Hi Pajz,
The idea that a previously trustworthy functionary or OTRS volunteer might later go rogue has occurred to me, so let's work with that example for a moment.
Let's hypothesize that we have a good way (>90% confidence) of verifying all submitted identity documents and that those documents are retained by WMF in a way that's highly secure and not likely to be accessible by any number of governments (>90% confidence). Let's also hypothesize that a steward has a mental breakdown, gets bribed, develops a personal grudge, or otherwise becomes compromised. This rogue steward then uses their tools to discover privacy sensitive information about a handful of other users before their actions are noticed and stopped. What can WMF do with the identity document that it has? WMF can take legal action against the rogue steward, and can blacklist the rogue steward so that they can never again be a functionary. Both of those sound like good ideas, although the first might only work if the steward resides in a location which has an effective law enforcement agency that is willing to cooperate with WMF.
However, it's not clear to me that we can reach 90% confidence about the authenticity of identification documents, nor is it clear to me that we can keep identification documents secure from privacy intrusions while they are in transit and while they are in WMF's custody. I think the latter would be a big worry for some potential candidates for functionary roles, and it is imperative that WMF not be perceived as an agency of any government, or an organization whose neutrality or integrity are compromised.
If you or someone else can suggest reasonable ways to reach 90% confidence that identity documents are genuine and that identification information will not be compromised while in transit or while at WMF, then I think it makes sense to require identification. But so far I am not convinced that we can reach either of those thresholds and it sounds like WMF has reached the same conclusion.
Pine
On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 7:45 AM, Austin Hair adhair@gmail.com wrote:
On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 4:18 PM, Trillium Corsage trillium2014@yandex.com wrote:
(I dunno, Chinese military intelligence, with whom arbitrator Timotheus
Canens is said by some to be associated?)
Seriously?
I think you've gone on long enough for now. You can come off moderation when you contribute something to the discussion rather than attacking others and, dare I say it, just plain ranting.
Austin
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