Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct
Last updated April 24, 2023

Community Code of Conduct And Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of the AAE Connection Community, a members-only community for the AAE. The purpose of the Community is to encourage and promote positive and professional communication among AAE members. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established this Code of Conduct for participation in the Community.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow the discussion rules and etiquette. AAE Connection is a great platform from which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in ongoing conversations. Questions about this code of conduct as well as any technical questions should be sent via the Contact Us page.


Code of Conduct Enforcement

AAE reserves the right to deactivate a member account at any time, at its sole discretion, if it concludes that any of the rules have been violated by that member. We also reserve the right to reject any message for any reason. We understand that people make mistakes, and we would prefer not to ban someone from the Community for minor violations. Therefore, for minor violations, AAE will follow a graduated enforcement policy as follows:

  • First Violation: A warning email will be sent.
  • Second Violation: You will be advised that all your postings for the next 30 days will be monitored for compliance with these rules. You will also be advised that any further violations will lead to removal from the Community.
  • Third Violation: You will, at the sole discretion of AAE, be removed from the Community indefinitely or for a specified period. Reinstatement will be considered on a case-by-case basis.


The Rules

  • Do not attack others or challenge them in a disparaging manner. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation, not to create undue contention.
  • Do not disparage or share grievances about specific individuals, either member or non-members of the Community.
  • Do not reveal any protected health information (PHI) of any identifiable patient without written authorization from that patient.
  • Do not post commercial messages for any product or service that you, a family member, or a friend are trying to promote.
  • Use caution when discussing specific products.  Disparaging comments about a product may expose you, and the AAE, to charges of defamation and trade libel.
  • Do not suggest any boycott, or other form of collective conduct, including but not limited to suggesting fees to be charged by endodontists.   Indeed, do not mention fees of endodontists in any way.  Any such suggestions or discussions may raise serious antitrust issues.
  • Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, discriminatory, or illegal materials or comments.
  • Do not post any material that is protected by copyright without written permission of the copyright owner.  
  • When discussing a topic relating to any commercial entity, disclose any financial, advisory, or employment relationship that you or a family member currently have with any such entity or any competitor of such entity - and also disclose any such relationship within the past 12 months.
  • Do not post surveys without advanced approval. Resident research surveys will be shared in a designated community and will only be posted once approved.


Discussion Etiquette

  • When you post a message, please disclose any relationship that you or a family member might have that could reasonably be seen as influencing the objectivity or impartiality of your post.
  • Include a signature tag on all messages with your name, affiliation, and location.
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
  • "Reply" when your post contains information that everyone can benefit from.
  • "Reply Privately" for messages such as "Thanks for the information" or "Me, too" or other messages intended only for one individual.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as "Remove me from the list." Instead, go to your profile, and select "My Account" to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
  • Warn other members of the Community of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message."
  • All communities are actively moderated, but if there is a post that you view as a violation of the Code of Conduct, please flag that contribution by selecting Mark as Inappropriate within the Reply options and explain your reasoning. Community Moderators will evaluate the post and share follow up steps.


Final Points

This site is provided as a service for the members of American Association of Endodontists.  However, the AAE is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. In no event shall the AAE be liable for any damages resulting from any post on the Community.


Privacy Policy

We Respect Your Privacy. Any personal information you provide to us, including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address, will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of AAE except as noted below.

 

Whom Do We Share The Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers

We may share your personal information with companies that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information that we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers

Your personal information may be transferred to another entity in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy. Government and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site when we, in good faith, believe that disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of AAE, our members, or others.

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies

A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc.). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as newsfeeds.

We hope that members will use this Community to facilitate discussion and connection with peers, and we welcome any questions that you have.  Enjoy the Community!