Editorial standards

These are the standards that govern what we publish, how we publish it, how we handle errors, and how we treat the people we report on. They are public so that you can hold us to them.

1 · Accuracy and sourcing

• Every factual claim links to a primary source — the original government document, the DPC ruling, the court filing, the press release, the published research paper. Where a primary source isn't online, we cite it specifically enough that a reader can find it.
• We do not publish on the strength of a single anonymous source. Tips become published claims only after corroboration or after we have a primary-source document we can link to.
• Statistics are dated and linked. When a statistic ages out of usefulness, we update or remove it.

2 · Independence

• MyID has no affiliation with any state body, political party, identity-services vendor, or commercial partner that compromises our editorial line.
• Sponsored content is clearly marked as sponsored. It never appears on pages that directly compare commercial alternatives.
• We do not accept payment from any party in exchange for changing or removing an editorial position.

3 · Corrections

• If we get something wrong, we correct it on the page, dated, with a brief note explaining what changed.
• Major corrections (misstatements of fact, withdrawn claims) are flagged at the top of the affected page for 30 days.
• To report an error: /contact/. We aim to acknowledge within 48 hours and correct within 7 days.

4 · Privacy and identity

• We do not name individuals in connection with criticism unless they are public officials acting in their public capacity, or unless they have voluntarily entered public debate on the topic.
• We do not publish anyone's PPS number, MyGovID credentials, photograph from official documents, or other personal identifier.
• User-submitted stories are anonymised before publication unless the submitter explicitly asks otherwise in writing.

5 · Comments and the right of reply

• When we publish an investigation that names an organisation, we offer that organisation a right of reply before publication, with a reasonable deadline. The response is published alongside the piece.
• Where the response is "no comment" we say so.

6 · Conflicts of interest

• Any direct financial relationship between MyID and a party we are writing about is disclosed in the piece.
• Personal relationships that could compromise impartiality are disclosed in the piece or cause us to recuse from coverage.

7 · Use of AI

• We may use generative AI tools for research, drafting, summarisation, and copy-editing. Every published piece is reviewed and edited by a human MyID editor before publication.
• We do not publish AI-generated content presented as a human source. Quotes attributed to humans come from humans.

8 · What we will not publish

• Step-by-step instructions for identity theft, fraud, or social-engineering attacks against specific institutions.
• Personal data scraped from breaches, leaks, or non-public sources.
• Content that misleadingly impersonates the Government of Ireland, MyGovID, the Department of Social Protection, the Data Protection Commission, or any state body.
• Defamatory claims about identifiable individuals, full stop.

These standards are a working document. We review them annually and after any significant correction. The current version was last reviewed on the date shown above.