(Split from the discussion of checkuser and unregistered user labeling.)

Mike Godwin mgodwin@wikimedia.org wrote:

The current privacy policy doesn't explain what the organization's *values* are, and I think all policies should be informed by values that are clearly stated and understood.

I agree, but we should not be explaining our values in every policy, nor should those values be privacy policy. Instead, the policies should link to a separate essay (like http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Values) which we can update and expand collaboratively. This last is particularly important with the privacy policy, which the community cannot update and change without going through board approval (which takes months, if it happens at all).

One possible solution is to have a separate, editable, non-policy philosophical version (very much like your draft). The board-approved policy (which only contains policy) remains static, but the essay's philosophical explanation can evolve and change. Then, when someone points out that a particular line is Wikipediacentric, we can say "so fix it" instead of "so ask our lawyer to fix it in the 2012 policy update".

Mike Godwin mgodwin@wikimedia.org wrote:

Thank you for the nice long sentence commenting on the unnecessary verbosity of the draft! :)

You're welcome. ;)