Wikipedia:Request an account/Procedures

This page describes the accepted internal procedures used by and for the Account Creation Interface, primarily relating to the use of administrator tools on the interface.

ACC tool administrators (also called interface administrators or tool admins) are experienced and trusted users who have the technical ability to manage user accounts, edit interface messages (including comments), force break users' reservations and the ability to ban IPs, email addresses and usernames, and certain other abilities. Tool admins have powers similar to Wikipedia administrators (referred to as 'sysops' on this page to avoid confusion) and Wikipedia bureaucrats in the context of the tool.

Tool administrators
Tool admins are selected and promoted through a private nomination, voting, discussion, and vetting process between current tool administrators, followed by a consensus reached by tool admins whether or not to proceed with the promotion of the nominated user. Tool admins are not employees or representatives of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Tool admins have the technical ability to:
 * assess requests from prospective new tool users, and then approve or decline their request
 * suspend, unsuspend, promote, demote, and rename tool user accounts
 * edit a user's email address and on-wiki username
 * edit a user's comments left on a request
 * view comments set as "admin only"
 * force break a user's reservation of a request that is being held by an ACC tool user.
 * view the requestor's email address and IP address(es) logged in an account request without having to reserve it first, as well as view closed requests
 * reset requests that have been closed for longer than a week
 * ban and unban IP addresses, IP address ranges, and email addresses from being able to submit new account requests using the ACC tool interface
 * edit interface messages, such as internal messages and email templates that are sent to requestors
 * search for account requests by IP addresses or IP ranges logged, which will return all results where a requestor submitted a new account request while using that IP or range.
 * Silently close a request with a custom response and where no CC is sent to the ACC tool user mailing list
 * Authorize dropping a request due to a single IP block affecting the requestor

ACC Tool admins also have access to the private ACC tool admins' mailing list and the private ACC tool admins' IRC channel, which are typically used to discuss sensitive or privileged information, collaborate on internal issues, and discuss or judge the outcome of discussions among ACC tool users.

Promotion
When the existing ACC admin team believes that new admins are needed, they may approach users they believe to be good candidates for the position, and/or put out a call for self-nominations to the general ACC mailing list.


 * ACC tool users may not nominate other ACC tool users for candidacy; they can only nominate themselves
 * ACC tool admins, individually and at their own discretion, may nominate any user for candidacy and recommend they run for promotion.
 * Only active, current ACC tool users with accounts in good standing (not suspended or under any restrictions) may be nominated.
 * All self-nominations should be made in private to the admins' mailing list.
 * If a call for self-nominations is opened, the self-nomination period will last one week.
 * Optionally, the ACC tool admins may, at their discretion, disclose the number of ACC admin positions they intend to fill in a self-nomination request call.

When all admin-nominated users have responded to the current admins' correspondence either accepting or rejecting their nomination (if applicable) and the seven-day period for self-nominations has elapsed (if applicable), the admin selection process moves on to the vetting and discussion phase. The discussion begins with a general announcement of all the nominees (those who accepted admin nominations - if applicable - and those who self-nominated - if applicable) to the general mailing list. During this period, which also lasts one week, any ACC user may submit in private to the admins' mailing list an email in support of/opposition to any or all candidates. To reduce drama and to encourage honest feedback, these should not be sent to the general mailing list.

Once the discussion phase ends, the ACC admins will consider the submitted comments by the general ACC community and privately discuss the candidates. The final decision of which candidates to promote lies solely with the ACC admin team, though with consideration to the general ACC community's wishes. Specific reasons in favor of or against candidates will not be released to the general ACC population, though they may be relayed privately to each candidate, with all community input anonymized to encourage honest feedback from the community (though, of course, if a candidate is promoted, they will have access to the private admins' mailing list archives, and thus the community input). Note that the ACC admin team may choose to promote none of the candidates, though this an unlikely outcome, especially if there were admin-nominated candidates; they may also choose to promote all the candidates, or any number in between.

Once the admins reach consensus on all the candidates, the results will be announced, and if any of the candidates are selected, they will be promoted at that time.

Note that in line with holding final authority over all ACC matters, the tool roots reserve the right to veto a candidate at any phase during this process for any reason, with the intention that this is only done in exceptional circumstances involving very private information not available to the rest of the ACC admin team.

Please remember that the general attitude about becoming an ACC admin is that it should be No Big Deal™ for experienced, trusted ACC users, and all users should approach the promotion process accordingly.

Demotion
Tool admins may resign or demote themselves for any reason; this reason should preferably be included.

