Inactivity policy

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Revision as of 17:08, 9 April 2025 by Luke (talk | contribs) (self-rv partially)
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This inactivity policy sets minimum standards for activity levels of advanced rights holders, such as administrators. Permissions are removed from inactive users to decrease the risk of compromised accounts and to ensure that administrators are always familiar with current practices.

Policy

As some permissions are more sensitive than others, the maximum allowed inactivity period depends on the permission in question.

Local permissions

Class 1

Class 1 permissions are highly sensitive and can seriously compromise user privacy and security if misused. Therefore, for these permissions, inactivity procedures will be triggered after 1 year with no local edits or logged actions.

Class 2

Class 2 permissions are still sensitive but do not have the same privacy implications as Class 1 permissions. Therefore, for these permissions, inactivity procedures will be triggered after 2 years with no local edits or logged actions.

Other local permissions

Other local permissions, such as autopatrolled, transwiki importer, and account creator are not currently covered under this policy. However, communities are permitted to establish their own local procedures for removal of these permissions.

Opting out

Wikis are permitted to opt out of Class 2 inactivity monitoring under this policy by placing a notification on Stewards/Noticeboard. However, the Class 1 portion of this policy is mandatory for all projects.

Global permissions

Stewards and global sysops

Stewards and global sysops have advanced access on all or most WickedGov wikis. Therefore, standards are especially strict, and permissions will be removed after 6 months with no global edits.[1] "Global edits" are edits to any WickedGov wiki.

Global IP block exemptions

Global IP block exemption privileges will be removed after 2 years with no global edits.[1] "Global edits" are edits to any WickedGov wiki.

This policy should be rarely invoked, as global IP block exemptions should generally be granted for periods of not more than 2 years.

Procedure

Stewards will undertake a regular audit of the activity levels of advanced permissions holders. This review process will examine local permissions on all public wikis, as well as global permissions.

Procedure for local permissions

On wikis where an advanced permission review process exists locally and is actively enforced, removal procedures shall be handled locally. If there are no local users with the technical ability to remove a permission, requests may be submitted to Stewards/Requests/Permissions.

On wikis where no such review process exists locally, the following procedure shall apply:

  1. Stewards will notify those permission holders who have exceeded the maximum allowed time period for inactivity. Such a notification will be sent as a message to the user's talk page on the wiki where they hold their advanced permissions.
  2. If a notified user wishes to retain their permissions, the user should discuss the matter with the local community on a centralized forum.
  3. If a notified user wishes to resign, does not respond within 14 days, fails to follow the procedure in step 2, or fails to get community support for continued access, the appropriate permissions should be removed.[2] However, Stewards should not remove administrator access on wikis where bureaucrats can do so.
  4. The community should be notified about any removals on a central discussion page.

Procedure for global permissions

Stewards will remove the appropriate global permissions from anyone who has exceeded the maximum allowed time period for inactivity.

No advance notice is required, but after the removal, an explanation should be posted to the user's Meta talk page. If a Steward has failed to meet activity requirements, Stewards/Noticeboard should also be notified.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 For practicality, logged actions do not reset the inactivity timer for these groups.
  2. Note that if a user who holds both Class 1 and Class 2 permissions has been inactive for less than two years, Class 2 permissions may be retained.