Inactivity policy
 | This page documents an official global policy. It represents broad consensus, and compliance is mandatory for all projects. It should not be modified without prior community approval. |
This inactivity policy sets minimum standards for activity levels of advanced rights holders, such as administrators. Permissions are removed from inactive users in order to decrease the risk of compromised accounts, and for other purposes.
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.
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, meets the global minimum standards, 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:
- 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.
- If a notified user wishes to retain their permissions, the user should discuss the matter with the local community on a centralized forum.
- If a notified user wishes to resign, does not respond within 14 days, fails to follow the procedure in step 3, or fails to get community support for continued access, the appropriate permissions should be removed.[2] However, Stewards should not remove bot or administrator[3] access on wikis where there are active, willing bureaucrats to do so.
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 For practicality, logged actions do not reset the inactivity timer for these groups.
- ↑ 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 should be retained.
- ↑ On most wikis, bureaucrats do not have the technical ability to remove administrator access.