Thank you for the update! On Sat, Jul 28, 2018 at 4:19 AM, Gregory Varnum <[email protected]> wrote:
> 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/> > [email protected] > Pronouns: He/Him/His > > > > On Jul 27, 2018, at 12:32 PM, Mario Gómez <[email protected]> > 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 <[email protected]> > > 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, <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> > >>> 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" <[email protected]> > 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 <[email protected]> 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: [email protected] > >>>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/ > mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > >>> , > >>>>> <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] > >>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > , > >>>> <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] > >>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > , > >>>> <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] > >>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > >>> <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?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: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
