How effective is checkuser? Options

[Ather]

If I wanted to run several accounts how likely is checkuser to pick me up? If I changed my IP each time I logged on how would they trap me? How long to they log IP addresses for? Do they keep a permanent record of my account creation IP? Do they record me logging on but not editing? What other info do they store and for how long? All this info is needed purely for research purposes

[Kelly Martin]

It's my understanding that checkuser now also captures your browser identification string, which can be pretty distinctive. However, interpreting the data that checkuser provides requires a good deal of knowledge about how the Internet is structured, and my experience is that very few of the holders of the checkuser privilege actually have that knowledge. It's my conclusion that they're making it up as they go along, and that means expectation bias plays a large role in the outcome of any investigation.

[Krimpet]

It's my understanding that checkuser now also captures your browser identification string, which can be pretty distinctive. However, interpreting the data that checkuser provides requires a good deal of knowledge about how the Internet is structured, and my experience is that very few of the holders of the checkuser privilege actually have that knowledge. It's my conclusion that they're making it up as they go along, and that means expectation bias plays a large role in the outcome of any investigation.

User-agent identification has been there for a pretty long time, at least since 2007. It is of course easily spoofable; some pranksters knowing they're going to be checked have left secret messages in their string for that reason.

I think the average competence of the checkusers has risen considerably since they started appointing or electing non-arbs to the position - it was much worse when all of the checkusers were arbs or former arbs, since the technical know-how to read and interpret the data doesn't exactly overlap with the mediation skills the arbs are selected for.

[gomi]

... since the technical know-how to read and interpret the data doesn't exactly overlap with the mediation skills the arbs are selected for.

[Krimpet]

... since the technical know-how to read and interpret the data doesn't exactly overlap with the mediation skills the arbs are selected for.

I'm talking in theoretical terms, here.

For some reason Wikipedians get hyper-excited about Wikipedia recording IPs when just about every web site in the world does it as part of its basic funtionality.

Funny thing is, just about every other wiki software package in wide use other than MediaWiki displays the hostname and IP address of logged-in users, including the UseModWiki software Wikipedia originally ran on. Apparently a conscious design decision was made in the development of what's now MediaWiki to start keeping hostnames private; kind of silly in my opinion.

This post has been edited by Krimpet: Thu 31st December 2009, 5:41pm