This guidance page is intended both for the LeithChooses Steering Group and members of the public alike, and is a standalone section of the LeithChooses constitution collection.

Main policy

1. LeithChooses (referred to as ‘we’) has several social media profiles listed below. Most social networks and platforms have their own rules and guidelines, which we must follow. We reserve the right to remove any contributions that break these rules.
2. Posted content will always be civil and relevant, and shall not be unlawful, libellous, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, or racially offensive. We also have a duty to report comments or replies to our posts that break platform rules.
3. We must ensure we have the relevant copyright or permissions for any items we post (such as images sent in with applications for this purpose).
4. We will not publish anyone’s personal information.
5. We will follow UK data protection law, such as the GDPR. We work closely with the City of Edinburgh Council, and data obtained via application forms is processed by the City of Edinburgh Council, whose Data Protection policies can be found at edinburgh.gov.uk/privacy. This is detailed further in the “Data processing” section below.
6. We reserve the right to leave any platform that requires us to act in unethical ways, or may share any personal information about you – or Steering Group members.

Data processing

The information that you provide to LeithChooses via any channel will only be processed for the purposes stated at the time of its collection.  All personal data is collected and processed in compliance with the eight data protection principles of the Data Protection Act 1998, and with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.

The information that you give will be held securely by LeithChooses and not shared with any third parties, apart from with select Edinburgh Council officials working directly on LeithChooses matters. Such officials will not use the information you provide to LeithChooses for other aspects of their work. If you have any queries about this, please visit edinburgh.gov.uk/privacy or email LeithChooses@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Impartiality obligations on LeithChooses

1. During the voting period (generally October – February): Applicants must be treated equally in any promotion. As such it may be safer to avoid name-checking individual candidates during this period.
2. During the non-voting period (generally February – October): Discretion can be made regarding sharing previous applications’ events or projects that are underway due to previous years’ funding.
3. The Steering Group is independent from the City of Edinburgh Council, and must give due regard to protected characteristics. It therefore follows the Equality Act 2010. (See legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/2/chapter/1). Election candidates and parties standing in elections must not be promoted on social media platforms, but any content they publish discussing or promoting LeithChooses may be shared.
4. The Steering Group is composed of individual members of the Leith community who have backgrounds in or work in community groups, community councils, or local businesses or organisations, so are able to represent a variety of perspectives. LeithChooses is a ‘trusted brand’ and works closely with partners such as the Leith Community Education Centre. If there are any concerns about material that may not reflect those individuals’ or organisations’ values, these should be raised with the Steering Group. .

Complaints and confrontations

1. Any complaints or concerns raised via social media channels will be reported at the next scheduled Steering Group meeting.

Supported platforms

1. As of August 2025, Leith Chooses operates official channels through the following platforms:

Contact/enquiries about this document

The most up-to-date contact email address can be found at leithchooses.net/contact. (page last updated 20 August 2025)