What “Verified” Means Here
Every person who shares a story on ImACanary must create an account with a verified email address. This means we can contact any poster privately and remove bad actors. However, verification does not mean we have confirmed the medical accuracy of any story.
What Is Public vs. Private
Public: Your display name (which defaults to “Anonymous Canary” unless you change it), your story, your selected triggers and symptoms, your country and region.
Private: Your email address. It is never displayed publicly, shared with anyone, sold, or used for marketing. It exists only to verify your account and allow us to contact you privately if needed.
How Stories Are Reviewed
New accounts have their first stories reviewed by a human moderator. We check for:
- Private information (addresses, phone numbers, emails)
- Naming of private individuals
- Medical claims or cure assertions
- Profanity and harassment
- Commercial content or spam
After establishing trust through approved stories, your submissions may be published more quickly.
Rollover Stories
When the site launched, we seeded it with composite stories based on real patterns in the MCS community. These are labeled “Rollover Story” and were created by the site administrators to demonstrate the format and help new users understand what a story looks like here. No rollover story copies any specific real person — every detail has been remixed.
Limitations
All data on this site is self-reported. We make no causation claims. This is not medical advice. Stories reflect individual experiences, and patterns in aggregate data are observational, not diagnostic.
Data Use & Privacy Thresholds
Aggregate, de-identified data may be used to show community trends (for example, “most commonly reported triggers”). We never display trend data when fewer than five stories match a category, to protect individual privacy. If you consented to research or media contact, we will only share your email with verified researchers or journalists — never publicly.
AI-Assisted Moderation
We use AI-assisted screening to help review submitted stories. An AI system reads each submission and flags potential guideline violations — private information, medical claims, profanity, and spam. Every flagged story is reviewed by a human moderator before any action is taken. The AI never publishes or removes a story on its own. It’s a tool that helps our small team review stories faster while keeping the same standards. If you believe your story was incorrectly flagged or delayed, contact us.
Flock Finder Privacy
The Flock Finder map shows approximate locations of ImACanary members at the zip code or postal code level. Your exact address is never stored, displayed, or shared. The map displays aggregate dots, not individual locations. We use your zip/postal code only to calculate an approximate geographic center point — we do not store coordinates, and we do not reverse-geocode to find your street. You can update or remove your location at any time from your profile page.