신뢰 및 안전 제품/임시 계좌/FAQ
The basics of temporary accounts
What is a temporary account?
Any time you publish an edit on Wikipedia or other sites hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation without logging into a registered account, a temporary account will be created for you. This account will automatically be given a username. A cookie will be set in your browser when the account is created. This username will be used to attribute all subsequent edits by you, even if your IP address changes. With a temporary account, your IP address can only be accessed by authorized staff and community members, as outlined in the updated Privacy policy.
How do temporary accounts work?
- Temporary account names follow the pattern:
~2024-1234567(a tilde, current year, an auto-generated number). Users cannot choose or change the names of their temporary accounts. - After 90 days of the creation date, the temporary account will automatically expire.
- Subsequent edits assign a new temporary account. The old one will be deactivated and you won't be able to keep it or log into it.
- It is impossible to log in to a temporary account. There are no passwords for temporary accounts.
- All edits made from the same device and browser will be attributed to the same temporary account, even if the IP address you're using changes (for example, if you edit at home and at a coffee shop). This is done through the placement of a browser cookie that remembers the temporary account you have been assigned.
- Temporary accounts are not like browsing history or open tabs. If you have a browser synchronized across devices, you will be assigned to different accounts on different devices. This is a consequence of how browsers work.
- Temporary accounts can be deactivated at any time by ending your session or clearing your browser cookies.
Notable aspects of temporary accounts
- Temporary accounts are different from registered accounts. They are short-lived and offer limited features. We don't collect any additional data for temporary accounts beyond what we collect for regular edits.
- Temporary accounts do not have access to all the features available for logged-in users. Some actions, such as uploading photos to Commons, are restricted to users with a registered account.
- Temporary accounts have their own user pages and user talk pages.
- Temporary accounts can receive notifications and see a banner about new messages on their user talk page.
- Temporary accounts can receive thanks from logged-in editors.
- Temporary accounts can ping other users and they can be pinged in turn.
See also
- Help page for the temporary account holders (temporary users)
- The technical information page if your bot or tool needs to differentiate between temporary and permanent account types
The basics of the project
Why are you working on temporary accounts at all?
Wikimedians began discussing the exposure of IP addresses as a privacy issue shortly after MediaWiki was developed. For example, there is a thread dating back to 2004. For many years, there was no strong incentive to change this, so the Wikimedia Foundation wasn't working on it. But in the meantime, in many countries, new laws and new standards were introduced. Finally, in 2018, the Foundation's Legal department determined that the indefinite public storage of IP addresses presents serious risks. This includes legal risks to the projects and risks to the users. Today, this project is one of the priorities of the Foundation's leadership.
See also:
- Project update from July 2021 with more details about the Legal team's assessment
Why a temporary account is the right solution to the problem?
There are some hard requirements that led to the design of the temporary accounts. Some of them are of legal, and some are of technical nature:
| What we are facing | What we have decided to do |
|---|---|
| One of the founding principles of our movement is that people should be able to make most simple edits without registering a permanent account. | Temporary accounts will be created automatically (people won't need to create an account themselves). |
| Due to legal requirements, edits on the wikis should be attributed to a user identifier other than IP address. | If temporary accounts are enabled on a wiki, an account is created for a user as soon as they commit their first edit. The user is automatically logged in to this account, which is tied to a randomly generated username. This username is displayed in every situation (except for various functionary tools) where IP addresses would have otherwise been displayed. |
| The identifier that a given not logged-in user's edits are attributed to needs to be stable. Creating a new user for each edit is not an option. Otherwise, there would be a too large rate of new users. | As soon as the temporary account is created, the user is logged in. The cookie has a limited lifetime. Within this duration, if the user decides to make more edits, they are all attributed to the same temporary account. A new one is created if the user decides to log out of the temporary account or otherwise use a different browser. The user retains the same temporary account if they change IP address while using the same device/browser. |
| The MediaWiki software can't be changed too much. We need to limit novelties to let existing features work unmodified. | A temporary account does not break anything in the way user accounts are handled. Aside from some special case behaviors that are required (such as some features that need to be disabled for temporary accounts), most code is likely to work without unexpected failures. |
See also:
Would disallowing or limiting anonymous editing be a good alternative?