Tool admins may be demoted:
 * when there is a consensus of tool admins, if the issue cannot be discussed with non-admin ACC tool users;
 * when there is a consensus of tool users;
 * when felt necessary by a tool root;
 * when requested by ArbCom or the WMF; or
 * there are grounds to suspend due to misconduct, but the reviewing tool admin feels it more appropriate to demote.

If an ACC tool admin's acount is suspended for misconduct, the suspension comes with an automatic demotion.

Re-promotion
If a tool admin was demoted under non-voluntary circumstances, due to misconduct or violation of policy, or under any conditions listed in, they must be re-promoted to a tool administrator in accordance with the process above. If the user was demoted at the request of ArbCom or the WMF, they must also receive approval by ArbCom or the WMF (respectively) before such promotion can be performed.

Former tool admins may be summarily re-promoted if they voluntarily demoted themselves or were demoted voluntarily or under non-controversial circumstances, meaning that:
 * none of the conditions set out in applied;
 * they didn’t leave or become demoted "under a cloud".
 * If you were not an ACC tool admin during the time that the user was demoted or suspended, or if you don't have any first-hand context, knowledge, or information regarding the reason for the user's demotion or suspension, you must confer with another ACC tool admin and verify that the user was demoted or suspended under non-controversial circumstances and while their status as a tool admin was in good standing.
 * they have not been suspended from the tool for more than 6 months; and
 * they have guaranteed that they have a thorough understanding of any changes made to WMF, English Wikipedia and ACC rules, policies, and procedures (particularly the guide, and this page).

New tool users
New tool users must meet the criteria in the guide. Any doubts or concerns regarding an applicant’s suitability should be discussed with other ACC Tool Administrators. Due to the extremely high sensitivity of the information that ACC Tool Users have access to, and the consequences that follow as a result of any incorrect or inappropriate actions that an ACC Tool User executes while using the ACC Tool User interface, the threshold for approving a new ACC Tool User's application must be very strict. Preference should be given toward declining a new ACC Tool User request and asking the candidate to come back and re-apply later when they have more experience and trust, rather than just approving the application, with any new ACC Tool User request application where the candidate is "borderline", or where any legitimate and reasonable uncertainty or doubt is expressed by an ACC Tool Administrator regarding the candidate that isn't explicitly addressed by any supporters in the discussion (see Wikipedia's policy on consensus).


 * 1) Confirm that the candidate is identified to the Wikimedia Foundation and that the confirmation diff supplied is correct.
 * 2) Check for “red flag” issues such as:
 * the account is older than 6 months old and has at least 1500 edits;
 * any abuse of multiple accounts, whether there was a block imposed or not; or
 * currently or recently (within the last 6-12 months) active editing restrictions or recent (within the last 3-6 months) adverse community or ArbCom decisions.
 * 1) Check for previous blocks:
 * given the customer service and collegial nature of the ACC tool if there has been a previous block for incivility or personal attacks the tool admin should check through the user's recent contributions to ensure that they act civilly and collaboratively.
 * blocks for edit warring which were placed more than 6 months ago can generally be ignored, assuming it isn’t a pattern of behavior, thus indicating that the user doesn’t learn from their mistakes and can’t follow policy.
 * blocks within the last 6 months, or in the case of blocks for more than a week or two a longer break, should be seriously looked in to ensure that the user has learned from their mistake and that there is not a pattern of ignoring policy.
 * 1) At the tool admin’s discretion: ensure that before you approve the account there is a need for more tool users. If there isn't, then let the user know that they should re-request access in 3-6 months. They should send an email to the tool admins' mailing list requesting a review of their application.
 * 2) At the end of the day, the team has placed its trust in tool admins to select new tool users, use your discretion. Poll other admins on IRC to see if there are any objections to promoting someone before making a final decision, and if something doesn’t seem right feel free to dig deeper and ask someone else to have a look too.
 * If you have decided to approve.
 * 1) Approve their account on the tool (see the procedures for tool admins below).
 * If you have decided to decline.
 * 1) Deny access on the tool, leaving a message to explain your reasoning and that they can appeal to the tool admins' mailing list after waiting at least one month.

Approval
New or returning ACC tool users can only be approved and granted access to the interface by an ACC tool administrator. The process for properly approving a new or returning user is listed below.

Approval procedures for ACC tool administrators
Listed below is the proper procedure for approving and granting a new ACC tool user access to the ACC tool user interface, or for re-approving an existing ACC tool user for access following a suspension of their tool user account.

