It turns out that anonymization is hard(see [1,2,3]).  A quick web search would have made that clear.  

We do sometimes provide researchers with NDAs for the purposes of anonymizing data.  Again, we have limited time an energy, so such NDAs have been (1) limited to work that is immediately relevant to our own and (2) exists for the purpose of anonymizing and making the data public -- so that everyone can benefit.  

For example, see an project aimed to release anonymized view logs[4].  That proposal has been in process for more than a year though because legal agreements with national research labs are Hard.  It seems like search logs are a candidate for that process, but we'd need to see an anonymization proposal before moving forward.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-anonymity
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-diversity
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-closeness
4. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Geo-aggregation_of_Wikipedia_pageviews

-Aaron

On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 9:47 AM, Valerio Schiavoni <valerio.schiavoni@gmail.com> wrote:
Those logs could have been cleaned up further and re-released, especially since the privacy issues had an impact only on "small percentage of queries ".
Frankly, it's a pity that after the initial announcement they had to quickly retract.  

Nonetheless Wikimedia could release them for research purposes, asking interested users to sign NDA or such.
I would be very surprised to discover that in 2015 there are no means to properly anonymize datasets and release them to the public.


best,
Valerio

On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 4:38 PM, Aaron Halfaker <aaron.halfaker@gmail.com> wrote:
Maybe someone managed to grab those logs before they took them offline.

If they did, I hope they won't share.  They were taken offline due to privacy issues.

From the blog post: "We’ve temporarily taken down this data to make additional improvements to the anonymization protocol related to the search queries."

-Aaron

On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 9:32 AM, Valerio Schiavoni <valerio.schiavoni@gmail.com> wrote:
There has been at least one attempt to release such data:


Maybe someone managed to grab those logs before they took them offline.

Similar but older logs are available here:

best,
valerio


On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 4:09 PM, Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Oliver,

Do we even record search logs? It might be a good idea if we didn't.

Pine

On Apr 3, 2015 6:16 AM, "Simon Givoli" <givolis@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Oliver,


Sorry if I wasn't clear enough.
My dissertation will involve consented participants. Their search logs will be recorded while searching Wikipedia. The search logs will then be analyzed in order to find recurrent search patterns across participants.
Before beginning the experiment, I want to check that I can indeed find patterns in search logs, using several different algorithms. The idea is to check these algorithms on Wikipedia search logs already available. Hence my request.

Simon
Message: 5
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2015 09:37:33 +0300
From: Simon Givoli <givolis@gmail.com>
To: wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: [Wiki-research-l] Wikipedia search logs needed
Message-ID:
        <CAN=5oGhNQS+KnObeNmsB1cWHFM-w-mXgQaS5GcNFn7qrU1kuRg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hi,

I'm looking for a dump or db of Wikipedia users search logs. I would like
it to be with recent data, but it doesn't have to be extensive, even a
small sample size would be sufficient. I aim to use this db to test a new
research tool I'm developing for my dissertation.

Can anyone point me to a relevant source?

Thanks'
Simon
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2015 02:47:54 -0400
From: Oliver Keyes <okeyes@wikimedia.org>
To: Research into Wikimedia content and communities
        <wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wiki-research-l] Wikipedia search logs needed
Message-ID:
        <CAAUQgdBD2N9kUG6t-VjZxtXqygRRGi88EgwhqCvhrtTnt5kHPg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Simon,

We really don't release search logs at the moment, very deliberately -
they're incredibly difficult to sanitise well. Could you be more
precise about what you're looking to investigate/study and what you'd
need than "a new research tool"?

On 3 April 2015 at 02:37, Simon Givoli <givolis@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm looking for a dump or db of Wikipedia users search logs. I would like it
> to be with recent data, but it doesn't have to be extensive, even a small
> sample size would be sufficient. I aim to use this db to test a new research
> tool I'm developing for my dissertation.
>
> Can anyone point me to a relevant source?
>
> Thanks'
> Simon
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wiki-research-l mailing list
> Wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
>



--
Oliver Keyes
Research Analyst
Wikimedia Foundation


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