Unlikely.
In the past, the Wikimedia Foundation has supported research into requiring registration for all editors editing Wikipedia articles. The results have been largely harmful. We've seen large drops in the net non-reverted content edits over time in Persian Wikipedia.
At this time, with the data we have, we cannot say that disabling logged-out editing on any project is a beneficial solution.
Where are temporary accounts deployed? When will these changes reach my wiki?
- Temporary accounts are already available on pilot wikis: Czech Wikiversity, Igbo Wikipedia, Italian Wikiquote, Swahili Wikipedia, and Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia.
- If the first deployments are successful and we don't have a ton of unexpected work, then in February 2025, we will roll out on larger wikis. We call this major pilot deployment. It may include some top10 wikis, but not English Wikipedia.
- Next, in May 2025, we will deploy on all remaining wikis in one carefully coordinated step.
We encourage bot operators and tool developers to test their tools as early as possible.
What if a community wants to keep using IP addresses?
After temporary accounts become available, displaying IP addresses for subsequent contributions will no longer be permitted. All communities need to prepare for the change to temporary accounts.
Is the Wikimedia Foundation monitoring the effect of using temporary accounts on the communities?
Yes.
There is a public dashboard for monitoring metrics for the pilot wikis. All these statistics are updated very frequently, for instance, real-time or once every day, to give everyone a good visibility of the actual work of temporary accounts on wikis.
Specifically, the above metrics are publicly available:
Public metrics in detail
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In addition, the Foundation is monitoring some other metrics which for security or privacy reasons are not public.
These include data like the number of requests for assistance from CheckUsers. We will periodically share reports about the non-public metrics.
Non-public (guardrail) metrics in detail
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Administrator actions (across all wikis)
Administrator requests
Administrator health
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IP addresses appear in the history of many pages. Will those past uses be modified?
No.
Historical IP addresses that were published on wiki before the switch to temporary accounts will not be modified. The Wikimedia Foundation Legal department has approved this decision.
Legal details about temporary accounts
What specific legal requirements, regulations or risks are you worried about? Is the Foundation facing legal action? What would happen if we didn't introduce temporary accounts?
We shouldn't provide all the information. We shouldn't publish some details, and we shouldn't disclose why. If we publicly discussed what arguments we can make, or what risks are most likely to result in litigation, we could help someone harm the wikis and the communities.
This answer is based on attorney advice we are choosing to follow.
Can this change be rolled out differently by location?
No.
We protect the privacy of all users to the same standard. This will change across the Wikimedia projects.
If we tell someone their IP address will be published, isn't that enough?
No.
Many people have been confused to see their IP address published. Additionally, even when someone does see the notice, the Foundation has to properly handle their personal data. Publishing the IP addresses of non-logged-in editors falls short of current privacy best practices. Also, it creates risks, including risks to those users.
How will the project affect CC license attribution?
It will not affect it.
The 3.0 license for text on the Wikimedia projects already states that attribution should include "the name of the Original Author (or pseudonym, if applicable)" (see the license at section 4c). Use of the temporary account names will function equally well as a pseudonym. IP addresses already may vary or be assigned to different people over time, so using that as a proxy for un-registered editors is not different from an the temporary account names. Both satisfy the license pseudonym requirement. In addition, our Terms of use section 7 specify that as part of contributing to Wikipedia, editors agree that links to articles (which include article history) are a sufficient method of attribution.
Technical details about temporary accounts
Where can I test it?
- All beta cluster wikis except en-rtl Wikipedia
- test.wikipedia.org
- test2.wikipedia.org
Keep in mind that these are testing wikis. Software there may not work as expected.
In addition, users with advanced permissions may test different features on Patch Demo available on T369637.
How long does a temporary account last?
A temporary account will work for as long as the cookie exists. The cookie is currently set to expire three months after the first edit.
The following are the most common scenarios in which a temporary account will be irretrievably lost:
- The user clears the cookies on the browser.
- The user deletes the profile on their browser that they used when the temporary account was created.
- The user used an incognito (private browsing) window, and closed the window.
