CheckUser policy
CheckUser is a tool that can be used by editors with the checkuser permission to check the IP addresses of registered wiki accounts.
Applications
Checkuser has three major applications:
- Finding a range of IP addresses that are disrupting, so that the range can be blocked.
- Finding which IP address a disrupting account uses, for the purposes of blocking it effectively.
- Finding which users share a common IP address, 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 address.
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 address, whereabouts, or other information sufficient to identify them, unless they have already revealed this information themselves on the project.
Even if the user is acting abusively, it's best not to reveal personal information if possible. Do not reveal exact IP addresses to a wide audience. When in doubt, provide the least amount of possible information, or contact Weird Gloop for guidance.
Access to CheckUser
Only Weird Gloop staff and a small number of local administrators are allowed access to CheckUser. Local CheckUsers are appointed at Weird Gloop's discretion.
All CheckUsers must be at least 18 years of age, and sign a confidentiality agreement pursuant to the access to non-public personal data policy.
Any user account with CheckUser status that is inactive for more than six months will have their CheckUser access removed. In case of abuse of the tool, users with the CheckUser privilege will immediately have their access removed. In particular, this will happen if checks are repeatedly performed on editors without a legitimate reason 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 this meta policy.
- List the current local CheckUsers.
The following wikis have their own CheckUser policies:
Current CheckUsers
Weird Gloop staff (those with the "staff" usergroup) have access to CheckUser on all wikis.
For a list of locally appointed CheckUsers, go to Special:ListUsers?group=checkuser on a Weird Gloop wiki.