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id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">Beginning</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Summary" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Summary"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Summary</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Summary-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Publishing_on_the_wiki_and_public_data" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Publishing_on_the_wiki_and_public_data"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Publishing on the wiki and public data</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Publishing_on_the_wiki_and_public_data-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Publishing on the wiki and public data subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Publishing_on_the_wiki_and_public_data-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Identification_of_an_author" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Identification_of_an_author"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Identification of an author</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Identification_of_an_author-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Cookies" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Cookies"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Cookies</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Cookies-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Passwords" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Passwords"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Passwords</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Passwords-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Private_logging" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Private_logging"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Private logging</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Private_logging-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Private logging subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Private_logging-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Policy_on_release_of_data_derived_from_page_logs" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Policy_on_release_of_data_derived_from_page_logs"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Policy on release of data derived from page logs</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Policy_on_release_of_data_derived_from_page_logs-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sharing_information_with_third_parties" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sharing_information_with_third_parties"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Sharing information with third parties</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sharing_information_with_third_parties-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Security_of_information" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Security_of_information"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Security of information</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Security_of_information-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-E-mail,_mailing_lists_and_IRC" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#E-mail,_mailing_lists_and_IRC"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>E-mail, mailing lists and IRC</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-E-mail,_mailing_lists_and_IRC-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle E-mail, mailing lists and IRC subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-E-mail,_mailing_lists_and_IRC-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Wikimail" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Wikimail"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.1</span> <span>Wikimail</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Wikimail-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Mailing_lists" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Mailing_lists"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.2</span> <span>Mailing lists</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Mailing_lists-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Information_email_adresses" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Information_email_adresses"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.3</span> <span>Information email adresses</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Information_email_adresses-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-IRC" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#IRC"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.4</span> <span>IRC</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-IRC-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-User_data" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#User_data"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>User data</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-User_data-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle User data subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-User_data-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Removal_of_user_accounts" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Removal_of_user_accounts"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>Removal of user accounts</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Removal_of_user_accounts-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Deletion_of_content" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Deletion_of_content"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Deletion of content</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Deletion_of_content-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-namespace">Policy</span><span class="mw-page-title-separator">:</span><span class="mw-page-title-main">Privacy policy</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="This article exist only in this language. Add the article for other languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-0" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Add languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-add wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:NewItem?site=foundationwiki&page=Policy%3APrivacy+policy" title="Add interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Add links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-policy" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy" title="View the subject page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Policy</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Policy_talk:Privacy_policy" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Discussion</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-viewsource" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&action=edit&oldid=4834" title="This page is protected.
