List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during the archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full 2 hour window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the wikimania mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to next week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during the archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full 2 hour window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past and (2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness of these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the wikimania mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to next week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during the archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full 2 hour window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past and (2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness of these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the wikimania mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to next week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during the archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full 2 hour window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past and (2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness of these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the wikimania mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to
next
week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during
the
archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full
2 hour
window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
I'll also agree that the following statement on the link I posted is a bit vague in terms of legal obligation.
Sysadmins will remove messages only for serious privacy reasons; the current policy is that *all requests are rejected* (unless there is a court order or *equivalent legal obligation*, of course).
In this case, the legal obligation from Ops standpoint is our legal department requested it. There may be actual legal standing for it, but I have no idea, I just trust our legal team to understand the details.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 1:11 PM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past
and
(2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness
of
these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the
wikimania
mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to
next
week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during
the
archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full
2 hour
window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued
messages
will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Rob Halsell wrote:
I'll also agree that the following statement on the link I posted is a bit vague in terms of legal obligation.
Sysadmins will remove messages only for serious privacy reasons; the current policy is that all requests are rejected (unless there is a court order or equivalent legal obligation, of course).
In this case, the legal obligation from Ops standpoint is our legal department requested it. There may be actual legal standing for it, but I have no idea, I just trust our legal team to understand the details.
I strongly agree with what others have already noted in this thread: it's a very bad idea to tamper with the mailing list archives.
After one of the previous incidents, language was added to read that "all requests are rejected". There's a parenthetical for the cases in which we are forcibly compelled by a valid U.S. court order to remove content. This restriction was specifically implemented to avoid a repeat of "someone from within the Wikimedia Foundation asks for a favor" and suddenly every pipermail link is broken, again.
I'm not sure what else needs to be done to communicate that these requests to corrupt the mailing list archives should be rejected. I thought we had already settled this issue with very clear language ("all requests are rejected") after repeated past incidents. A Phabricator Maniphest task is not equivalent, legally or otherwise, to a court order.
MZMcBride
Trying to scrub archives while we probably sync everything to gmane.org and content has already been copied to hundreds of personal inboxes seems to be of little value, while it does have a risk of breaking all links into archives once again, as others have stated already. I would avoid unless we absolutely have to for legal reasons.
Hi Rob,
The last time that we had major problems with a list scrub, that request also came through Legal. It did not go well. My understanding is that Community Advocacy (now Support and Safety) took the position that Legal should not have requested a list scrub, and it would not happen again. I think that Legal and Ops should consult with James before there is a change of practice.
Thanks, Pine
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 13:11, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past
and
(2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness
of
these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the
wikimania
mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to
next
week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during
the
archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full
2 hour
window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued
messages
will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
What about letting Legal, CA/SS and tech figure that out among themselves? Even with that 'policy' I imagine there are always exceptions possible (i.e. a court order). Maybe this is one of them. I do agree with Rob that it shouldn't be his job to figure out if this shouldbe one - legal is in a much better position to determine that.
Lodewijk
2016-06-20 23:39 GMT+02:00 Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com:
Hi Rob,
The last time that we had major problems with a list scrub, that request also came through Legal. It did not go well. My understanding is that Community Advocacy (now Support and Safety) took the position that Legal should not have requested a list scrub, and it would not happen again. I think that Legal and Ops should consult with James before there is a change of practice.
Thanks, Pine
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 13:11, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past
and
(2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness
of
these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the
wikimania
mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to
next
week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
List Admins,
Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives.
Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption
during the
archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the
full 2 hour
window, but cannot be certain.
Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued
messages
will be processed for delivery.
Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228
Thanks,
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
+1 Lodewijk, well said. Seems worthwhile to note that there could have possibly been a valuable lesson missed, but as far as determining exactly what the lesson is...that seems squarely in the court of the professionals and the folks with complete information. Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]]
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 2:46 PM, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
What about letting Legal, CA/SS and tech figure that out among themselves? Even with that 'policy' I imagine there are always exceptions possible (i.e. a court order). Maybe this is one of them. I do agree with Rob that it shouldn't be his job to figure out if this shouldbe one - legal is in a much better position to determine that.
Lodewijk
2016-06-20 23:39 GMT+02:00 Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com:
Hi Rob,
The last time that we had major problems with a list scrub, that request also came through Legal. It did not go well. My understanding is that Community Advocacy (now Support and Safety) took the position that Legal should not have requested a list scrub, and it would not happen again. I think that Legal and Ops should consult with James before there is a change of practice.
Thanks, Pine
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 13:11, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had
been
halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past
and
(2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be
archived
publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the
usefulness of
these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the
wikimania
mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for communication!
