Inclusion
A record needs enough public evidence to describe the badge as a real event or platform artifact: official docs, project pages, source repositories, talks, event wikis, credible press, or clearly marked first-hand testimony.
Editorial policy
Methodology
Hacker Con Badges is source-linked first. The catalogue prefers incomplete but defensible records over polished claims that cannot be traced.
Controversy
Issues are stored as separate records with severity, confidence, status, timeframe, impact, and source notes. Team conflict, safety, delivery, RF caveats, app-store gaps, and CTF impact should be stated narrowly and only as far as the evidence supports.
Images
Badge images are published only when a licensed original photo, public-domain image, or official upstream raster render is recorded with source, license, attribution, and processing notes. Badges without cleared image rights render without an image.
Credits
People are grouped by public names and known aliases, with roles preserved from the source record. Ambiguous names stay as listed until a source supports merging or expanding the attribution.
Lifecycle
Badges are not frozen at handout. App stores, firmware updates, add-ons, cases, radio settings, recovery workflows, and platform continuations are modeled as lifecycle records where sources show ongoing use.
Technical Profiles
Structured technical signals are seeded from public badge documentation, repositories, schematics, firmware notes, or event evidence. They describe documented or carefully bounded hardware, protocol, connector, firmware, and preservation-relevant attributes. Future Companion Gear recommendations must derive from these signals, include a technical reason, and disclose paid links directly on the recommendation card.
Coverage Gaps
Missing or uncertain lineages stay visible in the coverage ledger. Worldwide expansion is done continent by continent, and a historical event is not seeded as an electronic badge merely because it had tickets, wristbands, printed IDs, rumors, or vague badge-culture references.