Policy:Privacy policy/What policy does not cover

From Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki
More on what the Wikimedia Foundation Privacy Policy does not cover

This section is part of the Privacy Policy and is meant to explain in detail which situations are not covered by our Privacy Policy.

Wikimedia Sites and Tools with alternative policies
Some Wikimedia Foundation websites or tools have alternative privacy policies or provisions that differ from this Privacy Policy. These websites include:
If a Wikimedia Foundation website is governed by an alternative privacy policy, it will link to such policy. When a Wikimedia Foundation tool is governed by an alternative privacy policy, the page where the tool may be downloaded or enabled will include a link to that policy.
Community members
The Wikimedia Sites are collaborative labors of love that are constantly maintained and updated by a global community of volunteers. This global community of volunteers may sometimes have access to personal Information in order to ensure the functioning of the Wikimedia Sites.
  • Administrative volunteers, such as CheckUsers or Stewards. These are volunteers who enforce Wikimedia Site policies and ensure the safety of the Wikimedia Sites. When these administrators access Personal Information that is nonpublic, they are required to comply with our Access to nonpublic personal data policy, as well as other, tool-specific policies.
  • Tool providers. We support platforms for third-party developers to experiment and develop new tools and sites, such as wmflabs.org. When you use one of the tools developed by these volunteers, you may transfer information to them. When these volunteers access nonpublic information or Personal Information, they are required to comply with the terms governing the particular platform the tool is available on.
  • Other users. We provide several tools that allow users to communicate with each other. The communications may be covered by this Policy while they pass through our systems, but the users who receive these communications, and what they do with the communications once they receive them, are not covered by this Policy. Examples include:
    • posting to Foundation-hosted email lists;
    • requesting support from volunteers through our online ticketing system (email sent to info[at]wikimedia.org goes to this system);
    • emailing other users through the Wikimedia Sites (for example, by using the "Email this user" feature); and
    • chatting on IRC (such as on the #wikipedia channel).
Third parties
This Privacy Policy only covers the way the Wikimedia Foundation collects, uses and discloses Personal Information and does not address the practices of third parties. For example, this Privacy Policy does not address the practices of:
  • Websites run by other organizations, like websites linked to from the "References" sections of Wikipedia, or run by Wikimedia chapters or other movement organizations. These organizations may receive information from you if you visit their websites after using one of the Wikimedia Sites. They are governed by their own privacy policies.
  • Mobile applications provided by other organizations or individuals. These organizations or individuals may receive information from you if you use those applications to access the Wikimedia Sites or Wikimedia Site content. They are governed by their own privacy policies.

Sometimes, volunteers may place a data-collecting tool, such as a script, gadget, tracking pixel, or share button, on a Wikimedia Site without our knowledge. This Policy does not cover how third parties handle the information they receive as a result of such a tool. If you come across such a third-party tool, and you believe it violates this Policy, you can remove the tool yourself, or report it to privacy[at]wikimedia.org so we can investigate.

Privacy-related pages