Corrections
How to tell us an entry is wrong, and what happens next.
Reporting an error
Write to [email protected] with the entry title and, if you can, the sentence and the source that shows the problem. You do not need to be a lawyer and you do not need to be certain. "This does not match what the agency's page says" is exactly the report we want.
What we do with it
- Check the primary source. Not our own reasoning, and not another publication.
- Fix or explain. If the entry is wrong it is corrected. If it is right, we reply with the source and say why.
- Mark material corrections. Where the error could have led a reader to act wrongly, the entry carries a visible note describing what was wrong and what it now says. Typographical fixes are silent.
- Check the neighbours. A factual error usually appears in more than one entry. When one surfaces, every entry touching the same rule is re-read.
The three categories
- Correction
- A statement of fact or law was wrong.
- Clarification
- The statement was accurate but could reasonably be read the wrong way.
- Update
- The law changed after the entry was written. This is the most common, and it is not an error.
Where corrections appear
On the entry itself, in the text, where the reader relying on the passage will actually see it. We do not keep a separate dated log, because this publication displays no dates — see the explanation in About — and an undated log would tell you nothing useful.
Removal requests
We do not remove accurate, lawfully published information because a subject dislikes it. We do correct inaccuracies, and we will consider removing genuinely private personal information published in error.