(2nd try, hope it isn't a duplicate)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: dee dee <strategicdesign2001(a)yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, Nov 22, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Subject: Have you dealt with this yet? If so,how?
To: foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Four brief points:
1: I think the primary issue here is the appearance that
gives to the community and the public of a completely transparent and
open Checkuser request process when the discussions have shown that,as
Thatcher131said,
"The vast majority of checks are run following talk page, email or IRC
requests to the checkusers. WP:RFCU is a backup;.."
or as JzG|Guy said at
"The vast majority of checkuser requests are, and always have been,
performed quietly and without a request at RFCU."
At the very,very least there should be an acknowledgement at
that there is also a parallel "back channel"(Guy's phraseology) method
of requesting and processing CHECKUSER activity which is not
transparent to the general Wikipedia community nor the public.
2: In addition, this section of
"Privacy violation?
* If you feel that a checkuser has led to a violation of the
Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy regarding yourself, please refer
the case to the Ombudsman commission."
is something I find to be quite Orwellian. How can someone report a
privacy violation if they do not know that checkuser has been used on
them?
3: A third aspect is that it seems these "private" Checkuser checks
are being used frivolously on brand new Users to effect 1 second
blocks for "scrutiny" reasons and the Checkuser usage is being so
poorly documented that sometimes no one even knows who used the tool
as shown here:
Therefore, there should also be full disclosure to all new Users that
Checkuser could be used without their knowledge on the basis of
suspicion at any time after they open a Wikipedia account.
4: I also think User Risker's comments about the privacy aspect have merit:
From: dee dee <strategicdesign2001(a)yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Jimbo's response re:Rampant Checkuser Privacy Abuse
To: foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 9:06 PM
Four brief points:
1: I think the primary issue here is the appearance that
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CHECKUSER
gives to the community and the public of a completely
transparent and open Checkuser request process when the
discussions have shown that,as Thatcher131said,
"The vast majority of checks are run following talk
page, email or IRC requests to the checkusers. WP:RFCU is a
backup;.."
or as JzG|Guy said at
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%…
"The vast majority of checkuser requests are, and
always have been, performed quietly and without a request at
RFCU."
At the very,very least there should be an acknowledgement
at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CHECKUSER
that there is also a parallel "back
channel"(Guy's phraseology) method of requesting
and processing CHECKUSER activity which is not transparent
to the general Wikipedia community nor the public.
2: In addition, this section of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CHECKUSER
"Privacy violation?
* If you feel that a checkuser has led to a violation
of the Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy regarding
yourself, please refer the case to the Ombudsman
commission."
is something I find to be quite Orwellian. How can someone
report a privacy violation if they do not know that
checkuser has been used on them?
3: A third aspect is that it seems these
"private" Checkuser checks are being used
frivolously on brand new Users to effect 1 second blocks for
"scrutiny" reasons and the Checkuser usage is
being so poorly documented that sometimes no one even knows
who used the tool as shown here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Archiv…
Therefore, there should also be full disclosure to all new
Users that Checkuser could be used without their knowledge
on the basis of suspicion at any time after they open a
Wikipedia account.
4: I also think User Risker's comments about the
privacy aspect have merit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%…
dee dee
Jimmy Wales <jwales(a)wikia.com> wrote: In English
Wikipedida, ArbCom is a good place to go for this sort of
thing.
However, having reviewed checkuser policy, I see absolutely
nothing even
close to a policy violation here.
"Notification to the account that is checked is
permitted but is not
mandatory. Similarly, notification of the check to the
community is not
mandatory, but may be done subject to the provisions of the
privacy policy."
I strongly support this element of the policy.
Cary Bass wrote:
dee dee wrote:
> Hi, I think the Stewards have authority in this
matter. The Ombudsman
> Commission seems to accept these clandestine
Checkuser requests but I
> doubt the Stewards will. I hope you will
forward
my message to them so
they can
decide for themselves.
Hi again, dee dee.
Being a steward myself, I responded to you in that
capacity. I'm sorry
my signature didn't indicate such, but
I'll
mention it again.
You seem to be mistaken about the function of
stewards. Why don't you
read the relevant page on meta, here:
The stewards have no authority over the checkusers or
checkuser policy.
There is no steward committee, only a mailing
list
where the stewards
can share their thoughts, actions, etc.
Where there is a local policy in place, the stewards
have no authority
over local policy.
Where there is a function policy in place (like
checkuser), the stewards
have no authority over that function policy.
Short of suggestion you address it to the local Arbcom
or the Checkuser
Ombudsman Commission, there is nothing any
steward on
this list can do
for you.
foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org wrote: Due to a
large amount of spam, emails from non-members of this list
are now automatically rejected. If you have a valuable
contribution to
the list but would rather not subscribe to it, please sent
an email to
foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org and we will forward
your post
to the list. Please be aware that all messages to this list
are
archived and viewable for the public. If you have a
confidential
communication to make, please rather email
info(a)wikimedia.org
Thank you.
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:58:36 -0800 (PST)
From: dee dee <strategicdesign2001(a)yahoo.com>
Subject: Rampant Checkuser Privacy Abuse
To: foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
In regards to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CHECKUSER
''''Privacy violation?
If you feel that a checkuser has led to a violation of the
Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy regarding yourself,
please refer the case to the Ombudsman
commission.''''
Please note that so-called "private" uses of
checkuser are occurring and tolerated as seen here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard#False_…
How can someone report a privacy violation if they do not
know that checkuser has been used?
---------------------------------
Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with
Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.
---------------------------------
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.