Dear all:

As some of you might already be aware, the Chinese government has recently passed and started implementing a new national security law applicable in Hong Kong which prohibits a broad range of speech and grants wide-ranging surveillance powers to authorities. We are concerned that this law may have serious implications for protection of the privacy of users on Wikipedia and other projects operated by the Foundation, potentially enabling authorities to request personal user data.

After consultation and discussion, the Foundation’s Legal Department has prepared a public statement in response to this law and the potential threats to Wikipedia user privacy. We encourage you to review and share this statement with anyone who may be interested or impacted: https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/07/15/new-chinese-national-security-law-in-hong-kong/

We take protection of your data very seriously, and we will continue to defend our values around user privacy with any government, as we have in the past. Our thoughts are with our community in Hong Kong who are directly facing these new challenges. We hope this statement will make clear that we stand with them and will strive to protect their right to digital privacy.

Thank you,
Sherwin

Sherwin Siy (he/him)

Senior Public Policy Manager

Wikimedia Foundation