Policy on Junior Assurers / Members

PoJAM went to DRAFT p20100131

Go to REAL DRAFT PoJAM for the real info

this document now contains outdated / deprecated info

0. Preliminaries

1.1 Status

1.2 This document is a subsidiary policy under Assurance Policy. It is intended for policy track.

1.3 Terms

1. Appliance to Members

1.1. This policy applies to all Members of the CAcert Community that are under the age of 18.

1.2. From the moment the member reaches the age of 18 this policy is not longer applicable. All limitations caused by this policy expire on the 18th birthday of the Member. Nevertheless the Member is still bound by all other policies he was bound by before that date.

1.3 Although variations exist in different countries, CAcert works to a principle of no discrimination Principles and therefore imposes the same view across all countries.

2. Limitation of membership

2.1. The minimum age to join the CAcert community (to become CAcert member) is 10 years.

2.2. Assurer status may only be granted if the user is at least 14 years old. Other preliminaries for the Assurer status set up by other policies are untouched. Combining AP and this policy, a Junior Assurer is a CAcert member with 100 Assurance Points, has passed the CATS challenge, and is between the age of 14 and 18 years.

2.3. A Junior Assurer can issue a maximum of 10 Assurance Points to an assuree, independent of how many Experience Points the Junior already has. The Experience Points awarded to the Junior Assurer are untouched.

2.4. The junior member’s account is disabled for issuing personalized certificates and assuring other members until a guardian states to take responsibility for this member (see below).

3. Becoming a Junior Member of CAcert

3.1. A junior person (a "minor") that wants to become member of CAcert needs to be accompanied by a Guardian which will be responsible for the junior member’s account.

3.2. The assurance of the junior member is done according to the Assurance Policy (=> COD X) enhanced by:

  1. some identity information of the Guardian (Name and date of birth) which have to be checked by the Assurer.
  2. a statement given and signed by the guardian stating that he accepts and enters the CCA and takes full responsibility for this junior member account as long as this policy applies
  3. an email address of the guardian to contact him or her.

3.3. If the accompanying Guardian is not the parent or legal guardian of the junior member the Assurer has to inform the parent of the applicant of the applied CAcert membership.

3.4. After the assurance the Assurer makes a reliable statement towards CAcert containing the additional information requested from the accompanying guardian as well as the statement that he met this guardian in person and checked the guardian’s details as described in section 3.2.a.

3.5. After CAcert received the Assurer’s reliable statement the additional information is stored safely and the junior member’s account is enabled to issue personalized certificates and to issue points to other members (if all preliminaries for the Assurer status are fulfilled).

4. Storing guardians information

4.1. The information of the guardian are kept with CAcert as long as the membership of the (junior) member persists.

OR

4.1. The information of the guardian are kept with CAcert for 2 years from the time the member reaches the age of 18 or the membership is terminated (whichever comes first).

5. Assurance

We need to document the likely impact on CAP forms and procedures. Here are some thought experiments.......

The number of points allocated to the junior should include any assessment as to the reliability of the statement of co-signatory.

Initial Assurance of a Junior

Parent. The Junior must record on the CAP form the signature of the Parent / legal Guardian (parent/assurer? pending that discussion). The Assurer should take any opportunity to verify this statement, and so note it on the form.

Other. Where the co-signer on the form is another, such as mentioned in the list, the Assurer should verify the status, and brief the co-signer on the consequences. This could be done over telephone.

Self. Where the Assurer is the co-signer, this should be noted.

Further Assurances of a Junior

The Junior should note on the CAP form who the Guardian is, and type (parent/assurer? pending that discussion). The Assurer should take any opportunity to verify this statement, and so note it on the form.

Assurance by a Junior Assurer

The Junior Assurer notes on the CAP form type and name of Guardian.

6. Arbitration

Arbitration with Juniors needs to take into account that a local court may find the CCA to be improperly imposed. Some understanding of this risk should be taken, but Arbitrators should be careful not to weaken the web of trust on this basis. Therefore, more care should be taken in explaining and ensuring the spirit of the CCA is maintained.

Parents may be concerned about the impact of an Arbitration. Parents who are not Guardians under this policy may be given special status as Observers. The Arbitrator may appoint a senior Assurer to advise the Parent on the nature of the Community.

A ruling should be tested by comparing it to an adult scenario.

The counter-situation to a weak CCA agreement is that if a person (of any age) feels the CCA to be inappropriate, then they have not entered into the Community. The Arbitrator is at liberty to terminate the CCA with a Member, if there is a sustainable view that it is inappropriate. Such termination should include measures needed to repair the web of trust.


D I S C U S S I O N

All below is outside the policy, discussion only:

Problem of verifying a guardian

ted: There probably is no way for an Assurer to verify the statement that someone is a legal guardian of a minor.

This probably doesn't matter much if:

So the guardian has to be of legal age and has to sign a statement that s/he is legal guardian of the (prospective) junior member. Problem solved?

What happens if the teacher signs the form, taking responsibility?

Problem of who can be a guardian

Iang: I see four cases:

Gero Treuner: I think that we need the legal guardian, independent of parents. Parents are common, but in some cases exactly on or both are not the legal guardian and are not given rights to make statements regarding the junior. An assurer has little opportunity to check whether a person is a legal guardian. In Germany this can be a court, and no real person. What should be done IMO:

Paper work

What exactly is being done here?

Resignation of Guardian

How does a Guardian resign? File dispute I guess. But this will be vexatious to them if there is no clear path. Perhaps we need an easier path here.


PolicyDrafts/PolicyOnJuniorAssurersMembers (last edited 2010-02-01 18:26:04 by UlrichSchroeter)