Hello, everyone.
I'd like to announce the new and returning members of the 2016 Ombudsman Commission (OC), the small group of volunteers who investigate complaints about violations of the privacy policy, and in particular concerning the use of CheckUser and Oversight[1] tools, on any Wikimedia project for the Board of Trustees.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Amending_the_Scope_of_the_Om...
I apologize for the length of the announcement. :)
The application period for new commissioners for 2016 recently closed. The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.
As it has for the past few years, this year’s OC will consist of seven members, with a two-member advisory team who will guide the new commission.
I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2016 OC. First, the new members are:
- User:Alan, who has been a registered Wikimedian for more than three years, but an anonymous editor since 2006, working primarily across Spanish language projects. He is a global sysop and global rollbacker, an administrator on Commons, as well as having been an OTRS volunteer for ~3 years. In the past he has served as an administrator and bureaucrat on Spanish Wikivoyage. -
User:NahidSultan, who has been volunteering on Wikimedia projects since 2012. He is mostly active on Bengali Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Meta, where he holds administrator rights. Besides these roles, he is also part of OTRS, a small wiki monitoring team member and a global administrator. Other than his online contributions to the movement, he is also active doing Wikimedia work offline, working actively for the Wikimedia Bangladesh chapter, where he currently serves as a Board member. -
User:Pajz, who has been an active contributor to the Wikimedia projects for almost a decade. Formerly a bureaucrat on the German-language Wiktionary, he has since mainly focused on contributing to Wikipedia (mostly on topics from economic theory and copyright law) and helping out on the Volunteer response team ("OTRS team"). He became a Wikipedia administrator and a Volunteer response team member in 2007, and has served as one of the OTRS administrators.
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User:Taketa, who has been a Wikimedian since 2008. He mostly works on the Dutch Wikipedia, writing content and organising projects. He was a member of the Dutch Wikipedia Arbitration Committee in 2009/10 and 2012/13. Currently, he helps as Wikimedia steward, nlwiki bureaucrat, listadmin for the nlwiki admins and bureaucrats, OTRS volunteer and Wikidata admin.
Returning members:
User:Barras, who is primarily active on the Simple English Wikipedia and Meta. He’s a steward, an Oversighter on Simple English and Meta, and also a Checkuser on Simple and Meta. Barras joined the OC in 2015.
User:Polimerek, who primarily edits Polish Wikipedia (where he is an admin and former arbitrator), Polish Wikibooks and Wikimedia Commons. He also serves the Wikimedia movement as the president of Wikimedia Poland and on the Grant Advisory Committee. He is a former Checkuser. Polimerek joined the OC in 2014.
User:Rubin16, who primarily edits the Russian Wikipedia, where he is a bureaucrat and administrator. He is formerly a member of their Arbitration Committee. He is an administrator on Wikimedia Commons and is a Central Notice and translation admin on Meta. (He is also a translation admin on Commons.) He is a member of Wikimedia Russia, responsible for press contacts and financial reporting.
The 2016 OC’s advisors (this advisory role provides expertise when needed, but does not participate in all discussions) are:
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User:Gnom, who primarily edits German Wikipedia. Gnom, a licensed attorney, has previously served Wikimedia as a legal intern for the Wikimedia Foundation. In 2014, he was elected to the Board of Wikimedia Deutschland, where he serves as co-Vice Chair. Gnom joined the OC in 2014.
- User:Huji, who primarily edits Farsi Wikipedia, where he is an administrator, bureaucrat and former Checkuser. He has also contributed substantially to Simple Wikipedia, English Wikipedia and Meta and is a Wikimedia developer contributing to MediaWiki and WMF Labs projects.
- These volunteers' willingness to remain, to bring their familiarity with processes and their experience to the new arrivals, is greatly appreciated!
Please join me in thanking the following outgoing volunteers, who have given substantially of their time to serve the commission:
- User:Alhen, who primarily edits Spanish projects. He is a bureaucrat and administrator on the Spanish Wikipedia and Spanish Wikibooks, and is also an administrator on Commons. A prior member of the Spanish ArbCom, before it was dismantled, he is a Checkuser on the Spanish Wikipedia.
- User:Avraham, a steward, who primarily edits English Wikipedia where he is a Checkuser, Oversighter, admin and bureaucrat. He also serves the Commons as an admin and Oversighter and Meta as an admin. He joined the OC in 2014.
- User:PhilKnight, who primarily edits the English Wikipedia. A former member of its arbitration committee and its mediation committee, he is also a Checkuser, Oversighter and administrator there.
- User:Thogo primarily edits the German Wikipedia, where he is an administrator and former arbitrator, and has also focused on Meta. He is a former steward and has served as an administrator on several other projects. He joined the OC in 2011. -
I'd also like to say a hearty thank you to those returning and those coming aboard for the first time, as well as to all those applied. Again, it was an extremely able group of volunteers, and while this mix of users may best serve the need for this year, I hope that those who applied will consider applying again in future years.