LEGAL · BETA
Operational Data & Verification Policy
Last updated: 5 October 2026
1. Information classes
Reported means submitted by an identified or protected source and awaiting review. Independent agreement is retained as a confidence signal, not as verification authority. Verified means reviewed against the available evidence by an authorised human reviewer; during the beta, only an Administrator may grant it. Under review means credible information differs on a relevant detail—such as the recorded UTC time—and the discrepancy is being checked. It does not mean that a contributor acted dishonestly.
2. Confidence score
The score reflects source proximity, corroboration, recency and event consistency. It is separate from Reported or Verified status and expresses evidential confidence, not navigational accuracy or a guarantee that an event occurred exactly as displayed.
3. Contributor protection
Public timelines contain operational data and do not display contributor identity. Professional identity and organisational representation are restricted; administrative notes, audit evidence and security records remain internal. Access to identifying information is limited to verification, abuse prevention and legal obligations. VHF14 cannot promise absolute anonymity where disclosure is legally required or technically unavoidable.
4. Prohibited content
Do not submit crew lists, health information, private communications, credentials, security-sensitive facility details, allegations about identifiable people, or information obtained unlawfully. Reports should contain the minimum operational detail needed to identify the vessel, port, event, operational location and time.
5. Corrections and challenges
Ship operators, ports and other affected professionals may request review of an event. VHF14 records corrections without silently rewriting the audit history and may lower confidence, mark an event as under review or remove content while assessing evidence.
6. Source hierarchy
Direct professional observation and authoritative port or vessel records normally carry more weight than indirect reports. Multiple reports are not treated as independent if they appear to derive from the same original source.
7. VTS and organisational reporting
A VTS operator or other professional may report in a personal professional capacity or on behalf of an organisation. Organisational attribution is displayed only after authority to represent that organisation has been confirmed. Contributors must respect operational security, confidentiality and their employer’s information policies.
8. Consensus time and duplicate control
Reports of the same vessel, port and operational event are consolidated when their UTC times fall within the applicable tolerance: normally five minutes for manoeuvring and mooring milestones, and ten minutes for cargo, readiness and gangway events. Repeated submissions from the same contributor count as one source. The displayed consensus time is the median of independent observations, with source count and time spread retained for traceability. Consensus can raise confidence but never changes a report to Verified. Reports outside the tolerance remain separate for review.
9. Contribution Credits
One unique operational event accepted after verification earns one VHF14 Contribution Credit for its contributor. Credits have no monetary value, are non-transferable and are not awarded for duplicates, circular sourcing or reports that cannot be verified. A good-faith rejected report carries no credit penalty. Credits may be reversed if verification is withdrawn because of fraud, material error or unauthorised disclosure.
During the Free Beta, all available operational information remains open and credits accumulate without expiring or being spent. Only after the network reaches meaningful coverage may VHF14 test a free consultation allowance, with earned credits extending access to third-party port calls. Contributors will keep their balance and receive advance notice before any limits or material rule changes are introduced.
10. Actual, estimated and planned times
Actual identifies an observed operational time. Estimated identifies a current professional expectation and remains marked EST. Planned identifies a time adopted in the current operational plan and remains marked PLN. Requested time is reserved for future controlled workflows and is not currently available to contributors. VHF14 does not fabricate missing forecasts: automatic predictions will only be introduced when sufficient verified historical coverage supports a reliable model for the relevant port and operation.
11. Emergency information
VHF14 is not an emergency channel. Urgent safety, security, pollution or navigational matters must be reported through the competent maritime, port, coastal or emergency authority.