Brad Patrick wrote:
- Will the Foundation fight? That depends, but the clearest answer you
will get is, there is no guarantee of security, only the best anyone can offer. Any other statement is hogwash. If your identity is so secret that you can't let it be shared, then don't share it. That is your decision, and no one elses. For example, I appreciate what sannse is saying, and I hold her in very high regard, but I think her opposition to the policy is misguided. People *do* already know who she is. The point is that the Foundation cannot risk letting people no Foundation person has shaken hands with, spoken to on the phone, etc., from having the capacity to expose confidential information. One word: Essjay.
Has anyone ever (and I do mean *ever*) seriously asserted that Essjay in any way abused oversight, CheckUser, or OTRS access? That seems to me a serious misrepresentation of what was essentially a PR mishap for the WMF. If your point is only that he was a pseudonymous user with access to confidential information, then your one word might as well have been "Dmcdevit," or dozens of people here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser#Current_users_with_access. But crying "Essjay" is sensationalizing the issue, and kicking the man while he's down for no discernible reason.
Dominic