You can view its source [e]" accesskey="e"><span>View source</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-viewsource" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&action=edit&oldid=4834"><span>View source</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Policy:Privacy_policy" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Policy:Privacy_policy" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&oldid=4834" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffoundation.wikimedia.org%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DPolicy%3APrivacy_policy%26oldid%3D4834"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffoundation.wikimedia.org%2Fw%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DPolicy%3APrivacy_policy%26oldid%3D4834"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-create_a_book" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Policy%3APrivacy+policy"><span>Create a book</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"><div class="cdx-message cdx-message--block cdx-message--warning mw-revision"><span class="cdx-message__icon"></span><div class="cdx-message__content"><div id="mw-revision-info">Revision as of 20:56, 10 April 2005 by <a href="/wiki/User:Angela" class="mw-userlink" title="User:Angela" data-mw-revid="4834"><bdi>Angela</bdi></a> <span class="mw-usertoollinks">(<a href="/wiki/User_talk:Angela" class="mw-usertoollinks-talk" title="User talk:Angela">talk</a> | <a href="/wiki/Special:Contributions/Angela" class="mw-usertoollinks-contribs" title="Special:Contributions/Angela">contribs</a>)</span> <span class="comment">(+header from meta)</span></div><div id="mw-revision-nav">(<a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&diff=prev&oldid=4834" title="Policy:Privacy policy">diff</a>) <a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&direction=prev&oldid=4834" title="Policy:Privacy policy">← Older revision</a> | <a href="/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy" title="Policy:Privacy policy">Latest revision</a> (<a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&diff=cur&oldid=4834" title="Policy:Privacy policy">diff</a>) | <a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&direction=next&oldid=4834" title="Policy:Privacy policy">Newer revision →</a> (<a href="/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&diff=next&oldid=4834" title="Policy:Privacy policy">diff</a>)</div></div></div></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><dl><dd><i>This version of the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="meta:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a> was recently approved by the <a href="/wiki/Board_of_Trustees" title="Board of Trustees">Board</a>. Suggested changes are still welcome on the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/talk:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="meta:talk:Privacy policy">talk page at Meta</a>.</i></dd></dl> <dl><dd><i>Following translation, and adoption of suggested changes, this policy will be linked from the footer of every page.</i></dd></dl> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Summary">Summary</h2></div> <p>If you only read the Wikimedia project websites, no more information is collected than is typically collected in server logs by web sites in general. </p><p>If you contribute to the Wikimedia projects, you are <b>publishing</b> every word you post publicly. If you write something, assume that it will be retained forever. This includes articles, user pages and talk pages. Some limited exceptions are described below. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Publishing_on_the_wiki_and_public_data">Publishing on the wiki and public data</h2></div> <p>Simply visiting the web site does not expose your identity publicly (but see <a href="#Private_logging">private logging</a> below). </p><p>When you edit any page in the wiki, <b>you are publishing a document</b>. This is a public act, and you are identified publicly with that edit as its author. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Identification_of_an_author">Identification of an author</h3></div> <p>When you publish a page in the wiki, you may be logged in or not. </p><p>If you are logged in, you will be identified by your user name. This may be your real name if you so choose, or you may choose to publish under a pseudonym, whatever user name you selected when you created your account. </p><p>If you have not logged in, you will be identified by your network IP address. This is a series of four numbers which identifies the internet address from which you are contacting the wiki. Depending on your connection, this number may be traceable only to a large internet service provider, or specifically to your school, place of business, or home. It may be possible that the origin of this IP address could be used in conjunction with any interests you express implicitly or explicitly by editing articles to identify you even by private individuals. </p><p>It may be either difficult or easy for a motivated individual to connect your network IP address with your real-life identity. Therefore if you are very concerned about privacy, you may wish to log in and publish under a pseudonym. When using a pseudonym, your IP address will not be available to the public, but it will be stored on the wiki servers for a relatively short amount of time. Thus it will be available to developers and may be released under certain circumstances (see below). </p><p>If you use a company mail server from home or telecommute and use a DSL or cable internet connection, it is likely to be very easy for your employer to identify your IP address and find all of your IP based Wikimedia project contributions. Using a user name is a better way of preserving your privacy in this situation. However, remember to disconnect yourself after using a pseudonym to avoid allowing others to use your identity. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Cookies">Cookies</h3></div> <p>The wiki will set a temporary session cookie (PHPSESSID) whenever you visit the site. If you do not intend to ever log in, you may deny this cookie, but you cannot log in without it. It will be deleted when you close your browser session. </p><p>More cookies may be set when you log in, to avoid typing in your user name (or optionally password) on your next visit. These last up to 30 days. You may clear these cookies after use if you are using a public machine and don't wish to expose your username to future users of the machine. (If so, clear the browser cache as well.) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Passwords">Passwords</h3></div> <p>Many aspects of the Wikimedia projects community interactions depend on the reputation and respect that is built up through a history of valued contributions. User passwords are the only guarantee of the integrity of a user's edit history. All users are encouraged to select strong passwords and to never share them. No one shall knowingly expose the password of another user to public release either directly or indirectly. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Private_logging">Private logging</h2></div> <p>Every time you visit a web page, you send a lot of information to the web server. Most web servers routinely maintain access logs with a portion of this information, which can be used to get an overall picture of what pages are popular, what other sites link to this one, and what web browsers people are using. It is not the intention of the Wikimedia projects to use this information to keep track of legitimate users. </p><p>These logs are used to produce the <a class="external text" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/stats/">site statistics pages</a>; the raw log data is not made public, and is normally discarded after about two weeks. </p><p>Here's a sample of what's logged for one page view: </p> <pre>64.164.82.142 - - [21/Oct/2003:02:03:19 +0000] "GET /wiki/draft_privacy_policy HTTP/1.1" 200 18084 "<a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_projects:Village_pump">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_projects:Village_pump</a>" "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/85.