In the USA. I don't know of any, and don't think there is any, legal obligation for the WMF to comply with somebody who just says to them "please hand over any information regarding me." One could still formally ask, say a typed letter, certified mail it for effect, and maybe one would get an informative response. But I don't think the WMF is required to. Politeness and professionalism requires them at least to reply in one way or other, though not necessarily telling one anything.
The USA has the Freedom of Information Act, but I think that is only about information held by the government. One can send a query in accordance with the FOIA and the government is obligated to supply what it has, or say why not. But that wouldn't apply to a corporation, private individual, or charity that keeps a file on one.
The only other way I can think of is a lawsuit. One could bring a lawsuit and then subpoena the documents. But of course a lawsuit is costly to bring, and one gets in trouble if it is frivolous.
Trillium Corsage
If you don't know of a policy which gives you the right to ask something, why ask that something? Instead, ask something you know you have the right to ask; for instance, EU citizens have the right, by privacy law, to ask what PII an entity has about them.
My understanding is that USA law is slightly more nuanced. The WMF makes policy statements about transparency and the data it holds about its contributors. It has in the past even publicised some of the analysis of its leading contributors (among which I have been recognized) in order to show this is part of its community outreach - for example the staff analysis of the top 400 contributors to Wikipedia. Where these can be taken as policy statements and their embodiment by its processes, the WMF does have a legal and ethical obligation to enforce its transparency policies which are a public commitment to its volunteers.
You can find equivalent cases in US law if you read this as a form of service customer commitment.
Please note everyone I have made no legal threat, nor do I intend to. I am still waiting for a simple acknowledgement from Lila or any employee of the WMF to my polite request. It seems fair to presume this is now a deliberate silence, considering the Chairman has responded publicly and it has been a month since my email.
Fae
On 3 September 2014 16:20, Trillium Corsage trillium2014@yandex.com wrote:
In the USA. I don't know of any, and don't think there is any, legal obligation for the WMF to comply with somebody who just says to them "please hand over any information regarding me." One could still formally ask, say a typed letter, certified mail it for effect, and maybe one would get an informative response. But I don't think the WMF is required to. Politeness and professionalism requires them at least to reply in one way or other, though not necessarily telling one anything.
The USA has the Freedom of Information Act, but I think that is only about information held by the government. One can send a query in accordance with the FOIA and the government is obligated to supply what it has, or say why not. But that wouldn't apply to a corporation, private individual, or charity that keeps a file on one.
The only other way I can think of is a lawsuit. One could bring a lawsuit and then subpoena the documents. But of course a lawsuit is costly to bring, and one gets in trouble if it is frivolous.
Trillium Corsage
If you don't know of a policy which gives you the right to ask something, why ask that something? Instead, ask something you know you have the right to ask; for instance, EU citizens have the right, by privacy law, to ask what PII an entity has about them.
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org