Hello, Thank you to everyone that has provided thoughtful and constructive input on this discussion, and to the volunteers who are investigating the possible policy violations. We have some additional information on this vendor relationship and on steps being taken that we believe will be helpful to this discussion.
The Wikimedia Foundation entered into a short-term contract with Go Fish Digital to conduct a search engine optimization (SEO) audit on Wikipedia. They were contracted to provide information needed by the Audiences department to improve how our sites communicate with search engines and services which provide data to devices like artificial intelligence (AI) assistants. Overall, SEO performance is a strength of our projects, but we were able to identify areas for improvement, and the audit was helpful for Audiences to more effectively focus their efforts. During discussions about Wikimedia values and activities that were held in selecting the vendor, they did not disclose anything which raised suspicion, and we failed to identify this specific concern and question them about it more. The Foundation's Legal department received the proposal after it had been approved by Audiences and drafted a contract for this agreement following standard procedures. This included a privacy review, which resulted in the inclusion of extra privacy and security protections in the contract. Their activities did not involve reputation management services, and they did not request or receive access to any Wikimedia user data. The contract concluded last month. As we are now aware of the vendor's possible violations and feel they should have shared this information with us during discussions, we will not be pursuing any future working relationship with Go Fish Digital and will be requesting that they honor our contractual agreement by not discussing their past relationship with us for promotional purposes. Additionally, we are reviewing the way that this vendor was selected in an effort to see if we can identify what led to this issue and better identify these types of concerns when identifying future vendors and executing agreements with them. Finally, as they regularly do, our Trust and Safety team in Community Engagement are working with the functionaries investigating the possible policy violations. Again, we appreciate the attention provided to this by the functionaries and others who raised these concerns. We agree that the Foundation should avoid working with vendors who violate our policies, and hope the discussion around this will help reduce the chances of this happening in the future. Thank you, -greg ------- Gregory Varnum Communications Strategist Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> gvar...@wikimedia.org Pronouns: He/Him/His > On Jul 27, 2018, at 12:32 PM, Mario Gómez <mariogomw...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I have gathered more evidence and opened a sockpuppet investigation, > omitting any parts involving personal data: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/BurritoSlayer > > Personal data sent to functionaries-en@ is still relevant to verify some > details, but I think that it is not crucial anymore to prove Go Fish > Digital ongoing and undisclosed paid editing. > > On Thu, Jul 26, 2018 at 12:36 PM, Mario Gómez <mariogomw...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> I will not post actual evidence to this mailing list. My notes as of >> Sunday are already sent to functionaries and I'm sure they will act on it >> themselves. As I collect more evidence, I might open a sockpuppet >> investigation on English Wikipedia anyway if there is enough of it to >> continue even without personal data, which is just a small part. >> >> On Thu, Jul 26, 2018 at 11:29 AM, <jay...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Without getting into whether an outing policy exists/applies here, please >>> bear in mind that if redaction is required, it is rather difficult to do >>> it >>> on a mailing list, especially a mailman mailing list like this one. >>> >>> i.e. Please avoid posting something here which may need redaction. >>> >>> On Thu, Jul 26, 2018, 16:00 Isaac Olatunde <reachout2is...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Mario, >>>> >>>> I don't think it will be considered harassment if the information is >>> posted >>>> here. I believe the WP:OUTING applies to the English Wikipedia and this >>> is >>>> not English Wikipedia mailing list. >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Isaac >>>> >>>> On Jul 22, 2018 5:43 PM, "Mario Gómez" <mariogomw...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> There, is at least, one user that works for Go Fish Digital with a >>>> sockpuppet account in English Wikipedia and has denied conflict of >>> interest >>>> or paid editing disclosure even if he was asked too, since some user was >>>> suspicious. Should I send this privately? I don't want to incur in >>> spurious >>>> ousting/doxxing. >>>> >>>> Best, >>>> >>>> Mario >>>> >>>> On Sun, Jul 22, 2018 at 12:24 AM, MZMcBride <z...@mzmcbride.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi. >>>>> >>>>> Go Fish Digital is a company that whitewashes Wikipedia. From its own >>>> site: >>>>> >>>>>> The primary platforms that define your online reputation include: >>>>>> [...] >>>>>> * Wikipedia >>>>>> [...] >>>>>> >>>>>> With Online Reputation Management, we work hard to make all of the >>>>>> positive information easy to find. At the same time, we use many >>>>>> different strategies and tactics to diminish the visibility of >>> negative >>>>>> content, or in some cases, remove it from the web altogether. The >>> end >>>>>> result is a positive online reputation because when people search >>> your >>>>>> name or brand, they immediately find positive content. >>>>> >>>>> Source: https://gofishdigital.com/online-reputation-management >>>>> >>>>> Wikimedia Foundation Inc. has been working with this company on search >>>>> engine optimization: <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T198970>. I >>>> have a >>>>> few questions about this work. >>>>> >>>>> How was this vendor chosen? Which other vendors were considered? >>>>> >>>>> Why is this work being undertaken? At least the English Wikipedia has >>>> some >>>>> of the best search engine results placement of any site on the Web, so >>>> I'm >>>>> curious to know who's prioritizing Wikipedia's search engine >>> optimization >>>>> and for what reason. >>>>> >>>>> How is it appropriate for Wikimedia Foundation Inc. to work with a >>>> company >>>>> that is, by its own admission, whitewashing Wikipedia? Doesn't this >>> give >>>>> Go Fish Digital a ton of legitimization by now being able to say it >>> works >>>>> directly with Wikimedia Foundation Inc. ("with Wikipedia")? >>>>> >>>>> Is it appropriate to give a company that sells whitewashing Wikipedia >>>>> services access to private user data, as was done in >>>>> <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T192893> and >>>>> <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T193052>? The Wikimedia Foundation >>>> Inc. >>>>> legal department apparently approved this access, but I'm curious to >>> know >>>>> why, given the company's role in selling an "Online Reputation >>>> Management" >>>>> product. This looks bad to me. >>>>> >>>>> MZMcBride >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >>>>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >>>>> wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l >>> , >>>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >>>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines> and >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >>>> wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik >>> i/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik >>> i/Wikimedia-l >>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