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/85.5" </pre> <p>Log data may be examined by developers in the course of solving technical problems, in tracking down badly-behaved web spiders that overwhelm the site, or very rarely to correlate usernames and network addresses of edits in investigating abuse of the wiki. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Policy_on_release_of_data_derived_from_page_logs">Policy on release of data derived from page logs</h3></div> <p>It is the policy of Wikimedia that personally identifiable data collected in the server logs will not be released by the developers who have access to it, except as follows: </p> <ol><li>In response to a valid subpoena or other compulsory request from law enforcement</li> <li>With permission of the affected user</li> <li>To Jimbo Wales, his legal counsel, or his designee, when necessary for investigation of abuse complaints.</li> <li>Where the information pertains to page views generated by a spider or bot and its dissemination is necessary to illustrate or resolve technical issues.</li> <li>Where the user has been vandalising articles or persistently behaving in a disruptive way, data may be released to assist in the targetting of IP blocks, or to assist in the formulation of a complaint to relevant Internet Service Providers</li> <li>Where it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of the Wikimedia Foundation, its users or the public.</li></ol> <p>Wikimedia policy does not permit public distribution of such information under any circumstances, except as described above. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sharing_information_with_third_parties">Sharing information with third parties</h2></div> <p>All text added to Wikimedia projects is available for reuse under the terms of the GFDL. </p><p>Wikimedia will not sell or share private information, such as email addresses, with third parties, unless you agree to release this information, or it required by law to release the infomation. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Security_of_information">Security of information</h2></div> <p>The Wikimedia Founadtion makes no guarantee against unauthorized access to any information you provide. This information will be available to all <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/developers" class="extiw" title="m:developers">m:developers</a> with access to the servers. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="E-mail,_mailing_lists_and_IRC"><span id="E-mail.2C_mailing_lists_and_IRC"></span>E-mail, mailing lists and IRC</h2></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Wikimail">Wikimail</h3></div> <p>You may provide your e-mail address in your Preferences. This allows other logged-in users may send email to you through the wiki (unless you disable this in your preferences). Your address will not be revealed to them unless you respond, or possibly if the email bounces. The email address may be used by the Wikimedia Foundation to communicate with users on a wider scale. </p><p>If you do not provide an email address, you will not be able to reset your password if you forget it. However, you may contact one of Wikimedia developer to enter a new mail address in your preferences. </p><p>You can remove your email address from your preferences at any time to prevent it being used. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Mailing_lists">Mailing lists</h3></div> <p>If you subscribe to one of the project <a class="external text" href="https://mail.wikimedia.org/">mailing lists</a>, your address will be exposed to any other subscriber. The list archives of most of Wikimedia's mailing lists are public, and your address may find itself quoted in messages. The list archives are also archived by Gmane services. Mails are usually not deleted or modified, but it may be done in extreme cases. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Information_email_adresses">Information email adresses</h3></div> <p>Some email adresses (see below) may forward mail to a team of volunteers trusted by the community to use a ticket system (OTRS) to view them and answer them. Mail sent to the system is not publicly visible, but is visible to this group of wikimedia editors. By sending a mail to one of these addresses, your address may become public within this group. The OTRS team may discuss the contents of your mail with other contributors in order to best answer your query. </p><p>Addresses that direct to OTRS system are: </p> <ul><li>info-de@wikipedia.org</li> <li>info-en@wikipedia.org</li></ul> <p>Mail to board@wikimedia.org or to board member's private addresses may also be forwarded to the OTRS team. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="IRC">IRC</h3></div> <p><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_channels" class="extiw" title="m:IRC channels">m:IRC channels</a> are not officially part of Wikimedia proper. By participating to an IRC channel, your IP address will be exposed to other participants. Different channels have different policies on whether logs may be published. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="User_data">User data</h2></div> <p>Data on users, such as the times at which they edited and the number of edits they have made are publicaly available via "user contributions" lists, and occasionally in agregated forms published by other users. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Removal_of_user_accounts">Removal of user accounts</h3></div> <p>Once created, user accounts can not be removed. It may be possible for a developer to change the username on an account, but you will need to request this yourself. The Wikimedia Foundation does not guarantee that a name will be changed on request. See <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Right_to_vanish" class="extiw" title="m:Right to vanish">m:Right to vanish</a> for further details. </p><p>Whether specific user information is deleted is dependant on the deletion policies of the project that contains the information. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Deletion_of_content">Deletion of content</h2></div> <p>Deleting text from Wikimedia projects does not really delete them. In normal articles, anyone can look at a previous version and see what was there. If an article is "deleted", any sysop/administrator, meaning almost anyone trusted not to abuse the deletion capability, can see what was deleted. Only a developer can permanently delete information from the Wikimedia projects and there is no guarantee this will happen except in response to legal action. </p>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&oldid=4834">https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Policy:Privacy_policy&oldid=4834</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks catlinks-allhidden" data-mw="interface"></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 10 April 2005, at 20:56.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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