Private WIKIs

Besides the two main components composing this platform (the back-end part represented by this wiki, and the front-end for the navigation among contents within the scope of a single-page-application) a third component completing its design is represented by an arbitrary number of private WIKIs where to store all reserved information and to make them conditionally available on the front-end, for instance to students accessing their own data or the digital representation of their classes, to readers accessing some paid content, and so on: through the combination of a streamlined interface as client, a collaborative wiki for contents intended to the public domain, and an arbitrary number of private wikis managed by the respective owners or by a data controller, every requirement conceivable within the frame of IT, information technology, may be potentially met.

The overall structure of this platform therefore is expected to be composed by a public wiki at this address (1)

https://culturaitaliana.org/wiki

which as mentioned will contain in a shared environment an arbitrary number of organizations at an address like (2)

https://culturaitaliana.org/wiki/[organization username]

then by a general private wiki managed by a specific data controller, at this address (3)

https://culturaitaliana.org/private-wiki/culturaitaliana

and then by an arbitrary number of private wikis at an address like (4)

https://culturaitaliana.org/private-wiki/[organization username]

To be noted that '[organization username]' in (2) corresponds to a wiki page of a shared wiki, while '[organization username]' in (4) corresponds to a username used by the web server to query a specific database (while in (2) the database is the same for all the organizations) so that any related page will reside in a dedicated wiki.

This is an optimal solution in the view of data security, because while a number of Mediawiki extensions allow to restrict access to data based on some privileges, they are not intrinsically secure as long as the database is shared or the wiki is public.

On the other side, Cultura italiana offers a model in which a subject requiring the maximum level of confidentiality (taken for granted the value of the information) virtually can manage his own wiki, on his own server, which will be accessed by a "bot" (using a model similar to OAuth used to access user's information by external apps) which will conditionally retrieve only the data intended to be outsourced (for instance paid contents, teaching materials intended to students, and so on) by the data subject.

However typically a private wiki will be offered within the framework of this platform as a SaaS (Software as a Service) i.e., the private wiki will reside at an address like (4), against a subscription fee, while subjects without the required resources (either in terms of knowledge to autonomously manage a wiki system, or economic to outsource the required skills) can send using some secure channel their confidential data (only intended to authorized people) to the data controller and such data controller will make that information available within terms agreed with the data subject for his/her profit: which is precisely the model adopted by most of Internet services, except that, specifically those "for free", does not pursuit the ultimate benefit of the user.

At present (December 2020) we are just testing and refining the private-wikis data structure and integration with the front-end, in order to offer a rich and useful set of features to organizations which will request it (and their users), and we will provide additional details "as soon as possible".