Wikimedia Foundation—Adopted human rights policy and launched temporary accounts system to protect editor privacy
The Wikimedia Foundation adopted a formal Human Rights Policy in December 2021 embedding privacy protection into its mission. In November 2024, the Foundation launched temporary accounts to replace IP-based editing, providing better privacy protection for logged-out editors while maintaining accountability. The Foundation practices data minimization, collects very little personal information, and does not sell user data. It maintains a Country and Territory Protection List limiting data publication for at-risk regions, updated in January 2024. The Foundation also adopted differential privacy techniques in partnership with Tumult Labs to release 8 years of pageview data while protecting individual users.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| User Privacy | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.510 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.68)
Evidence (2 signals)
Wikimedia Foundation launched temporary accounts to replace IP-based editing for better privacy
In November 2024, the Wikimedia Foundation launched temporary accounts to replace IP address-based editing, providing better privacy protection for logged-out editors while maintaining accountability for content moderation. This replaced a system that previously exposed editor IP addresses, which could be used to identify and target contributors.
Wikimedia Foundation adopted differential privacy for pageview data release and updated Country Protection List
The Wikimedia Foundation partnered with Tumult Labs to release nearly 8 years of pageview data using differential privacy techniques, protecting individual user browsing patterns while enabling research. The Foundation also updated its Country and Territory Protection List in January 2024, limiting data publication for regions where contributors face elevated risks.