[Foundation-l] Data retention

[Thomas Dalton]

> If I ever feel I am significantly damaged by a violation of the privacy
> policy, I will.  Until then, I'll feel free speculating.  My speculation is
> that the proper route would be to sue the WMF claiming that either 1) they
> are responsible for the actions of the CheckUser, OR 2) that they have
> violated the clause prohibiting sharing of information with third parties.

That would be my guess, as well.

> Of course, the problem is, the privacy policy is so enormously open-ended
> that just about nothing anyone does is definitively a violation of it.  Mike
> Godwin has worked hard to ensure that the WMF is never legally responsible
> for anything, and the community has for the most part applauded this as a
> good thing.

True.

> Why should they heed your advice, though?

Because they think it's good advice. If they don't think it's good
advice, then they should feel free to ignore it.

>  Just so they can help someone
> they consider to be a "particularly troublesome user" escape legal
> consequences for her actions?

Legal consequences? I don't understand... the result of being caught
by a checkuser is usually a block, I wouldn't call that a legal
consequence.

> I would advise against making it so easy for so many people, most of whom
> have undergone no background check and many of whom have nothing to lose, to
> store such data in the first place.  Are there really that many people who
> need immediate unfettered access to actual IP addresses from home?

There aren't many checkusers, are there? I don't think the WMF could
reasonably handle all requests for checkuser, so what would you
alternative be?

> I'd also advise anyone accessing a website run by Wikimedia to assume that
> their every action is being recorded and might be shared with anyone for any
> reason.

That's the assumption you should make about any site in the absence of
a privacy policy. Wikimedia has a privacy policy that clearly states
the reasons they'll reveal information, should people really assume
the WMF won't follow their own policy?