Policy for the Protection of Children and Adolescents and the Safeguarding of People in Situations of Vulnerability

1. Declaration of principles

Aquí Estamos develops technological infrastructure to support the humanitarian response in emergency situations. The protection of the dignity, privacy and rights of people is the guiding principle of the project. Children and adolescents receive the highest level of protection within this policy.

2. Principle of non-exposure

The platform is designed to prevent the public exposure of registered persons. It does not publish lists of victims, photographs, individual profiles, locations or information that would allow a person to be directly or indirectly identified. Its purpose is to enable secure verification processes between someone searching for a relative and the institution responsible for protecting that person.

3. Reinforced protection of minors

Aquí Estamos does not create audiovisual records or carry out any other processing of information that would allow the direct or indirect identification of children or adolescents: the registration of minors is not contemplated within the current scope of the platform and will not begin until specialized protocols, legal advice and agreements with the competent institutions are in place. This measure may only be reviewed when there are sufficient guarantees for the protection of their rights.

4. Reinforced protection of older adults

Aquí Estamos began, and intends to keep active, the operation of audiovisual records of older adults, a population in a situation of special vulnerability in the face of a catastrophe. However, their registration is subject to a reinforced consent regime: only older adults who have full capacity to give their free, voluntary and informed consent are registered, by means of an express authorization document —similar in nature to the image-release agreements used in audiovisual productions— in which the person specifically authorizes the use of their voice, testimony, family-history data, photographs and video, exclusively for the purposes of location and family reunification. The document expressly states that the authorization is free of charge, without economic consideration, and expressly prohibits the recording or dissemination of medical diagnoses, exposed injuries or any other content that undermines the dignity, honor or modesty of the registered person.

5. Current operational scope

Volunteer registration is carried out through the Aquí Estamos website or platform. Each volunteer is verified internally by the team that runs Aquí Estamos; once verified, they are reflected in the platform's database.

The field registration of people affected by the emergency —currently limited to older adults under the consent regime described in the previous section— is carried out exclusively by already-verified volunteers, under the direct coordination of the Volunteer Coordinator. The material collected in the field is handed over to the Volunteer Coordinator, who, together with the outreach team, is responsible for its publication on the Aquí Estamos Instagram account.

Upon arriving at the refugee centers, each volunteer carries an identification with a QR code that links to the platform, specifically to the volunteers section, where it can be verified that the volunteer has been validated by the team and confirmed whether they are currently active.

6. Data minimization

Only the information strictly necessary to fulfill the authorized humanitarian purpose will be collected. Whenever possible, mechanisms that reduce the exposure of personal data will be used.

7. Human oversight

Decisions related to the identification, verification or contact of vulnerable persons will not be made solely through automated processes. Human intervention will be an essential requirement.

8. Temporality and custody

Aquí Estamos acts as a temporary custodian of the humanitarian information it manages. Data must be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill its purpose or while a legal or institutional obligation justifies its retention; afterward it must be deleted or anonymized in accordance with applicable regulations.

9. Access restrictions

Access to information will be limited by role, need-to-know and authentication mechanisms. The download, export or reproduction of sensitive information may only take place with the express authorization of the responsible institution and in accordance with secure procedures.

10. Institutional commitment

Aquí Estamos designs its processes to minimize the risks associated with handling sensitive information and to continuously improve its technical and organizational measures. No system can completely eliminate risk, so the organization will permanently review and strengthen its protection protocols.

11. Final statement

The best sensitive information is that which never needs to be made public in order to fulfill its humanitarian purpose. That principle guides the technological and operational development of Aquí Estamos.

Validity

This policy takes effect upon its publication and will be reviewed periodically to incorporate improvements arising from technological, legal and humanitarian developments.

🛡️ Rules for Volunteers in Shelters

Aquí Estamos · Protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable people. Read this before every shift. If you have any doubt, ask coordination before acting.

1. What is NEVER done

• ❌ Do not take photos or videos of minors — not for internal use, not “just for the group”.
• ❌ Do not write children's names or any identifying details on WhatsApp, social media or chats.
• ❌ Do not publish lists of victims, photos, profiles, locations or any data of a registered person.
• ❌ Do not share the locations of shelters where there are minors.
• ❌ Do not promise a family anything you cannot deliver (reunions, transfers, aid).
• ❌ Do not share the team's passwords or access with anyone outside coordination.

2. What you SHOULD do

• ✅ Arrive in groups of 3 and identify yourselves to the shelter's person in charge.
• ✅ Ask the institution / person in charge for permission before recording any data.
• ✅ Collect only the information strictly necessary for the humanitarian purpose.
• ✅ Record data only through the project's secure channel (the system / authorized spreadsheet), never through loose chats or personal notes.
• ✅ Explain to each adult, respectfully, why their data is being collected and ask for their consent.
• ✅ Treat every person with dignity and privacy: do not expose their situation.

3. If you find an unaccompanied minor

• Do not take them with you and do not leave them alone.
• Immediately notify the shelter's person in charge and the competent institution present.
• Do not publish their photo, name or location in any chat or network.
• Report the situation to coordination (see below).

4. The principle that guides everything

The best sensitive information is that which never needs to be made public in order to fulfill its humanitarian purpose.

If you are unsure whether to record something or not: do not record it and consult coordination.

🚨 Incident reporting

Report immediately if any of these things happen — do not wait, do not handle it alone, do not delete anything:

• A photo, name or piece of data of a minor or a registered person was published by mistake.
• Sensitive information was leaked or lost.
• Someone misused a team access or password.
• You detected a risk situation for a minor or vulnerable person.
• An external page or person asks for data in a suspicious way (possible fraud).

How to report:

• Incident contact: [name of the person in charge] · [phone / email].
• Team email: aquiestamos.emergencia.venezuela@gmail.com.
• What to include: what happened?, when?, where? and who does it affect? Without forwarding the sensitive data.

Reporting on time protects people and the project. Reporting never causes problems; staying silent does.