AFSWiki Access Policy Discussion

From AFSWiki

Policy Discussion

What follows is some discussion of the policy we have in place for access to, and editing of, the pages in this wiki.

Currently, you must have an account to create or edit content.

Arguments against the current policy

• Requiring a login goes against the spirit of a wiki and discourages wider participation & viewing.
• A potential natural family or host family might see the wiki and understand the depth of processes that AFS uses to ensure safety of its participants.
• Similarly, a potential volunteer or donor might see, through the wiki, the great substance that's behind AFS.
• Even an approved, registered volunteer might not read a Wiki page because it's too much of a hassle to apply for a login and then to remember yet another password.
• It's impossible to restrict access to information in a volunteer-based organization. The precedent has already been set, and many publicly accessible, volunteer-maintained websites effectively represent official AFS content without staff oversight.

Arguments in favor of the current policy

• AFS-created, proprietary intellectual property is more difficult to use without attribution
• Less ammunition is available to exchange-program detractors
• Lower risk of wiki participants unwittingly releasing sensitive information, such as participants' personally identifiable information, to the public
• Password protection allows volunteers to list their email addresses online without fear it will lead to higher levels of spam.

AFS Wiki has been configured in such a way that if we ever determine that the risk is minimal, we can move more and more content to public pages that do not require a login to access.

AFS International has another wiki called afspedia with a different access policy.