Hi All,
Please see in-line below.
-Michelle
On Saturday, June 27, 2015, Leila Zia <leila(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
+ Michelle Paulson
On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 7:37 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','wiki.pine@gmail.com');>> wrote:
This issue is also being discussed on the
Research mailing list.
I have three questions:
1. Was this outreach method approved by RCom?
No, and RCom, as far as I know has not been active in the past year or
more (last meeting was on Dec. 22, 2011). This is a research from the
Research team in the WMF.
2. Email addresses are nonpublic information
on-wiki unless they are
proactively and publicly disclosed by users. Does the bulk collection of
nonpublic email addresses in this manner and the bulk provision of those
addresses to researchers for their use in this campaign violate the
Wikimedia privacy policy? The policy states regarding email, "We use your
email address to let you know about things that are happening with the
Foundation, the Wikimedia Sites, or the Wikimedia movement, such as telling
you important information about your account, letting you know if something
is changing about the Wikimedia Sites or policies, and alerting you when
there has been a change to an article that you have decided to follow." The
bulk scraping of email addresses from account registrations for research
and outreach purposes doesn't appear to be contemplated or authorized under
the privacy policy.
Michelle can help with this one as this is related to Legal. Note that
it's weekend here and this may have to wait until Monday.
The research team did speak to me prior to beginning this project to ensure
that they complied with the WMF privacy policy. It is my view that this
type of use falls within the permissible potential uses for email addresses
under the policy. The examples listed in the policy are meant to be
illustrative, not exclusive -- the absence of this situation as an
enumerated example shouldn't be taken as a prohibition.
That said, it is a new use and therefore, will and should be the subject of
discussion and debate. It is such feedback and testing that will help us
refine email practices to be both effective and reflective of community
values.
3. Wouldn't talk pages be a more appropriate
outreach method than bulk
email?
The reason we chose email over talk pages (or Echo notifications) is
explained here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Increasing_article_coverage#.C2.AB_recommander_par_courriel_des_articles_.C3.A0_cr.C3.A9er.E2.80.A6_.C2.BB>.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Leila
Thanks,
Pine
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==
Michelle Paulson
Senior Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
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