Hi all
I wonder if the column rc_ip can be safely removed from mediawiki. As far as I know, it has been superceeded by the information in cu_changes, right? So I propose to
a) either completely remove it b) or set $wgPutIPinRC = false per default c) and set $wgPutIPinRC = false for wikimedia projects.
The rationale is that IP addresses should only be recorded if this is explicitly requested. In some jurisdiction (e.g. Germany) it is illegal to record this information without notifying the users, and there is a requirement to only record data at all if necessary. So it should be off per default. Many privacy-concious hosters disable IP records in the server logs, recording the IP in the database per default subverts this.
As to disabling on Wikimedia projects: this would make things easier for the toolserver mainly. We don't need this info there, and having it might conceivably make WMDE the target of legal action. We can easily exclude cu_changes from replication, but we can't easily filter rc_ip from recentchanges. So it would be better if it wasn't there in the first place.
Thoughts?
Daniel