- The cookie expired.
If a temporary account is lost, then a new temporary account, with a new username, will be automatically generated the next time the user publishes an edit. If a user would like a permanent account, they can create a free registered account at any time.
Are the temporary usernames unique across different wikis?
Yes.
If you see User:~2024-1234567 at multiple SUL-connected wikis, you can be confident that this is the same account.
What if temporary accounts are only enabled on some wikis?
Some wikis have temporary accounts enabled (pilots) and others do not.
Wikis that have temporary accounts enabled display unregistered editors as temporary accounts. On non-temp-accounts wikis they still show up as IP addresses. When the temporary user switches between these wikis they will show up as a temporary account in one wiki and as an IP address in another.
This may create a problem with some features that rely on having a persistent user identity across wikis. If your feature(s) are impacted by this change, please come talk to us on the talk page or through Phabricator.
Access to IP addresses
Who is able to see the IP address of temporary accounts?
Stewards, CheckUsers, global sysops, admins, and other community members who meet qualifying thresholds, as well as certain staff at the Wikimedia Foundation.
There are privacy risks associated with IP addresses. This is why they will be visible only to people who need to have that information for effective investigation or prevention of different policy violations.
See also:
- Access to temporary account IP addresses legal policy
I have a qualified account. How can I see the IP addresses?
Go to Special:Preferences and opt in.
Will I need to sign any non-disclosure agreement?
No.
There is the access to nonpublic personal data policy (ANPDP). It is a legal policy from the Wikimedia Foundation about how checkusers and people with certain other roles must protect non-public personal data that they obtain in the course of their duties. Volunteer admins and patrollers do not need to sign it. However, you will need to opt-in to access to IP addresses through Special:Preferences at your local wiki.
편집자는 이 새로운 사용자 권한을 어떻게 신청합니까?
기본적으로 자격이 있는 사용자에게 자동으로 할당됩니다. 당신이 해야 할 유일한 일은 당신의 위키에서 사용할 수 있을 때 옵트인하는 것입니다.
우리 커뮤니티는 더 높은 요구 사항을 설정하기를 원합니다. 어떻게 하죠?
Currently, the policy does not allow having different requirements on different wikis.
언제 사용자 권한을 사용할 수 있습니까? 언제 할당을 시작할 수 있습니까?
사용자 권한은 올해 말(2023년)에 미디어위키 소프트웨어에 추가될 가능성이 높지만 처음에는 모든 위키에서 유용하지는 않을 것입니다. 원하는 경우 개별 검토가 필요한 프로세스를 사용하려는 커뮤니티는 언제든지 사전 승인 편집자를 시작할 수 있습니다.
관리자가 아닌 사용자의 최소 요구 사항이 너무 높습니다
이것은 위키가 새로 만들어지는 경우와 같이 때때로 사실일 수 있습니다. 그러한 경우 해당 위키의 누군가가 위키미디어 재단 법무 부서에 예외를 요청해야 합니다. 커뮤니티 상황에 대한 설명과 함께 privacy
wikimedia.org로 연락하십시오.
저는 관리자이지만 이 사용자 권한을 원하지 않습니다
동의를 클릭하지 않으면 이 정보를 볼 수 없습니다.
누군가 이 정보를 오용하고 있다고 생각합니다
감찰위원회에 개인 정보 보호 관련 문제를 보고하십시오. 책임성을 보장하기 위해 도구 사용 및 사용자가 도구에 접근할 수 있는 로그가 보관됩니다.
오용 가능성에 대한 다른 우려 사항은 사무장에 요청하여 관리자에게 제기할 수 있습니다. 사무장은 오용이 발생했다고 판단하는 경우 IP 주소에 대한 사용자의 접근을 차단할 권한이 있습니다. 이렇게 하면 사용자가 자동으로 자격이 있거나 커뮤니티 프로세스를 통해 접근 권한이 부여된 경우에도 접근이 차단됩니다.
Some communities currently have public pages for documenting the activities of some bad actors, including their IP addresses (e.g., Long-term abuse). Will this documentation still be permitted?
Yes.
