Wikipedia:Biographical optout
 | This is a failed proposal. Consensus for its implementation was not established within a reasonable period of time. If you want to revive discussion, please use the talk page or initiate a thread at the village pump. |
 | This page in a nutshell: If the subject of a Wikipedia biography does not meet our 'Public Figure' criteria, and makes a verified request to have their biography removed, any administrator may honour that request without recourse to a deletion discussion. |
Wikipedia's profile has grown to such an extent that many biographies of living people appear prominently in search engine results. In some cases, for example where vandalism or un-sourced assertions have unfortunately been allowed to stand for a time, and the subject is concerned that Wikipedia cannot prevent this from recurring, or where the only reliably sourced information presents challenges in producing an article with appropriate balance, the subject of an article may not wish to be included in Wikipedia.
Out of respect for those not wishing to have a biographical entry within our encyclopedia, this policy allows some individuals to 'Opt Out': to have their biographical article deleted without recourse to a discussion. These criteria must be met:
- The biography is of an individual who is not and has never been:
- A public official or any other person pervasively involved in public affairs, nor
- An individual who has placed themselves at the forefront of public controversies to influence the issues involved.
- The individual requests article deletion.
If you are such an individual, you have several options to request removal:
- Send an email to our ticket request system
- Or, if you are a Wikipedia user and your identity has been established as the subject of the article,
- Leave a note on the Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard
- Contact an administrator on their 'talk page' (see a list here)
It is necessary to verify your real-life identity, and this may take a little time, so your patience is much appreciated. If you have concerns about confidentiality, or of publicly self-identifying, then the ticket request system should be used.