrets Acts 1911–1989, Export Control Act 2002.
  • Australia / Canada / NZ: Five Eyes equivalents apply.
  • France (relevant to GEIPAN data): Code de la défense L. 2311-1 et seq.
  • Chile (relevant to CEFAA data): Ley 19.974 (intelligence) and DAN-91 (military airspace).

The project hosts only material lawfully releasable in all of these jurisdictions.

6. Rejection Template

Hello @contributor,

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately we cannot accept this
contribution because it appears to contain material that may be:

  - [ ] classified or formerly classified (banner/portion marks observed)
  - [ ] ITAR/EAR-controlled (USML/CCL category referenced)
  - [ ] obtained without legal authority
  - [ ] containing PII without consent

Please review docs/LEGAL_COMPLIANCE.md and, if you believe this triage was in
error, respond with the formal declassification / public-release reference.

This issue will remain closed pending such a response.

7. Legal Disclaimer

Nothing in this document constitutes legal advice. The project is provided "as-is" without warranty. Contributors are solely responsible for their submissions and should consult qualified counsel when in doubt.