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Wikimedia Foundation Transparency Report/June 2015/Requests for User Data

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Wikimedia Foundation Transparency Reports
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Privacy-related WMF Policies


Freedom of speech is essential to the Wikimedia movement—our projects cannot flourish in an ecosystem where individuals cannot speak freely. Our users trust us to protect their identities against unlawful disclosure and we take this responsibility seriously.

However, every year, governments, individuals, and corporations ask us to disclose user data. Often, we have no nonpublic information to disclose because we collect little nonpublic information about users and retain that information for a short period of time. But when we do have data, we carefully evaluate every request before considering disclosure. If the requests do not meet our standards — if they are overly broad, unclear, or irrelevant — we will push back on behalf of our users.

If we must produce information due to a legally valid request, we will notify the affected user before we disclose, if we are legally permitted and have the means to do so. In certain cases, we may help find assistance for users to fight an invalid request.

Below, you will find more information about the requests for user data we receive.

Awareness that the Government may be watching chills associational and expressive freedoms. And the Government’s unrestrained power to assemble data that reveal private aspects of identity is susceptible to abuse.

— (2012)
JAN – JUN 2015
Total Number of Requests
23   
JAN – JUN 2015
Percentage of Times Information Produced
0%

Data

JAN – JUN 2015
Summary
Total number of requests 23
Informal Non-Government Requests 15
Informal Government Requests 6
Civil Subpoenas 0
Criminal Subpoenas 1
Administrative Subpoenas 0
Search Warrants 0
Court Orders 1
National Security Requests 0
Information Produced 0
User Accounts Potentially Affected 28
User Accounts Actually Affected 0
JUL – DEC 2014
Compared to other companies, we received relatively few requests*
Company Requests received Requests granted
Facebook 35,051 21,433
Google 30,138 18,986
Twitter 2,871 1,492
LinkedIn 100 60
Wikimedia 28 1
* Due to the inconsistent release dates across different organizations, comparison data for the period covered by this report (January 2015 - June 2015) was not available, so we are presenting the comparison data above for July 2014 - December 2014. Please also note that figures for Wikimedia include additional types of requests for user data that are not included in the other organizations' figures. See the FAQ for more details.
JAN 2015 – JUN 2015
Requests for user data, and how we responded
By request type:
Received Granted
Criminal subpoenas 1 0
Informal non-government requests 15 0
Informal government requests 6 0
Court orders 1 0
Civil subpoenas 0 0
Administrative subpoenas 0 0
Search warrants 0 0
By country:
Flag of United States United States 8 0
Flag of Italy Italy 4 0
Flag of Germany Germany 3 0
Flag of France France 2 0
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom 1 0
Flag of Australia Australia 1 0
Flag of Russia Russia 1 0
Flag of Canada Canada 1 0
Flag of Netherlands Netherlands 1 0
Unknown 1 0
JAN – JUN 2015
Government requests breakdown
Informal Government Requests Total 6
United Kingdom Local Police 1
Canada Local Police 1
Germany Local Police 1
Italy Ministry 1
Netherlands Local Police 1
Russia Unspecified Police Agency 1
Criminal Subpoenas Total 1
United States DOJ 1
Court order Total 1
Italy Local Police 1