What choices does a participant have about what is published?
Current published standards treat conversation, recording, publication, identification, fundraising, and later updates as separate decisions. A person may be comfortable with some of those choices and not others. The public process pages explain the approach; they do not replace the record of a particular interaction.
Immediate safety and appropriate help take priority over publication. When meaningful permission is in doubt because of intoxication, confusion, medical impairment, or an acute mental-health crisis, footage should not be published unless permission can later be meaningfully confirmed. A minor may be featured only with permission from a parent or legally authorized guardian. When age, authority, or guardian agreement is unclear, publication should be delayed until the issue is resolved.
Read how Josh Liljenquist's videos are filmed and published or read the practical guide to consent, privacy, and dignity.
Does appearing before settle permission for a new video?
Appearing in an earlier video does not, by itself, answer whether someone agrees to a new recording, a materially different use or a new disclosure of personal information. Current wishes and the participant’s ability to make a meaningful choice remain relevant for new content involving recurring participants. Familiarity with the team is not a substitute for considering the particular situation.
A returning participant can raise a concern through the existing review route. This current standard does not establish what permission was given in any individual past encounter.
What if a video brings unwanted attention or exposes identifying information?
A concern about identity, location, a visible gift, a bystander, or unwanted attention can be submitted for individual review. Share a link to the content, the relevant point, and only information that is safe to provide. Do not send bank details, identity documents, an exact address, or other unnecessary sensitive material through a general website message.
Depending on the concern and the content Josh's team controls, a review may lead to changed content, reduced identifying detail, limited distribution, or removal. These options are not automatic, and they cannot promise control over copies or discussion outside the team's own accounts. The public record does not promise automatic blurring, a fixed result, or publication of private handling details.
Use the corrections and removal-request route for a specific concern. Read the privacy policy for the website's general privacy practices.
Can someone request a correction or change after publication?
Yes. A participant, family member, business, outlet, or reader can use the existing correction route to identify the content, the relevant timestamp or point, the specific concern, and the requested change. Include only supporting information that can safely be shared.
Requests are reviewed individually. A valid safety, privacy, consent, or factual concern may lead to a correction, reduced identifying detail, limited distribution, or removal from content the team controls. A request does not guarantee automatic removal, a particular outcome, or a fixed response date. Urgent safety and privacy concerns are reviewed as quickly as reasonably possible; other requests are acknowledged and reviewed without a fixed deadline.
Read the correction and removal-request process or contact the team about a specific concern.
Does Josh stay in touch or provide support after filming?
Follow-up varies by person and story. Verified outcomes are documented when available and appropriate to publish, but not every interaction, private conversation, later assistance, or change in circumstances becomes public. The public record does not promise a fixed follow-up schedule, lifelong support, or the same level of contact for every participant.
This page does not describe a universal referral or case-management service. A specific story may document direct support, a fundraiser, donated work, a later milestone, or an available public update; the canonical story and its sources establish those facts.
What if a goal is not achieved or there is no later public update?
A documented setback, an unresolved plan, a changed situation, and an outcome that is not publicly established are different things. A fundraising total, a presentation, or documented support is not by itself proof that a longer-term goal was completed.
When a later outcome is documented and appropriate to publish, the record should identify that status and its source. When no later public update is available, that absence does not establish either success or failure. It can reflect an open goal, changed circumstances, privacy limits, or simply a public record that has not been updated.
See how the follow-up archive distinguishes documented support, outcomes, and open goals.
What this page establishes and does not establish
What this establishes
The current first-party policies, source categories, and linked public records described on this page.
What this does not establish
Unshared private facts, a blanket historical practice from one record, control over third-party reposts, or an outcome that requires a story-specific review, qualified safety response, or legal advice.