Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Bureaucrats%27_noticeboard#Rights...
I have raised this question on the Bureaucrat's noticeboard. As not that many people watch that page, I'm flagging it on this email list, though if you would like to join in with discussion on how GLAM group accounts ought to be accountable, especially for GWT access, it would probably help to respond on commons even if you want to email about it first here. :-)
Here's the text of my post:
== Rights for GLAM group accounts ==
Hi, though on Commons we (the community) can accept group accounts being run, my understanding is that the intention is that there must be ''a responsible and accountable individual'' that runs the account at the time specific edits are made. By granting significant rights to apparent group accounts, we run a far greater risk that later inexperienced users will inherit the account for later projects without this being publicly declared, and without a chance for the community to ask questions about their intentions, or to double check whether new projects are still in-scope, or that appropriate thought has been given to the policies that apply (such as for the best licenses or templates to use). There is a risk that later "account owners" will not be responsible for past projects/edits by earlier owners; when they accept rights for the account it probably would be beneficial to spell out that the community will expect them to remain responsible for all edits made, and be prepared to answer questions that arise from earlier projects.
I am not suggesting that we should stop allowing group accounts asking for rights, but there appears to be no questioning before handing out significant rights as to how they will be managed by the institution long term. If the intended projects are time-limited (as GWT uploads have invariably been in the past), then I see no harm in encouraging a ''project'' based name, or even better ''project manager + project name'' account in preference to a permanent and open-ended institution account. This way if later projects pop up, the institution representative or new project managers need only ask for further accounts to have similar rights on the same basis as the original request.
(Tangent) It is worth considering that our norm for being tolerant of anonymity is rarely an issue for official representatives of institutions and may even be confusing or detrimental if issues arise with edits from such accounts.
Thanks Fae