To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Cc: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net, jekindell at aol.com, macbuccfo at msn.com,
	erjablow at cais.com, mike.nelson at seahunt.org
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 01:49:24 -0400
Subject: [WSFA] Re: On Google and WSFA policy
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

On Sun, 21 Apr 2002 00:19:54 -0400 (EDT) "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl at keithlynch.net> writes:

> So, what's the consensus?  What should our web policy be?  Thanks.
>

If I'm understanding this correctly, the question has three aspects:

1. Should WSFAlist email messages be officially archived and available on
the web, and if so how public?

2. Should old WSFA Journals be available on the WSFA website, and if so
how public?

3. What other information should be publicly available on the WSFA
website.

As for email messages, I think it is useful for list members to be able
to consult an archive of recent messages, if only because people
sometimes delete messages they really intended to read, or have deleted
messages which they later decide to re-read, or simply want to have
access to recent messages on the web without getting 40 messages per day
in their inbox.

However, the value of archived messages (to most users) trails off as the
messages get older, so I would suggest archiving messages from the
current calendar month, and the previous calendar month, automatically
dropping anything older.  One advantage of such a policy is that message
writers need not worry that things they may have regretted saying will
sit on the web page for years to come.  A complete archive could continue
to be maintained off line.  Many years from now, the archive could be of
historical interest, and release of data from the archive would
presumably be at the discretion of the WSFA trustees.  It might also be a
good idea to give list members the option of having specific messages
they authored deleted from the archive, including quoted copies of what
they wrote, upon request.  Presumably such requests would be rare.

As for old WSFA Journals being on-line, editing out street addresses and
email addresses is probably sufficient to assuage most privacy concerns.
There should probably be an additional provision that members have the
option to specifically request deletion of their own personal information
from the online copies.  If there are any who find it generally
objectionable for very old data in WSFA Journals be publicly accessible,
then there could be only, say, two or three years worth of Journals
available on the public portion of the website, and keep the older ones
under a 'secret' URL which would be made known to members.

As for other information on the WSFA website, people should be aware that
any names, unusual words, or phrases contained within the public portions
of the WSFA may be findable using a Google search, therefore it may be a
good idea to give WSFA members the option of having mention of their name
globally deleted from the website (or replaced with initials), if that is
a concern.

Ron Kean

.

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