The communities should treat the IPs of logged in users and temporary account holders the same on the Long-term abuse list. They may list the IP addresses when necessary, but they should refer to the abusers by their temporary account usernames.
See also:
Can we publicly document the IP addresses used by suspected (but not confirmed) bad actors who are using temporary accounts?
In general, no, but sometimes yes, temporarily.
When possible, patrollers with access to IP addresses should document the temporary account name(s) instead of the IP addresses. The exception is when the IP addresses are necessary for the purpose of protecting the wiki from abusive actions. Necessity should be determined on a case-by-case basis. If a disclosure later becomes unnecessary, then the IP address should be promptly removed.
For example, if a suspected vandal is exonerated during an investigation, then the report showing the user's IP address can be removed through oversight. That way, the IP address is only revealed while it is needed, and then is suppressed later, after it has been shown to not be needed any longer. See the related policy for more information.
If other information about non-logged-in contributors is revealed (such as location, or ISP), then it doesn't matter if the IP address is also published, right?
No. The IP address should not be published.
With temporary accounts, the public information will be not linked to an individual person or device. For example, it will be a city-level location, or a note that an edit was made by someone at a particular university. While this is still information about the user, it's less specific and individual than an IP address. So even though we are making some information available in order to assist with abuse prevention, we are protecting the privacy of that specific contributor better.
Experienced contributor questions
Where can I test how my advanced permissions work with temporary accounts?
Users with advanced permissions may test different features on Patch Demo available on T369637.
What if a temporary account holder needs to be blocked?
Temporary accounts' IPs will be stored for a period of 90 days. Their IP addresses can still be blocked, just like at present. Temporary accounts can also be independently blocked, including global blocks and autoblocks.
Can't an abuser just clear cookies?
Yes, they can. Temporary accounts are not intended to solve any anti-abuse problems.
We know the problem of abusers making edits through a pool of changing IPs while masking browser agent data. This cannot be solved through temporary accounts. This is not a design goal for this project either. Otherwise, we would need to use trusted tokens, disabling anonymous edits, or fingerprinting, all of which are very involved, complicated measures that have significant community and technical considerations.
Tools will be adapted to ensure that bidirectional mappings between temporary accounts within the last 90 days and IPs can be safely and efficiently navigated by trusted functionaries. However, abuse from a user that clears cookies may become difficult or impossible to detect and mitigate for users without elevated user rights, or if some of the edits involved are more than 90 days old.
Will temporary accounts be covered by the autoblock mechanism?
Autoblocks stop vandals and other high-risk users from continuing to disrupt the projects by immediately creating a new account. Autoblocks for temporary accounts are the same as autoblocks for registered users. (IP addresses are not available to the public.)
More information is available in phab:T332231. Temporary accounts can also be blocked via global autoblocks.
Is there a limitation for creating many temporary accounts from the same IP address?
Yes.
There is a limitation preventing from creating too many accounts from the same IP address too quickly.
The current threshold for regular accounts is six per IP address per day ($wgAccountCreationThrottle).
In addition to that, there is a similar limitation for temporary accounts, which is also six per IP address per day ($wgRateLimits).
This threshold can be changed quickly if necessary.
We have investigated the ideal thresholds of the limit (T357771). We will check nuanced responses to tripping thresholds, including CAPTCHAs, temporary blocks, calls to create an account, etc.
During the entire rollout, we will analyze rate limit trips (T357763). To learn more, see T357776.
What are the functional differences between using a Special:Checkuser on a temporary account, and revealing the IP address?
The IP reveal feature can show you the IP address used for a particular edit by a particular temporary account, the last IP address used by a temporary account, all the IP addresses used by a temporary account, or all the temporary accounts edits on a given IP address or IP address range.
Why are there so many temporary accounts with zero edits?
This is because of AbuseFilter at work.
Temporary accounts are not created at the moment of a successful edit save, but at the moment of any save attempt. AbuseFilter prevents some edits from being saved. These attempts need to be logged, and in the log, each attempt needs to be assigned to a performer. This is why an account needs to be created.
See also
- Help:Temporary accounts – a help page for temporary account holders (temporary users)
- Wikimedia Access to Temporary Account IP Addresses Policy
- Documentation for developers