Wikipedia:Privacy of affiliation
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This essay, Privacy of affiliation, explains issues about naming individuals as members of groups or schools, or third party participants in some events.
In general, unless a person has been named in a wp:RS reliable source as having been a member of a group, or attended a specific school, avoid using the person's name. Due to privacy concerns, do not list people's names in an article unless they are noted as connected to the topic in separate wp:RS reliable sources. Even if a person is an officer of a major company, that does not empower Wikipedia to list them as advertisement of their attendance at a university (a source must state their education). Wikipedia editors should not use names unless stated in related, reliable sources (not as mentioned in blogs or forums).
When mentioned as third parties
editIn some cases, people will be mentioned as a third party to some event, and in that situation, typically, they could be noted by their roles, such as merely "next witness" or "friend" or "roommate" (etc.). When the name is needed for clarity, try to use initials, such as "J. Doe" or "M. Smith" or if mentioned by first name in direct quotes, then use surname initials (such as "John D." or "Mary S."), even when the full names are given in the reliable sources. In general, strive to respect the privacy of third-party individuals, regardless of how much has been revealed in some source documents.
See also
edit- wp:PRIVACY - about outing of Wikipedia editors
- [ This essay is a quick draft to be expanded later. ]