I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub
to next
week.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell <rhalsell@wikimedia.org
wrote: > > List Admins, > > Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00
to
> 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives. > > Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption
during the
> archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the
full 2 hour
> window, but cannot be certain. > > Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued
messages
> will be processed for delivery. > > Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228 > > Thanks, > > -- > Rob Halsell > Operations Engineer > Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. > E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org > Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A > Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 > Fax: 415.882.0495 >
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
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-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
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It's already delayed, so we have time for that, I think we can assume "for now" that it will happen after Wikimania unless something is said otherwise. However the lawyers and I will be in Esino Lario together and I'll chat with them about the specific case (which I am not familiar with).
James (from plane to MXP which is just about to shut the door)
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 20, 2016, at 5:53 PM, Pete Forsyth pete@wikistrategies.net wrote:
+1 Lodewijk, well said. Seems worthwhile to note that there could have possibly been a valuable lesson missed, but as far as determining exactly what the lesson is...that seems squarely in the court of the professionals and the folks with complete information. Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]]
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 2:46 PM, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote: What about letting Legal, CA/SS and tech figure that out among themselves? Even with that 'policy' I imagine there are always exceptions possible (i.e. a court order). Maybe this is one of them. I do agree with Rob that it shouldn't be his job to figure out if this shouldbe one - legal is in a much better position to determine that.
Lodewijk
2016-06-20 23:39 GMT+02:00 Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com:
Hi Rob,
The last time that we had major problems with a list scrub, that request also came through Legal. It did not go well. My understanding is that Community Advocacy (now Support and Safety) took the position that Legal should not have requested a list scrub, and it would not happen again. I think that Legal and Ops should consult with James before there is a change of practice.
Thanks, Pine
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 13:11, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote: I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote: Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had been halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the past and (2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be archived publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the usefulness of these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote: > > I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the wikimania > mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for > communication! > > I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub to next > week. > > On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell rhalsell@wikimedia.org > wrote: >> >> List Admins, >> >> Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00 to >> 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives. >> >> Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption during the >> archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the full 2 hour >> window, but cannot be certain. >> >> Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued messages >> will be processed for delivery. >> >> Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228 >> >> Thanks, >> >> -- >> Rob Halsell >> Operations Engineer >> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. >> E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org >> Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A >> Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 >> Fax: 415.882.0495 >> > > > > -- > Rob Halsell > Operations Engineer > Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. > E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org > Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A > Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 > Fax: 415.882.0495 > > > _______________________________________________ > Listadmins mailing list > Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins >
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Pete Forsyth Principal, Wiki Strategies pete@wikistrategies.net +1 503-383-9454 www.wikistrategies.net _______________________________________________ Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
On 20/06/16 23:59, James Alexander wrote:
It's already delayed, so we have time for that, I think we can assume "for now" that it will happen after Wikimania unless something is said otherwise. However the lawyers and I will be in Esino Lario together and I'll chat with them about the specific case (which I am not familiar with).
James (from plane to MXP which is just about to shut the door)
Perfect timing James! Thank you for the update.
Sounds good, thanks James.
If we could do scrubs with little risk of bad side effects then I would be more supportive, but I have not-so-fond memories of what happened last time.
In the long term, I would like to move away from Mailman toward something like Discourse. It might make future suppressions straightforward.
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 15:00, "James Alexander" jalexander@wikimedia.org wrote:
It's already delayed, so we have time for that, I think we can assume "for now" that it will happen after Wikimania unless something is said otherwise. However the lawyers and I will be in Esino Lario together and I'll chat with them about the specific case (which I am not familiar with).
James (from plane to MXP which is just about to shut the door)
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 20, 2016, at 5:53 PM, Pete Forsyth pete@wikistrategies.net wrote:
+1 Lodewijk, well said. Seems worthwhile to note that there could have possibly been a valuable lesson missed, but as far as determining exactly what the lesson is...that seems squarely in the court of the professionals and the folks with complete information. Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]]
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 2:46 PM, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
What about letting Legal, CA/SS and tech figure that out among themselves? Even with that 'policy' I imagine there are always exceptions possible (i.e. a court order). Maybe this is one of them. I do agree with Rob that it shouldn't be his job to figure out if this shouldbe one - legal is in a much better position to determine that.
Lodewijk
2016-06-20 23:39 GMT+02:00 Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com:
Hi Rob,
The last time that we had major problems with a list scrub, that request also came through Legal. It did not go well. My understanding is that Community Advocacy (now Support and Safety) took the position that Legal should not have requested a list scrub, and it would not happen again. I think that Legal and Ops should consult with James before there is a change of practice.
Thanks, Pine
Pine On Jun 20, 2016 13:11, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote:
I've never been aware they had been halted, only that we have a fairly high bar on what we remove from the lists. This is due to the many concerns already raised on this thread, and in the past. They include (but are not limited to) mailman routing downtime/delays, archive rebuilding index changes, and the fact that once something is on the internet, its never really gone. (Removal from archives doesn't mean removal from archive mirrors or any actual emails.) While those concerns make the bar quite high, they do not mean we simply don't remove data.
If anyone is aware of documentation that states otherwise, please let me know! The only documentation I am aware of is on wikitech: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailman#Remove_a_message_from_the_mailin... & https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Remove_a_message_from_mailing_list_archi...
