Are there any processes for defusing situations or escalating unsafe interviews up to someone at The Advocates?
- Safety is our number one priority. Story collection should only be done in places that feel safe to both the story contributor and story collector. If you do not know the person well, arrange the story collection for a public location such as a library or The Advocates’ office, not in a private home. Story collectors are not expected to make difficult decisions on their own. Whenever you feel uncertain about a request to share a story, reach out to The Advocates for Human Rights for guidance.
- If you feel unsafe during a story collection, wrap up the conversation as safely and quickly as possible—you can suggest that their story should be collected by Advocates’ staff instead. You do not need to complete any of the normal processes for closing the conversation. Contact MNTruthCouncil@advrights.org as soon as possible to explain the situation and include "URGENT SAFETY CONCERN" in the subject line.
As immigrants, there is immense risk to recording. At any point, ICE or the government could breach the system or threaten the security of story collectors. Are there other options for recording and saving story contributions?
- Individuals can submit their stories in writing or participate in a community dialogue (group story collection). We want everyone’s stories, but we recognize that sharing stories comes with risks. It is up to every individual to determine whether they should share their story.
Do the names of the people collecting the stories become part of the public record? Will they be mentioned at public meetings?
- The transcript of the story that will be part of the historical public record will not have the names of the story collectors. Names will not be mentioned at public meetings without story collector consent. However, the names of story collectors are stored in the database to track outreach and training.
Can people use an alias or provide just their first name if they are worried about security?
- People can give anonymous stories. If they are more comfortable using an alias or just a first name, their story will be treated as if they gave an anonymous story—their information will only appear in the report in summaries or paraphrases, and there will be no way for them to change their consent after they submit their story.
What happens if a story contributor mentions someone else’s name in their story?
The stories are run through a depersonalization program before being stored in the database to remove individual names.
Can/should
people name specific organizations in a story?
There is not an official redaction process for names of organizations, so story contributors should not use names if they are concerned the organization may experience negative consequences.
If the story is anonymous and will end up on the public record, will the information on the personal information form appear with the recording?
The demographic information on the form will be added to the transcript, but not the story collector’s name.
What happens with the recording? Is it kept? For
how long?
The recordings are transcribed and deleted after eight days.
Would participating in this story contribution process prevent someone from taking further legal action?
No, it would not affect a person’s right to make a claim.
Should you warn an anonymous story contributor if they reveal potentially personally identifying information about themselves during the story collection?
You can pause or stop the recording for any reason and start again (see above for the difference between iPhones and Androids). You can ask the story contributor if they are ok with the information they shared being in their story. If they are not, you should discard the story and start a new one—there is no way to rewind the recording and delete something that has already been recorded. Let the story contributor be the one to decide if something is okay to share.
If someone asks for our guidance on whether they should share anonymously, is it appropriate to give them guidance?
No. Explain the informed consent options and give the story contributor the time and space to decide what they prefer. If a potential story contributor needs more time to decide or to consult a lawyer, reschedule the story collection until they have made a decision.
