As I mentioned on this list a couple of weeks ago, [[Special:CheckUser]] allows a user with "checkuser" permissions to check the IP address of a logged in user in order to investigate abuse or check for "sockpuppetting".
Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on this at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser or on the mailing list. The majority of people commenting there thought the feature should be made more widely available. However, there was little agreement on who should be given access to the feature or to the logs.
Currently, only David Gerard and Tim Starling have access to this feature. David pointed out that he barely uses it, and that its availability to the English Arbitration Committee has been controversial. He felt the issue is less "who should have access" than "what circumstances justify checking?". See [[meta:CheckUser]] for details on how David is currently using it. Tim starling suggested two guidelines on the mailing list; only research bad people and do not give away IP addresses unless it's necessary.
There was general agreement on making CheckUser more widely available, but many thought this should only be done with restrictions, limits and/or penalties. There were mixed views on who should be given access to it, with suggestions including sysops, bureaucrats, bureaucrats of the larger wikis, stewards, or something between one and three elected users per project. Some felt people should use it only on their own project. There was no general agreement on whether it should be limited to stewards.
The most contentious question was whether the user being checked should be notified about the check. Some people felt very strongly that they should, but there were also many arguments against doing this. See [[meta:CheckUser]] for full details. Some felt that, not only should the checked user be told, but that the logs should be public. Anthere suggested ombudsmen should be appointed to oversee the use of it.
David Gerard added a question about which circumstances merit checking. Two people said that there must be reasonable cause for it. Guidelines such as requiring another user request it so it can't be used for personal reasons, and using it only as a last resort, were also suggested. One person felt the user that is checked has to approve.
If anyone else would like to add to these comments, please do so at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CheckUser so that decisions can be made about how this feature should be used, and who should be able to use it.
Thanks.
Angela.