[Foundation-l] Separate policy from philosophy (was: New draft of privacy policy)

Mon Jun 16 19:53:34 UTC 2008

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

Mike Godwin <mgodwin at 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 at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Thank you for the nice long sentence commenting on the unnecessary
> verbosity of the draft!  :)

You're welcome. ;)

-- 
Yours cordially,
Jesse Plamondon-Willard (Pathoschild)