Published Documentary Archive Protection Policy

Chapter I — General provisions

Article 1 — Purpose

1.1. This policy establishes the protection measures applicable to the public documentary archive of the file SEM-26-003, distributed in particular on the Internet Archive (archive.org), on the “Dossier for journalists” page, in the ZIP archive and in the search engine. ↗

1.2. It determines:

• a) the principle of fixity of the Archive and its documented exceptions;
• b) retroactive coverage of all published pieces, regardless of their naming convention;
• (c) copyright compliance rules, including those applicable to foreign hosting services;
• (d) the procedure for reporting, redaction and removal for the benefit of any person concerned;
• e) measures to protect privacy, in particular that of the minor Author.

Article 2 — Definitions

For the purposes of this policy, unless the context indicates a different meaning, we mean:

• a) “Archive”: the Internet Archive item “file-journalists-tourbiere-blainville-stablex”, its content, the ZIP archive, the search engine and the “File for journalists” page, together;
• b) “Fixity”: the principle according to which the Archive is only modified, reorganized or corrected by a formal measure documented in the internal audit log, never silently;
• c) “Naming convention”: the affixing of the suffix “_BIFFE_AUDIT” to the published files, for information only and not constituting protection;
• d) “Derivative”: files automatically generated by a hosting service from the pieces (text extracts, thumbnails, feeds), which are subject to this policy in the same way as the original pieces;
• e) “Official Channel”: the email ([email protected]) and encrypted channels indicated on williamguindon.me, including the address appearing in the Archive's metadata, expressly designated as the official contact channel for any report, request for redaction or withdrawal; ↗
• f) “DMCA”: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the United States law governing copyright infringement takedown requests made to hosting services;
• g) “Redaction Register”: the internal legal audit log, cryptographically sealed and strictly confidential (non-public to avoid any re-exposure of sensitive data), maintained by the Author for the purposes of forensic traceability and evidentiary compliance.

Article 3 — Scope and retroactive coverage

3.1. This policy applies to any Item making up the Archive, regardless of the date, place or form of its publication, including Derivatives.

3.2. Any Document published prior to the entry into force of this policy is deemed to be covered by all of the protections and procedures it establishes.

3.3. The absence of the Naming Convention on a Part does not imply a waiver, weakening or exclusion of the applicable protections; it has no effect on the rights of any person concerned.

Chapter II — On the Fixity of the Archive

Article 4 — Principle of fixity

4.1. The Archive is published as is and remains, by evidentiary principle, stable in its content: Fixity preserves the value of the Chain of Custody, the cryptographic fingerprints and the documentary history.

4.2. No file modifications, deletions or substitutions are made silently. All measurements are time-stamped, justified and recorded in the Redactions Register (confidential internal audit log), in accordance with traceability requirements.

4.3. Fixity does not prevent the withdrawal measures provided for in Chapter IV; it only guarantees transparency and traceability.

Article 5 — Corrections

5.1. Any correction of material errors (corrupt file, duplicate, naming error) is carried out without altering the evidentiary content and is recorded in the Internal Register.

5.2. The replacement of a Part by a more complete redacted version constitutes a protective measure within the meaning of Chapter IV, not a silent modification.

Chapter III — Copyright, public interest and compliance

Article 6 — Fair use, public interest and legal provisions authorizing dissemination

6.1. The constitution, publication and making available of the Documentary Archive are based on the legal exceptions and fair use rights provided for by applicable national and international legislation for the purposes of public interest, citizen research, education, criticism, reporting and democratic participation:

• Copyright Act (Canada, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42): Sections 29 (private study, research, education), 29.1 (criticism and reporting) and 29.2 (communication of news) guarantee the lawfulness of the citation, analysis and reproduction of documents necessary for citizen evaluation. According to the principled jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada (CCH Canadienne Ltée v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13), fair dealing constitutes a user right that is an integral part of copyright and must receive a liberal interpretation in the service of the public interest;
• American law and hosting (17 U.S. Code § 107 — Fair Use): Non-commercial archiving on the Internet Archive is fully within the framework of the fair use doctrine authorizing reproduction for the purposes of criticism, comment, news coverage, scientific research and documentary preservation of general interest;
• Transparency of administrative and environmental documents: Supporting documents resulting from public hearing processes (BAPE 371), impact studies, administrative correspondence or filed as part of public environmental procedures (Commission de coopération environnementale CCE (Commission for Environmental Cooperation) / ACEUM (Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement), art. 24.27 and 24.28) fall under the public communication of acts of general interest, in accordance with the applicable decrees on the reproduction of public documents (in particular the federal decree P.C. 1996-1995) and the right to environmental information.

6.2. No third party works contained in the Archive are offered, licensed or sublicensed, in whole or in part, under any license. Only the Author's original creations are subject to the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. ↗

6.3. In the event of a discrepancy between a metadata field of a third-party hosting service and the Platform's Terms of Use, the latter alone express the will of the Author, who has never intended to authorize commercial use of his creations nor to grant the slightest license to third-party works.

Section 7 — DMCA Compliance and Third-Party Service Procedures

7.1. The Author fully subscribes to the DMCA takedown procedures applicable to hosting services in the United States, including Internet Archive.

7.2. The Official Channel designated in Article 2 e) ([email protected]) serves as the notification address for any request for withdrawal or modification sent under copyright law; the Author responds within a maximum of five (5) to ten (10) working days, taking into account the legitimate requirements of his school and academic calendar. ↗

7.3. The Author reserves all rights that the DMCA and Canadian law confer on him, including the filing of a counter-notice if applicable.

