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Wikipedia talk:Privacy policy

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 149.99.132.56 (talk) at 17:30, 17 July 2003. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Does this site have a privacy policy? If so, where is it? If not, why not?

And a good day to you too. We don't have an offical privacy policy, but you might want to take a look at Feature requests/Cookies, logins, and privacy. CGS 22:12 16 Jul 2003 (UTC).
No, we don't. It's been suggested in the past (by, for example, user:BigFatBuddha), but nobody managed to get round to it. Martin 09:56 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)
A privacy policy would be a good thing. Anyone so inclined could learn a great deal about an individuals's interests and personality by analyzing the server statistics of this site (correlating IP addresses to articles submitted/edited, etc). It would be nice for anyone concerned about their privacy to know: what information is collected about them on this site; why it's being collected; how that information is safeguarded; whether it's stored indefinitely or destroyed after a certain time; who has access to the info; whether the information will be sold, traded, or given away to third parties; what is to happen to the information should ownership of Wikipedia pass to another organization/business; how cookies are used; etc. Data mining by criminals and the private sector is already a serious concern, but with things like the Patriot Act and Total Information Awareness in the US, and similar initiatives being taken by the Canadian government (I don't know about the rest of the world), it's obvious the state has a growing interest in monitoring citizens' web-surfing habits, too. A privacy policy wouldn't eliminate those concerns, but it could go some way towards addressing them. Thanks, original poster


the whole point of wikis is that there is no privacy. You are accountable for your edits. -- Tarquin 17:16 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)

If that is true, then why are people (such as me) allowed to post here more-or-less anonymously? Why not force people to open an account here before posting? Besides, that's besides the point. The purpose of a privacy policy is not to guarantee people's privacy on the website, but to explain

where the website stands on privacy issues. Does Wikipedia sell information to private companies? Will you be put on a government list of 'suspected terrorists' 3 years from now because of that article you submitted on the Black Panthers? I don't know, because Wikipedia doesn't have a privacy policy. original poster

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