[Wikimedia-l] Update on IPv6

[Nathan]

On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 2:21 PM, Risker <risker.wp at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 13 June 2012 14:09, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I believe that FT2 is saying that we should seriously consider masking the
> *publicly viewable* IPv6 addresses.  The only reason that we publish the IP
> addresses of any logged-out user is for attribution purposes, although some
> use it for other reasons (both positive and nefarious).  Quite honestly, it
> doesn't matter what information is put in place in the publicly viewable
> logs, provided it's consistent.
>
> Risker
>
>
Sure, that's the assertion, but it leaves unanswered a lot of "why"
questions. Why should we make publicly viewable attributions less
identifiable than they have been for a decade? Is that step valuable at
all, given the reality that anyone likely to use the IP address for
"nefarious" reasons would simply register an account?

I think a stable, predictable privacy regime that doesn't discourage users
is a perfectly good goal which Wikimedia has largely achieved. I'm not sure
there is a lot of value in FT2's suggestion from a privacy perspective (it
would make far more sense to make the mask applicable to everyone but CUs
or admins), let alone whether a significantly more anonymous method for
contributing is either necessary or desirable.

~Nathan