Hello, everyone,

I'm writing with information about the Ombuds 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 tools, on any Wikimedia project for the Board of Trustees. I apologize for the length of the announcement. :)

The application period for new commissioners for 2024-26 recently closed. The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.

This year’s OC will consist of thirteen members and one Steward-Observer. We are experimenting this year with expanding the committee's "regular" member headcount and leaving vacant the "advisor" positions, which historically have basically functioned as alternates in case of committee member attrition.

I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2024 OC: Ombuds Commission membersだ＊ぜ < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=%E3%81%A0%EF%BC%8...

だ＊ぜ, who also may be referred to as Dasze, has been contributing to Wikimedia since 2015. He's primarily active on Chinese Wikimedia projects, where he later served as a director of Wikimedia Community User Group Hong Kong from 2019 to 2023 while users in Hong Kong were suffering various affection in and out of Wikimedia projects. His expertise is international law, human rights law, and statistical and quantitative analysis thereon. He speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, English and some Japanese. This is Dasze's first year on the Ombuds Commission and he has been appointed for a 2-year term.

AGK https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=AGK

AGK has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2008. He is primarily active on English Wikipedia, where he has been an administrator, Checkuser, and Oversighter and has served as an Arbitrator. AGK served on the Ombuds Commission in 2020 and 2021 and again in 2023. AGK's term on the Ombuds Commission expires in 2026. Ameisenigel< https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Ameisenigel%3E

Ameisenigel has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is primarily active on German Wikipedia, where he served as an Arbitrator from 2020 to 2022, and on Wikidata and is an administrator on both projects. He is also active as a translation admin in several projects. Ameisenigel speaks German and English. He has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2021 and his current term expires in 2026.

Bennylin < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Bennylin%3E

Bennylin has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2004. He's primarily active on Indonesian and Javanese Wikiprojects, where he's sysop in 6 of them, Checkuser in Indonesian Wikipedia, bureaucrat in Indonesian Wiktionary, and also active in Commons, Meta, Wikidata, and MediaWiki. He has previously served as a global Steward. He speaks Indonesian, English, Javanese, Chinese and some Spanish. Bennylin has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023 and his term expires in 2025. Daniuu https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Daniuu

Daniuu has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2019. They are primarily active on Dutch Wikipedia, where they are a sysop and have been a member of the Arbitration Committee. They are also a global sysop and focus on counter-vandalism work. Daniuu speaks Dutch and English. Daniuu has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023 and their term expires in 2025.

Doǵuhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Do%C7%B5u

Doğu Abaris (Doǵu) has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2012. He is primarily active on Turkish Wikipedia, where he has served as an administrator, interface administrator, and oversighter. Additionally, he is a volunteer MediaWiki developer and is currently working on the Auditor MediaWiki extension. He is studying software and data engineering at Singidunum University in Belgrade. His term on OC runs through 2026. Emufarmers < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Emufarmers%3E

Emufarmers has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2005. He is a Metapedian who primarily edits the English Wikipedia; he is also a bureaucrat and sysop on MediaWiki.org, and has provided software support to many third-party, non-Wikimedia wikis over the years. He has served as a VRTS administrator since 2015 and has been on the Elections Committee since 2023. He served on the Ombuds Commission from 2019-2021 and again in 2023. His current term expires in 2026. Faendalimas < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Faendalimas%3E

Scott Thomson, user:Faendalimas, has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2006. Originally Australian though based in Brazil, he is a taxonomist and evolutionary biologist with a background in International Wildlife Policy, his main editing interest is reptiles and amphibians. He is most active on WikiSpecies, where he is a bureaucrat, Checkuser, and administrator. Faendalimas speaks Portuguese and English. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2021 and as Chair from 2022 to 2023, and has been appointed for a two-year term this year.

MdsShakil < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=MdsShakil%3E

MdsShakil has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2019. He is active on Bengali Wikipedia, Bengali Wikibooks, Wikidata, and Commons. He is an administrator on Bengali Wikipedia and Bengali Wikibooks and serves as a global renamer, global rollbacker, and global sysop. He speaks Bengali and English. MdsShakil has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023, and his term expires in 2025. Minorax https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Minorax

Minorax has been active on Wikimedia projects since 2019. They are a Metapedian who is active on a large number of projects, including Commons, where they have over 400,000 edits, English Wikipedia, and Meta, where they are a Checkuser. They are also a global sysop. Minorax speaks English and Chinese. Minorax has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023 and his term expires in 2025.

Nehaouahttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Nehaoua

Nehaoua holds a master's degree in Highway and Bridge Engineering and currently works as a Civil Engineer. However, his true passion lies with knowledge and its free access for all. Since 2009, Nehaoua has been an active Wikimedian, contributing significantly across various projects like French and Arabic Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikisource, and Wiktionary. Nehaoua is fluent in Arabic and French, and is actively improving his English language skills. Nehaoua's term on OC expires in 2026. Renvoyhttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Renvoy

Renvoy has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014. He is primarily active on Ukrainian Wikipedia, where he serves as administrator. Also he holds roles of global sysop and global rollbacker. Renvoy speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English, Polish and Lithuanian. His current term runs through 2026.

RoySmith < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=RoySmith%3E

Roy Smith has been editing Wikipedia since 2004. He has been an admin on English Wikipedia since 2005 and a checkuser since 2021. Previously an active sockpuppet hunter, as of late 2023, he has dialed that back to concentrate more on content creation. He is looking forward to working on the Ombuds Commission and meeting new colleagues from other wiki projects. His term on OC runs through 2026.

Steward-Observer

The Steward-Observer serves as a liaison between the Ombuds Commission and the Stewards. The Steward-Observer is a non-voting, advisory role. The Steward-Observer was nominated by the Stewards and is appointed by the Wikimedia Foundation to a one-year term. This year's Steward-Observer is… Vermont https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Vermont

Vermont (they/them) has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2016. They have been a steward since February 2022, and previously a global sysop and rollbacker. Vermont is an administrator and checkuser on Meta-Wiki and the Simple English Wikipedia, and formerly volunteered on the UCoC Phase 2 and Revisions drafting committees. They served as Steward-Observer for the Ombuds Commission in 2023-24 as well. Vermont's term as Steward-Observer expires in 2025.

Departing members

Please join me in thanking the following volunteers who are leaving OC, who have given substantially of their time to serve the commission: JJMC89 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=JJMC89

JJMC89 has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is primarily active on the English Wikipedia, where he has more than 300,000 edits and is an administrator and bot operator, and Commons. He also serves as a tool administrator on UTRS. He speaks English. He has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2021.