Ground rules

These rules keep you safe, protect innocent people, and make your reports more believable.

1. Never post accusations online. Share what you find only with the authorities. Do not post names, addresses, photos, or claims about any person or company on social media, websites, or in emails to groups. Send your concerns to the official offices and let them investigate.
2. Stick to public records. Use official documents anyone can get. Do not snoop, trespass, or pretend to be someone you are not.
3. Look into businesses and programs, not private people. Do not dig into anyone's home address, family, health, or money. Being near something suspicious is not proof of a crime. Accusing someone in public can hurt an innocent person and could get you sued.
4. Protect privacy, yours and others'. Never share Social Security numbers, medical details, or home addresses. Black out private details on any document you share.
5. Check the facts yourself. AI helpers like Grok Bot can make mistakes. Always open the original source.
6. Leave politics at the door. Silver Watchdogs is nonpartisan and welcomes people of every political view. Fraud wastes everyone's money, no matter who is in office. Look at facts and records, not parties or politicians' opinions, and keep comments about politics out of your reports.
7. Know the difference. Fraud means someone lied to get money or an approval. A decision you disagree with, or a project you don't like, is not fraud. Those concerns belong at public meetings and with your elected officials.
8. Be kind and respectful to clerks and officials. They are usually the people who help you get the records.