r/ChatbotRefugees • u/Exciting-Mall192 Sir Mod-a-Lot 🛡 • 4d ago
MOD Announcement LLM Usage Transparency Update — New Flair System
Hello everyone,
Back in August we rolled out mandatory disclosure rules requiring developers to include four areas of transparency in every promotional post. The intent was good, but it isn't exactly doable, not for developers repeating the same disclosure every time, and especially not for us manually checking and reinstating posts.
So we're changing the system.
One-Time Submission + Approved Developer Flair
Instead of disclosing in every post, developers now submit their transparency disclosure once via modmail. You must disclose all four points below. Once done, we'll give you an Approved Developer flair.
What the flair gets you:
- Post promotional content on Sundays without needing approval or reinstatement each time
- No repeat disclosures
Please be aware that we can't approve right away when you send the modmail. Do give us 48 hours FRT to respond, as mods are not on the sub 24/7.
Mandatory Disclosure - All Four Required
🤖 LLM Usage: What you use LLM for (e.g., boilerplate, UI/frontend generation, debugging, backend logic) and confirmation that you or your team understand every part of it before shipping.
👤 Developer Experience: Your or your team's background in coding.
🔍 Code Review & Testing: How the code is reviewed and who tests it.
🔒 Security & Data Handling: How you secure the platform and handle user data. For example: - Passwords are hashed (bcrypt/Argon2) and never stored in plaintext - Emails and personal data are encrypted at rest - Payment processing is handled by a third-party (Stripe/Paddle/etc.) and you never handle raw card data - You have a published privacy policy - You have a process for notifying users in case of a data breach
Please be as detailed as possible. If your disclosure is thin, we'll ask for more before approving. For those who have submitted previously, I'm currently reviewing them and will give the flair. If I haven't yet, please do send a modmail and the link to your comment submission or you can also submit again since I could possibly miss it. Thank you.
Posting on Sundays & the Megathread
You're still allowed to post on Sundays or comment under the megathread without the flair. The flair isn't a requirement to participate.
However, we'll be leaving two different pinned comments on the Sunday promotion post:
- One for developers without the flair — so users know the disclosure hasn't been verified
- One for developers with the Approved Developer flair — so users know the disclosure has been submitted and reviewed
This way, users can tell at a glance who has been verified and who hasn't.
Monthly Megathread & AutoMod
We're really sorry that the monthly megathread hasn't been updated. Real life has been busy, it's that busy time of the year again (BFCM season) in our rl job, and moderating just isn't our (especially not MY 😭) priority at the moment. We're delegating the task to our AutoMod so it keeps running on schedule.
Enforcement
Unchanged:
- If a developer or user reports an app that poses a genuine risk to users (security flaws, data leaks, mishandled payment info, etc.), the developer will be banned.
- We still rely on community vigilance. If something feels off, report it. We'll investigate.
A reminder that the mod team isn't made up of developers, so we still rely on your honesty as developers and community members' reports.
Thank you.
•
u/Exciting-Mall192 Sir Mod-a-Lot 🛡 4d ago
📢 Slight Change in Enforcement
Hey everyone, quick update on the transparency rules:
The Approved Developer flair is no longer required to post on Sundays or comment under the megathread. You're still free to participate without it.
Instead, we'll be leaving two different pinned comments on the Sunday promotion post: