Last updated: September 6, 2026
The following values are essential to guide our work, speech, and actions. Our CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTOR_GUIDELINES.md, Community Guidelines, and 8 Simple Rules apply the values stated below in specific contexts and spaces.
Privacy and security should be available to everyone. We favor zero-knowledge systems and anonymous interaction wherever feasible. We collect as little information as reasonably necessary, favor privacy-protective defaults, and offer meaningful and empowering choices for users. We support education that helps people understand and control their digital lives.
Technology should serve humans and societies. We reject advertising surveillance, spyware, and hidden tracking. We do not implement manipulative design or forced algorithmic feeds. Artificial intelligence must remain optional.
We develop and deploy Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS), auditable technology, and public standards. People must be free to run software for any purpose, understand and modify it, and share original or modified copies. They should also be able to self-host the software and services they depend on. Our protocols and file formats should be documented so independent implementations can interoperate across boundaries.
We build systems which reject the idea that centralization is the only option. Federation, self-hosting, and portable identities give people more control over how they participate. Independent infrastructure allows communities to make their own decisions while remaining connected to others. Sustainable decentralization requires honesty, safety, and accountability.
Security and privacy claims should be backed by code, architecture, and testing. Our policies and development processes must be open to inspection. We explain important tradeoffs because no digital communication or interaction is risk-free. When mistakes happen, we correct them and improve our approach and systems.
We support free expression, good-faith disagreement, and technical criticism. Participants should respect privacy, avoid harassment, and credit sources. We stay within authorized systems when conducting technical work or research. Public and anonymous communication alike should be thoughtful, responsible, and non-destructive.
We are helping the next generation create, experiment, and build without centralized permission. Public-interest, community, and commercial work can coexist. Differing funding, ownership, and decision-making models are welcome. Those models must preserve privacy, software freedom, and human autonomy.
We are part of a wider ecosystem of developers, researchers, and educators. We should preserve attribution, share improvements, and contribute upstream when practical. We support public-interest research and education that help more people participate in the commons. The goal is a web with more privacy, security, and freedom.
This document is released under the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.