Civic Pin Policy

Civic Pins are powerful. They report potholes, hazards, accessibility concerns, bylaw issues, infrastructure failures, and safety problems. Power that real is also power that can be misused, which is why Constitution §2 principle 7 frames Civic Pins as a usefulness instrument, not a shaming instrument.

Every Civic Pin carries: a category, a location, a description, an optional photo or media attachment, a status, a privacy setting, a municipal routing status, an evidence-quality marker, and a moderation state. The category is not cosmetic — it controls who sees the report, where it routes, and what evidence standard applies. A pothole and a noise complaint and a fire-code concern are not the same kind of report and Map.ca does not treat them as such.

Civic Pins concerning private individuals are subject to the Civic Safety and Abuse Policy. Sensitive locations — homes, shelters, children’s programs, places of worship, and support services — are protected by the Sensitive Location Data Policy. Allegations involving people require human review (Constitution §2 principle 4) before becoming visible to anyone other than the reporter and the responsible municipality.

Map.ca’s posture with municipalities is also clear: Map.ca does not replace municipal systems, it provides structured intake. The municipality controls its internal decisions; Map.ca publishes only the public-facing status and the routing record.