CheckUser policy

CheckUser is a tool which is used by by editors with the checkuser permission to check the IP addresses of registered wiki accounts.

Applications

Checkuser has three major applications:

Finding the range of IPs which are disrupting, so the said range can be blocked.
Finding what IP a disrupting account uses, for the purpose of effectively blocking it.
Finding which users use a common IP, for looking into abuse of multiple accounts.

Under no circumstances is the CheckUser tool to be used in any other fashion, and especially not by a curious checkuser who wants to know a user's IP.

Disclosure of non-public information

CheckUser must be used in accordance with Weird Gloop's privacy policy, which generally prohibits disclosure of non-public, personally-identifiable information, without user consent. Unless someone is seriously disrupting the wiki, and revealing information about them is necessary to stop the disruption, it is a violation of the privacy policy to reveal their IP, whereabouts, or other information sufficient to identify them, unless they have already revealed this information themselves on the project.

Even if the user is committing abuse, it's best not to reveal personal information if possible. Do not reveal exact IPs to a wide audience. When in doubt, provide the least possible information, or contact the Weird Gloop system administrators for guidance.

Access to CheckUser

Only Weird Gloop system administrators and a small number of local administrators are allowed access to CheckUser. Local CheckUsers can be appointed through consensus by the local community.

All CheckUsers must be at least 18 years of age, and sign a confidentiality agreement pursuant to the access to nonpublic information policy.

Any user account with CheckUser status that is inactive for more than six months will have their CheckUser access removed. In case of abusive use of the tool, user with the CheckUser privilege will immediately have their access removed. This will in particular happen if checks are done routinely on editors without a serious motive to do so.

Local CheckUser policies

Local wikis may adopt their own CheckUser policies. These policies must:

Link back to this meta policy
Be at least as strict as the meta policy
List the current local CheckUsers.

The following wikis have CheckUser policies:

Current CheckUsers

Everywhere

The following users have global access to CheckUser by virtue of their system administration work for Weird Gloop:

RuneScape Wiki

Old School RuneScape Wiki

RuneScape Classic Wiki

PT-BR RuneScape Wiki