Flagger Community Guidelines

1. Our Values

• Curiosity and wonder — Flagger is for anyone interested in the world around them and the people in it. We encourage you to notice and learn not just about the flags, but about the people and things they represent.
• Kindness and openness — Our community welcomes flaggers of different ages, backgrounds, and knowledge levels. Always be courteous and helpful to fellow flaggers and others you meet. Hate has no place here.
• Safety and Respect — A flag sighting should never come at the expense of someone's privacy, property, or personal safety.
• Integrity — The value of flagging comes from real people logging genuine discoveries. Help us keep the experience authentic by logging only what you actually encounter.

2. Real-World Exploration, Safety & Local Laws

Flagger encourages you to explore your surroundings, but your physical safety and respect for local communities always come first.

2.1 Boundaries & Private Residences

• Respect private property: Never trespass, step onto private yards, bypass gates, or enter restricted areas to view or photograph a flag. If a flag is flown on a private residence, log it only from a public right-of-way (such as a public sidewalk or street).
• Obey local laws & postings: Always abide by local traffic laws, posted signs, park hours, and property rules. Using Flagger does not grant permission or authorization to access any physical location.
• Stay aware of your surroundings: Keep your eyes up while navigating. Do not attempt to log flags or interact with the app while driving, riding a bike, or operating any vehicle.

2.2 Individual Responsibility & Legal Disclaimer

You are solely responsible for your own safety, conduct, and decisions while using Flagger. Flagger and its creators are not responsible or liable for any personal injury, property damage, trespass, or illegal activity resulting from your physical movement or flag logging.

3. Location Sharing & Privacy Mindfulness

Flagger allows you to check in and attach precise geographic locations to your sightings so others can discover where flags are flown.

• Public by Default & Visibility Controls: Sighting check-ins and locations are visible to the community by default. You can adjust your settings at any time to limit who sees your profile, check-ins, and activity.
• Mindful Checking-In: When you log a sighting, that precise location remains associated with your post. Be thoughtful about logging flags at locations closely connected to your daily routine (such as your home or workplace) if you do not want those spots visible on your public feed.
• Day-Level Timestamps: To protect real-time movement, Flagger displays timestamps by day rather than exact time of day. However, if you prefer not to share where you are in the moment, you can wait to post your sighting after leaving the area.

4. Photos and Media Standards

Photos bring sightings to life and help verify flag identification. When taking and sharing photos:

• Keep the focus on the flag: Photos should primarily capture the flag itself. Avoid taking photos that intrude on people's private lives or home interiors.
• Respecting others in public: While photographing flags in public places may include people or background details, be respectful. If someone explicitly asks you not to photograph them or their property, respect their request.
• Original content: Only post photos you took yourself during an actual sighting or otherwise have the right to share.
• Appropriate content: Do not post sexually explicit, violent, graphic, or otherwise gratuitously disturbing imagery.
• Non-flag clutter: Do not use the photo feature to post memes, personal selfies unrelated to a flag, or off-topic media.

5. Log Real, Relevant Sightings

The integrity of Flagger's map and database depends on accurate data:

• Log actual encounters: Only log flags you physically saw in person. Fabricating sightings, manipulating GPS coordinates ("spoofing"), or logging flags remotely to artificially inflate points, badges, or leaderboard ranks degrades the experience for everyone and is prohibited.
• Honest identification: Use the "Log Custom" or "Unidentified Flag" features when you are unsure of a flag's identity rather than choosing an incorrect flag.
• Keep notes relevant: Keep any notes attached to a sighting focused on the encounter itself.

6. Be Respectful Online

Treat other users with decency in comments, identification feeds, and profile interactions:

• Zero tolerance for abuse: Harassment, bullying, threats, targeted intimidation, and hate speech targeting race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age are strictly forbidden.
• No impersonation: Do not impersonate another person, brand, or organization.
• Keep debates factual: Disagreements about a flag's identity, history, origin, or meaning happen. Keep discussions civil and focused on facts rather than personal attacks.

7. Restricted Historical Flags

Flagger's reference database includes a small number of flags associated with regimes or causes widely recognized as having caused significant historical harm, currently including flags historically associated with Nazi Germany, the Confederate States of America, apartheid-era South Africa, and Rhodesia, and marked as "Restricted" in the App. We may add more flags to this category over time.

• Historical reference only: These flags exist in the app solely for objective historical reference and learning—never as an endorsement. They do not generate points, badges, or leaderboard credit, nor can they be favorited.
• No promotion or harassment: Glorifying, celebrating, or using restricted flags to intimidate or harass others is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate account action.

8. Privacy, Blocking, and Reporting

• Respect Personal Data: Never share another user's private personal information (doxxing) or use Flagger data to track, locate, or contact someone off the app without their consent.
• Blocking: Block any user at any time from their profile to stop mutual visibility and interaction. You can manage blocked accounts in Settings.
• Reporting: If you spot content, check-ins, or photos that violate these guidelines or enter private areas, use the in-app Report button. Reports are confidential and reviewed by our team.

9. What Happens When Guidelines Are Violated

Depending on the nature and severity of a violation, we may take one or more of the following actions, at our discretion, and generally without prior notice:

• Remove or hide the specific content that violates these Guidelines;
• Issue a warning to the account responsible;
• Temporarily restrict specific features for an account; or
• Suspend or permanently terminate an account, for a single severe violation or a pattern of repeated violations.

10. Changes to These Guidelines

We may update these Guidelines from time to time as Flagger's community and features grow. Material changes will be communicated through the App or by other reasonable means. Continued use of Flagger after changes take effect means you accept the updated Guidelines.

11. Contact Us

Questions about these Guidelines, or need to escalate a safety concern beyond an in-app report? Contact us at contact@joinflagger.com