On 21/04/07, Ron Ritzman ritzman@gmail.com wrote:
On 4/20/07, Info Control infodmz@gmail.com wrote:
What legitimate reason could there be for EVER using the Check user tool beside presented evidence of sockpuppetry?
I can think of one. That supposedly "retired" admin who recently deleted the main page and blocked a whole bunch of account including Jimbo, a checkuser could possibly be used to tell if his account had been hacked into or if he himself just went bat shit crazy.
Vandal/troll accounts are frequently checked. It's helped root out many nests of 0wnz0r3d server boxes, for instance, or to establish that a given vandal is an already-known problem vandal.
Being checked is not a privacy violation unless and until information is revealed in a way that's a privacy violation.
Wikipedia is not an anonymising service, and anyone who thinks it can or should be treated as one is simply being foolish.
- d.