Opposing Mass Surveillance on the Internet
We are pleased to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation is signing the Necessary and Proportionate Principles on the application of human rights to surveillance. Privacy on the Internet is closely connected to our mission to disseminate free knowledge.[1] We strive to provide a platform for users from all over the world to exercise their free….
Launching a Privacy Policy Built the Wiki Way
We are happy to announce that on April 25, 2014, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees approved a new privacy policy. The new privacy policy explains how we collect, use and manage the information of over twenty million registered users and 490 million monthly unique visitors to the Wikimedia projects. But the policy wouldn’t have been….
Wikipedia Shows the Value of a Vibrant Public Domain
This post is part of Copyright Week held by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations in January 2014. While more commonly known as New Year’s Day, January 1 is also international Public Domain Day. It celebrates the day when creative works (such as books, images and songs) enter the public domain, which is the collective wealth of….
Wikimedia Foundation signs letter requesting more transparency from NSA on PRISM
A few weeks ago, the Wikimedia Foundation’s legal team published a blog post about the PRISM surveillance program. In particular, we made clear that the Foundation does not participate in PRISM, and that we wanted Wikimedia community feedback on what next steps you felt we should take. This post is an update for the broader….
Terms of use
I am happy to announce that we have completed the most collaborative, interactive drafting of a proposed terms of use for any major website. For more than 120 days, the Wikimedia community reviewed, drafted, and redrafted with more than 200 edits modifying the original proposal. While accumulating 19,000 page views, community members offered comments, edits,….
How SOPA will hurt the free web and Wikipedia
For the past several days, Wikipedia editors have been discussing whether to stage a protest against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). I’ve been asked to give some comments on the bill and explain what effect the proposed legislation might have on a free and open Internet as well as Wikipedia. My goal in….