Operations does not undergo list scrubs lightly, as it involves the stopping of mail processing for lists, including rebuild time of affected archives. In this case,the request was filtered through WMF legal and then legal requested it from operations. This request was filtered by both the legal department and operations management.
I've requested that we delay the scrub until post Wikimania. I have not received any feedback yet from legal regarding the timeline. I'll post back to this list regarding the resolution of the schedule.
I hope that helps clear things up!
On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Richard Ames richard@ames.id.au wrote:
Yes.... we have been through this before and I thought resolved not to do it.
It only draws attention to that which is 'scrubbed' as it still exists in many public places and invites the comparison of the still public source and the scrubbed source....
Richard.
On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 5:30 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Rob,
I thought that privacy-related scrubs of mailing list archives had
been
halted, given (1) the many problems that they have caused in the
past and
(2) that once info is sent to a public list it is likely to be
archived
publicly in places outside of WMF control and therefore the
usefulness of
these wipes is doubtful.
James, you and I have discussed this issue previously. Can you please comment?
Thanks,
Pine
On Jun 20, 2016 09:38, "Rob Halsell" rhalsell@wikimedia.org wrote: > > I already got a few messages pointing out that taking down the
wikimania
> mailing list the week of folks traveling there may not be ideal for > communication! > > I'm working with legal to see if I can push this request for scrub
to next
> week. > > On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM, Rob Halsell <
rhalsell@wikimedia.org>
> wrote: >> >> List Admins, >> >> Please note that I'll be stopping mailman on 2016-06-21 from 16:00
to
>> 18:00 UTC for some privacy scrubbing of list archives. >> >> Unfortunately, mailman has to be stopped to prevent corruption
during the
>> archive rebuild for the affected list(s). I hope not to use the
full 2 hour
>> window, but cannot be certain. >> >> Once the work ends and mailman is restarted, all unsent/queued
messages
>> will be processed for delivery. >> >> Work is documented on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138228 >> >> Thanks, >> >> -- >> Rob Halsell >> Operations Engineer >> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. >> E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org >> Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245
D22A
>> Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 >> Fax: 415.882.0495 >> > > > > -- > Rob Halsell > Operations Engineer > Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. > E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org > Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 0245 D22A > Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 > Fax: 415.882.0495 > > > _______________________________________________ > Listadmins mailing list > Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins >
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Rob Halsell Operations Engineer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. E-Mail: rhalsell@wikimedia.org Key fingerprint = CB1F C7E7 0FF8 5DB2 6820 9C7E 75ED 14C7 *0245 D22A*Office: 415.839.6885 x6620 Fax: 415.882.0495
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
-- Pete Forsyth Principal, Wiki Strategies pete@wikistrategies.net +1 503-383-9454 www.wikistrategies.net
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
Listadmins mailing list Listadmins@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/listadmins
On 21/06/16 00:40, Pine W wrote:
Sounds good, thanks James.
If we could do scrubs with little risk of bad side effects then I would be more supportive, but I have not-so-fond memories of what happened last time.
In the long term, I would like to move away from Mailman toward something like Discourse. It might make future suppressions straightforward.
Pine
Is an easier censoring its only benefit? :/
Note that it's only the archiving part (pipermail) of mailman what is troubling for the redacting. We could use other archiving tool (eg. HyperKitty), without needing to migrate from mailman.
Still, no matter the archiver used, that won't avoid the fact that any content posted to (most of) our lists is almost instantly mirrored to many mirrors (as well as hundreds of user's inbox). Really, this is email communication 101.
Our mailing list archives are norobots precisely to avoid the complaints of misguided people, and whoever is complaning to legal, probably don't really care about *our* copy, but about the one on some other archive out of our reach that appears highly positioned on Google results for this person name.
Additionally, unless the scrubbing is really careful, history has shown us that it is *very* easy to get the (already-fragile) numbering wrong, leading to broken links (or non-sensical) in years-old messages (even for posts seemingly unaffected, due to previous interventions).
The safest way is to edit the solution is to edit in-place the actual pages, changing the private bits with "redacted" or similar. That's about 3 edits per request (1 html page, 1 monthly archive and 1 edit in the mbox). Slightly more if the "really private content" is in the "From" or "Subject".
Still, I -not knowing the actual “classified files” that were posted to the mailing list- also lean towards declining such request. Also, when you grant this request, what will you do with all the people we rejected in the past?
Regards
On 21 June 2016 at 00:47, Platonides platonides@gmail.com wrote:
Still, I -not knowing the actual “classified files” that were posted to the mailing list- also lean towards declining such request. Also, when you grant this request, what will you do with all the people we rejected in the past?
This question is simple if this request is following a court order or similar - you just have to tell the other people that they must get one if they want us to redact anything. If this isn't the result of something like that, then the answer becomes more difficult of course.
*---Chris McKenna (Thryduulf)* thryduulf.wiki@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, opinions expressed in this email are solely my own and do not necessarily represent the views of any organisation or group with which I may be affiliated.
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