Chapter IV — Protection procedure

Article 8 — Reporting

8.1. Any person - Rights holder, Private person, organization, close to a person appearing in the Archive - can report, through the Official Channel ([email protected]), any element of the Archive that they consider to infringe their rights or their private life. ↗

8.2. No prior proof of the existence of a risk is required from the reporter in good faith; the precautionary principle applies.

8.3. No retaliatory action will be taken against a report made in good faith.

Article 9 — Deadlines and measures

9.1. Upon receipt of a report, the Author acknowledges receipt in writing within a maximum of five (5) working days. This period can be reasonably arranged during periods of official school exams or academic holidays.

9.2. The Author will evaluate the report and take the appropriate action within a maximum period of fifteen (15) working days following acknowledgment of receipt.

9.3. The default measure is the targeted redaction of the passage or Exhibit concerned, supplemented, where appropriate, by the implementation of the redacted version of the Exhibit.

9.4. Upon express written request, the measure is the complete removal of the Piece, including the third-party hosting service; the Author then immediately takes the steps specific to the service concerned.

9.5. Any measure is entered in the Redaction Register (confidential internal journal not distributed in order to protect the sensitive data withdrawn), with its date, its legal reason and the reference of the Document, without ever recording the confidential value withdrawn.

Chapter V — Protection of persons

Article 10 — Privacy

10.1. Any private person may request the deletion of their personal data, their face, their contact details or any element allowing them to be identified or located, without having to justify any damage.

10.2. Requests relating to minors and vulnerable people are processed with absolute priority.

10.3. The personal information protection rules of Charter 10 apply to the Archive, including Derivatives. ↗

Article 11 — Reinforced protection clause for the minor author and legal sanctuary

11.1. Best interests of the child and international protection: The Author acts as a minor citizen committed to the defense of the environment, public health and future generations. In accordance with Articles 3, 12, 13 and 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and UN General Assembly Resolution 76/300, any civic and documentary participation of the Author is protected against any form of retaliation, intimidation, harassment or unlawful attack on his honor and reputation.

11.2. School, family and personal sanctuary: The private, family, residential and school sphere of the Author is strictly inviolable (Code civil du Québec, arts. 3 and 35; Charter of human rights and freedoms, RLRQ c. C-12, arts. 4 and 5; Charter 10). No formal notice, summons, communication or physical or telephone approach may be sent to the educational establishments attended by the Author, to his teachers, guardians, parents or relatives. Any legal contact must be made through the Single Official Electronic Channel ([email protected]). ↗ ↗

11.3. Anti-SLAPP shield and sanctions for abuse of procedure: In accordance with articles 51 to 54 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Quebec (RLRQ c. C-25.01) and Charter 04, any attempted legal action, threat of litigation, abusive formal notice or intimidation maneuver initiated with the aim of restricting the Author's freedom of expression, draining his resources or hindering his citizen participation in the case SEM-26-003 will be immediately reported to the courts as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and a gross abuse of process. The Author will immediately request the summary dismissal of the action, the imposition of a provision for costs, the joint ordering of the plaintiffs and their representatives to pay punitive and exemplary damages, as well as the ethical reporting to the competent professional orders. ↗

11.4. Criminal protection against doxxing and harassment: Any attempt at unauthorized disclosure of personal information (doxxing), shadowing, malicious surveillance, cyberintimidation or direct or indirect threat aimed at the Author or his family circle will be subject to immediate priority reporting to the police services (Sûreté du Québec / competent police force) and filing of complaints under articles 264 (Criminal harassment), 372 (Harassing communications) and 423 (Intimidation) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

11.5. Conventional international law and environmental immunity: The filing and monitoring of the citizen communication SEM-26-003 with the Secretariat of the Commission de coopération environnementale (Commission for Environmental Cooperation) is the exercise of a formal right guaranteed by articles 24.27 and 24.28 of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (ACEUM). No direct or indirect retaliatory measure can be tolerated against the constitution and evidentiary safeguarding of this international public file.

11.6. Absolute good faith, gratuity and absence of intent to harm: The Author acts on a strictly voluntary, independent and self-financed basis, without any profit or commercial interest. The placing of the Archive online responds exclusively to evidentiary reasons of general interest (contamination of soil and water with cadmium, Loi 93 (Bill 93), protection of Grande Tourbière de Blainville (Great Blainville Peat Bog)). The establishment of an amicable, transparent and free redaction and withdrawal procedure confirms the uninterrupted good faith of the Author and excludes any fault of intent or culpable negligence.

Chapter VI — Final provisions

Article 12 — Transparency and audit

12.1. An audit of the Archive was carried out on September 26, 2026, the main findings of which — the absence of leakage of personal contact details in the textual extraction of the Derivatives — can be communicated to any journalist or researcher who requests it through the Official Channel.

12.2. The Author may have any additional audit carried out; the findings are recorded and made available under the same conditions.

Article 13 — Limits

13.1. This policy is a citizen self-regulation policy; it does not constitute legal advice and does not prejudge the outcome of a possible dispute.

13.2. It does not create any obligations for third parties and does not restrict any rights conferred on them by law.

Article 14 — Entry into force, revision and adoption

14.1. This policy comes into force on the date of its publication. It is anchored by OpenTimestamps timestamp in accordance with Charter 07. ↗

14.2. It complements, without replacing them, Charter 11 (Publication of annexes and respect for copyright), Charter 10 (Privacy), Charter 08 (OpSec) and Charter 04 (Anti-SLAPP), with which it reads as a whole. ↗ ↗ ↗

14.3. The register of platform charters increases from eleven (11) to twelve (12) fundamental charters.

14.4. Any revision is the subject of a numbered, dated and kept version.