[WikiEN-l] RFCU security (was Ryulong blocked ALL accounts)

[Andrew Gray]

On 20/04/07, Info Control <infodmz at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 4/20/07, Info Control <infodmz at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On 4/20/07, Tony Sidaway <tonysidaway at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > I hope the checkusers have
> > > investigated this affair for possible abusive socking).
> >
> > I hope that any checkusers abusing the privacy of their peers with
> > undocumented, out of policy, out of bounds, and wrong  use of the tool would
> > be hauled in front of ArbCom and/or desysopped/banned.

As an aside, this could have been an entirely legitimate point to do
such a check. Half a dozen editors all editing on the same topic, with
no previous histories, arguing on the same side, and with
interestingly correlated edit times. Not to find out who the editors
"behind it" were, but to find out if there were in fact six seperate
editors - or just one troublemaker trying to play silly buggers.
Because if it *is* the latter - and it appears possible - then it is a
very bad thing; it's someone wilfully and maliciously trolling and
trying to screw the consensus their way.

> Just for the ediifcation of those who do not know, why is it there is no
> public record of who ran what RFCU IP check? Shouldn't people be entitled to
> know if their privacy was for possible undocumented searches exposed?

Your privacy is exposed when the data is announced publicly. It is not
exposed by internal, secure, unpublished checks; indeed, it can be
argued that exposing the logs of who checked what is going to reveal
the private data indirectly.

> I ask as least *one* administrator is documented to have been active on
> Wikitruth, and at least one former admin (Everyking) is a Wikipedia Review
> editor.

This is relevant why? Those people never had access to IP data.

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk