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(a)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.
--
faewik(a)gmail.com
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae