Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/CheckUser and Oversight/2019 CUOS appointments/OS

Stwalkerster

 * Nomination statement
 * I am putting myself forward for Oversight. Having made quite a number of requests for oversight, mostly towards a small handful of oversighters, and as far as I'm aware and recall, (if not all) the vast majority have been actioned. I am quite active on IRC in the -revdel channel, and I've been noticing a dearth of activity from oversighters there at certain times of the day which is a hole I'm happy to help patch given I follow a European timezone. I'm experienced at handling private data, both through my work at ACC and as a current checkuser. I'm also familiar with the revdel tool having handled quite a number of revdel requests from IRC.

Standard questions for all candidates (Stwalkerster)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * I have been handling revdel requests from IRC for a number of years now, and I'm confident in the use of the tool. I also have extensive experience in handling private data here on-wiki, with more than a decade of ACC and a year of checkuser under my belt. I also do a lot of attack page deletions, more than a few of which need suppressed too.
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I currently work as a software developer in the fintech industry, where there are extensive regulatory requirements regarding the confidentiality of information and network security. Due to this, I'm very familiar with the data security requirements and how to handle that sort of data safely.
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * I currently hold checkuser here on enwiki, and I have access to the OTRS queues info-en and checkuser-en-wp. I also have bureaucrat on testwiki.

Questions for this candidate (Stwalkerster)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (Stwalkerster)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.


 * I've worked closely with after joining the WP:ACC team. He has consistently acted with integrity as one of the ACC tool administrators, and has positively contributed to the collegial atmosphere that we have on the team and demonstrating WP:AGF to almost all users we deal with in the ACC queues. I strongly believe that he would be an asset to the oversight team. OhKayeSierra (talk) 01:19, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

The Blade of the Northern Lights

 * Nomination statement


 * I am applying for the oversight permission to increase my participation on Wikipedia, help protect the privacy of users, and keep defamatory content from proliferating. I have been an administrator for almost 8 years, active throughout that time, and am very familiar with both the deletion and oversight policies. I'll be available to help with the oversight mailing list and to handle any requests e-mailed to me, and while patrolling userpages, the user creation log, and new articles I have encountered many instances calling for oversight; I have never had an oversight request denied, and being able to handle such cases on my own would allow me to better serve the community. I am of the age of majority where I live, and have read the policies on non-public information and the confidentiality agreement; if selected, I will sign the confidentiality agreement. Thank you for your consideration.

Standard questions for all candidates (The Blade of the Northern Lights)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * I have extensive experience with deletion and revdel across several namespaces. In particular, I regularly check userpages and subpages for various types of misuse, such as spam or NOTWEBHOST violations, and frequently find private information of various sorts. In addition, I frequently patrol WP:UAA and Special:Log/newusers. I have submitted dozens of oversight requests related to all of these, and all of them have been actioned.
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I work with disabled adults, and in my professional capacity I handle confidential information on a daily basis. Among many other responsibilities, this involves extensive case notes and writing about specific incidents. I must be able to describe client incidents in adequate detail without giving away any personally identifying information about other clients, sonI am very familiar with what is legally considered personally identifying information.
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * Right now, my only advanced permissions are being an administrator here. I previously had OTRS access from 2012-2014, and handled a few tickets, but let it lapse; at the time I had decided to focus almost exclusively on content creation for a while.

Questions for this candidate (The Blade of the Northern Lights)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (The Blade of the Northern Lights)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.


 * I was reminded of April Fools Day on Wikipedia today which reminded me of something which happened last year. It wasn't his contribution (and re-insertion of it) to ANI which seems in-keeping of longstanding community commentary and, outside of marking it as a joke with-in WP:FOOLS guidelines. No it was the fact that the candidate thought it good judgement to make a joke at Arbitration Case Request while there was an active request and then basically responding to critics with "There's always someone." and pride when asked not to do it. This is comparison to other jokes he made (e..g this Afd which outside of someone else having to tag as humor is well with-in norms). Now I have my own history of "humor" and don't think this should disqualify him from being a functionary. But the Arbitration business, and doubling down with pride, is less than I would want to see from a functionary. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 23:45, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't consider what I did doubling down. On both the thread on my talkpage and an AN thread, I made a more important point of not restoring it and reminded people who ran into controversy on April Fools jokes not to get into it with each other. The Blade of the Northern Lights ( 話して下さい ) 01:51, 10 October 2019 (UTC)

ST47

 * Nomination statement


 * I am volunteering for Checkuser and Oversight. I returned to Wikipedia early this year from a long inactivity - I originally edited from 2006 - 2009. I am familiar with WP:SPI and investigate and resolve cases there regularly, and I have already signed the WMF NDA as a WP:ACC user. I'm a computer security researcher and a part time web admin, so I am very familiar with the uses - and limitations - of the tool. I am comfortable calculating IP ranges and issuing range blocks. My Recent Changes and AbuseFilter patrolling causes me to stumble upon likely sock puppet accounts fairly often, and access to the Checkuser tools would allow me to properly resolve those cases and help with backlogs at WP:SPI and elsewhere. Similarly, I do occasionally run into oversightable things from recent changes or sockpuppets, and report them to the oversight team. I often have IRC and email open even while I'm not actively on wiki. So, I offer to take on either or both roles, as you decide.

Standard questions for all candidates (ST47)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * Through recent changes patrolling, I occasionally find oversightable material that I report to the oversight email queue. I also use the revdel IRC channel to respond to requests for revision deletion by non-admins. As an oversighter I would be able to provide a faster response to people visiting that channel to request oversight, which can otherwise have a delay especially later in the evening when I am primarily active.
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I work in computer security, and I'm a developer/sysadmin for a small hobbyist website, so I regularly work with IP addresses and ranges, WHOIS and port scan data, user agent headers, and am responsible for protecting sensitive data relating to our users.
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * No.

Questions for this candidate (ST47)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (ST47)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.

Mz7

 * Nomination statement


 * Hello, I'm Mz7, and I would like to apply for oversight rights this year. I have been involved in the "behind-the-scenes" work on Wikipedia for almost the entirety of the time that I have been active here, and this has exposed me to numerous situations where I have had to request oversight. From November 2016 through April 2019, I was an active member of the OTRS team—I voluntarily relinquished my access in April because of changes in my real life situation which have now alleviated—so I would be readily able to handle requests to the OTRS queue. Being on the OTRS team exposed me to a more humbling side of Wikipedia: the people whom we write about and the people whom we interact with are real people, and the things we do and say can have real, tangible effects. We cannot forget that. For these reasons, I think I am intimately familiar with the principles underlying the oversight policy. I am very active on IRC, and there I help handle revision deletion requests in the #wikipedia-en-revdel channel—I would be more than happy to respond to the oversight requests there as well. As I mentioned in my CU nomination statement, I find that I get along well with other Wikipedians, so I look forward to working with fellow oversighters if appointed.

Standard questions for all candidates (Mz7)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * I have a lot of experience in the behind-the-scenes areas of Wikipedia that have exposed me to situations where I have needed to request oversight. I'm active on IRC, where I've handled numerous revision deletion requests in the channel. I have already signed the confidentiality agreement for Wikimedia projects as part of my work on WP:ACC and my previous work at WP:OTRS.
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I have worked in the past at organizations, including a stealth startup, which required me to fulfill confidentiality obligations.
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * This is my first time applying for advanced permissions beyond sysop on any WMF project. From November 2016 to April 2019, I was an active member of the OTRS team with access to the info-en and permissions queues. I voluntarily requested that my access be removed in April 2019; although my activity level was still within the activity requirements of OTRS, I decided I wanted to focus my time more on content work and administrative work on-wiki.

Questions for this candidate (Mz7)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (Mz7)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.


 * I have no problem with Mz7's judgement and believe that he would be of even greater benefit to the project in this role. -- The SandDoctor Talk 15:49, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

Xaosflux

 * Nomination statement


 * Hello, I am xaosflux and I am applying for an oversighter appointment. I have been a Wikipedian since 2005, an administrator since 2006, and a bureaucrat since 2016. I currently function as an oversighter on the meta-wiki project and have previously completed the confidentiality agreement for nonpublic information. If appointed, I will diligently support the oversight policy. Regarding oversight, some may recall I recently started a discussion on splitting oversight from ArbCom, to try to free up ArbCom for more dispute resolution activities – though it was a non-starter I still think that having non-arbcom oversighters is important so that the committee can focus on their core responsibilities.  To that end, I'd like to think I have the trust of the community to both keep suppressed material secret, and to only suppress materials as supported by policy.  Thank you.

Standard questions for all candidates (Xaosflux)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * Locally, I have years of experience with deletion, rev-del, and redaction as an administrator. I am currently an oversighter on the meta-wiki, so have direct experience both with the tools and its logs, as well as keeping open communications with other functionaries. — xaosflux  Talk 01:07, 4 October 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I have lengthy off-wiki professional experience in the financial industry, information security, and computer security. My experience includes review and classifying information, maintaining technical and professional confidentiality, and information system auditing. — xaosflux  Talk 01:07, 4 October 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * Yes. As listed in my CentralAuth listing I am an oversighter on the meta-wiki; a bureaucrat here, on testwiki, and on test2wiki. I am also an administrator on the Programs & Events Dashboard system. I am not a current OTRS agent. — xaosflux  Talk 01:07, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

Questions for this candidate (Xaosflux)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (Xaosflux)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.


 * Great attention to detail, command of policy, and technical expertise; a fine candidate. –xenotalk  03:09, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * ^Indeed. – Ammarpad (talk) 06:08, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Fine candidate excellent knowledge of policy and technical expertise and has perfomed around 24500 admin actions.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 12:58, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Technically adept and clueful bureaucrat. --qedk (t 桜 c) 17:00, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Already demonstrated both reliability and judgement Nosebagbear (talk) 18:23, 6 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I certainly trust his judgement as a Meta Oversighter colleague and would trust him to use his best judgement for the English Wikipedia. &mdash; regards, Revi 05:40, 7 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I trust Xaosflux's judgement and believe that he would be even more of an asset to the project in this role. -- The SandDoctor Talk 15:47, 7 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Good policy knowledge and already an OS on Meta. --Rschen7754 05:07, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

L235

 * Nomination statement


 * Greetings: I’m Kevin, and I’m applying for CheckUser and Oversight access to help with some of the backlogs we’ve seen, particularly at SPI. I’ve been an SPI clerk since December 2015, where I’ve been actively involved in sockpuppetry investigations. As a clerk and patrolling administrator, I am responsible for making initial determinations on the use of CheckUser (endorsing or declining CU requests prior to CU review), evaluating evidence, and blocking users for sockpuppetry. I’ve made over 500 blocks in the ~1 year since my RfA, and many SPI-clerk recommendations for admin action before that.


 * I have an extensive track record as a thorough evaluator of behavioral evidence in SPI cases, and I have a technical background as a Stanford computer science student. I am regularly available and accessible on IRC, and I am glad to perform CU/OS functions on ACC, UTRS, and OTRS (all of which I currently have access to).

Standard questions for all candidates (L235)

 * 1) Please describe any relevant on-Wiki experience you have for this role.
 * My nomination statement describes a number of pertinent areas in which I've contributed; in particular, I've been an SPI clerk for nearly four years, an ArbCom clerk for over four and a half years, and an administrator for over a year. In these roles, I have worked closely with functionaries and arbitrators, especially in sockpuppet investigations, and have developed experience in evaluating evidence and using the block and revdel tools.
 * 1) Please outline, without breaching your personal privacy, what off-Wiki experience or technical expertise you have for this role.
 * I have a technical background as a student of computer science at Stanford; although networking is not my area of research, I know the basics and I'm confident I can pick up relevant skills fairly quickly. As for experience dealing with private information, I have held a number of positions requiring NDAs and/or background checks.
 * 1) Do you hold advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) on this or other WMF projects? If so, please list them. Also, do you have OTRS permissions? If so, to which queues?
 * I do not have other advanced permissions, but I do have OTRS access to the info-en queue.

Questions for this candidate (L235)

 * Editors may ask a maximum of two questions per candidate.



Comments (L235)

 * Comments may also be submitted to the Arbitration Committee privately by emailing . Please note that the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to a paraphrased version of any emailed comments; the sender's name will not be provided.


 * Per my previous comment, I believe Kevin to be clueful and adept enough to deal with the tools if they are chosen for the same. --qedk (t 桜 c) 17:04, 6 October 2019 (UTC)