[Wikimedia-l] CheckUser openness

[Risker]

On 14 June 2012 16:36, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 4:07 PM, John <phoenixoverride at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am not asking for full disclosure, what I am asking is that established
> > user have the right to be notified when and why they are being
> checkusered.
> > The evidence checkusers get do not need to be disclosed, Its as simple
> as:
> >
> >  X performed a checkuser on you because Y at Z UTC
> >
> > that provides clarity and openness while keeping the information
> checkusers
> > use confidential. A note like that would provide vandals with very little
> > information. And the second step of defining a threshold would eliminate
> > most of the vandal checks.
> >
> > To me this screams of lets keep oversight of checkuser to a minimum.
> Right
> > now there is the ombudsman committee globally (to ask for review from
> them
> > we need evidence, realistically only other checkusers can provide that)
> > and on enwp there is the Audit Subcommittee, which 75% of are either
> arbcom
> > members (be defacto are granted CU ), former arbcom, or former CU. To me
> > that really reeks of lack of independent oversight. Notifying an
> > established user that they are subject to a CU doesnt harm the CU's
> ability
> > to do their job unless they themselves have something to hide. Its not
> like
> > I am asking for CU's to release IP addresses/user-agents or anything else
> > that could assist me in avoiding scrutiny.
> >
>
> Don't even need to go that far - just say "A checkuser viewed the
> information stored by the web server about you, this information may
> include [[xyz list if informations]]."
>
>

I do see where folks are coming from. To the best of my knowledge, for the
past few years on English Wikipedia anyone who has asked the Audit
Subcommittee if they have been checked has been told the correct response,
and I think this is a good thing.

On the other hand, what's being proposed here is essentially providing
sockpuppeters or otherwise disruptive users (such as those under certain
types of sanctions) a how-to guide so they can avoid detection in the
future.

Risker