All of steps list below are required to be followed and in the order in which they are written. Verification of the completion of each step is your responsibility, and can achieved in many different ways. The easiest way is to have another ACC tool administrator go through the process themselves and check your work. Any optional steps, or steps that can be skipped upon certain conditions will be clearly stated.

1. Verify that the new or returning user is listed on the noticeboard on meta as having signed the Wikimedia Foundation's access to nonpublic personal data policy. The noticeboard to check is here. • If the user is not listed on the noticeboard, the process cannot continue until they are. This certifies that the WMF has confirmed that the user has agreed to the required policy, and signed the agreement.

2. Verify that the user is subscribed to the ACC tool users mailing list (accounts-enwiki-l). If you are not a mailing list administrator, please ask for one to check, or ping Oshwah to have him check for you.


 * At the top of the accounts-enwiki-l interface, click on "Users" --> "Members". Search this list for the user that you're adding or reinstating.
 * If their email address appears in this list, then the user is already subscribed, and you can skip the rest of this procedure.
 * Otherwise, proceed to the next step below.
 * At the top of the accounts-enwiki-l interface, click on "Subscription requests" --> "Pending approval".
 * If the user that you're adding or reinstating is listed here, approve the user's request. The user will now be subscribed, and you can skip the rest of this procedure.
 * Otherwise, proceed to the next step below.
 * At the top of the accounts-enwiki-l interface, click on "Subscription requests" --> "Pending confirmation".
 * If the user that you're adding or reinstating is listed here, the user has started the process of becoming subscribed, but hasn't yet followed the process in order to confirm their email address. They just need to check their mailbox, locate the subscription confirmation email that was sent to them, and follow the instructions in order to confirm their email address.
 * Once they have completed the confirmation process, the user will be moved to the "Pending approval" list under "Subscription requests". See above for how to proceed.
 * Do not bypass this step and mark the user's email address as confirmed unless you have definitive proof outside of ACC that the email provided is legitimate. "Word of mouth" from the user (such as them giving you their email address on IRC, discord, or on-wiki) is not definitive proof. This assures us with 100% certainty that we have a legitimate email address for each ACC tool user in our system and on file, and compromising the integrity of that list cannot be allowed to happen under any circumstances.
 * Otherwise, if the user is not listed here, they haven't begun the process of becoming subscribed. Contact the user, and inform them of the requirement to subscribe to the ACC tool user mailing list. We cannot proceed with approval or reinstatement until this process is completed.

3. Navigate to the "User management" interface within the ACC tool interface. Locate the user requesting access to the ACC tool interface and approve the user.

4. Set the +I parameter of the user on the #wikipedia-en-accounts IRC channel if you know their cloak and NickServ account name. All users must be cloaked first before they can be given access to the channel. Contact the user to have them request and obtain a cloak to be set on their IRC nick if they do not have one. • IRC command syntax: /mode #wikipedia-en-accounts +I *!*@wikimedia/UsersNickOnIRC (Replace 'UsersNickOnIRC' with the actual Nick from the user's cloak name)

5. Leave the newly approved user a welcome message on their user talk page - see here for an example. If the user hasn't discussed their IRC nick or requested any access to the channel, set the appropriate parameters on the welcome message which will let them know where they need to go. You can leave {{subst:ACC-access}} on their talk page which includes some information about the tool.

6. If the approval is to lift the suspension placed on an existing ACC tool user account and for reasons involving violations or misconduct (not due to simple inactivity, request by the tool user, or a self-suspension on an admin's own account), and is not an action following the outcome, consensus, or recommendation by the ACC admin team in an active email discussion, the ACC tool administrator team must be contacted immediately following the action by sending an email to the ACC tool administrator mailing list. A detailed explanation, reason, and circumstances involved must be provided in order to fully and properly inform the team.

Suspension
If a user with the account creator user right is suspended from the tool, the right should be removed per. Suspension of an ACC tool user account can only be performed by an ACC tool administrator, and the user's account creator user right can only be removed by an English Wikipedia administrator. The proper steps and procedures for properly suspending an ACC tool user account is listed below.

Suspension procedures for ACC tool administrators
Listed below is the proper procedure for suspending an ACC tool user, and revoking their access to the ACC tool user interface, as well as all communication channels that contain non-personal information or data.

All of steps list below are required to be followed and in the order in which they are written. Verification of the completion of each step is your responsibility, and can achieved in many different ways. The easiest way is to have another ACC tool administrator go through the process themselves and check your work. Any optional steps, or steps that can be skipped upon certain conditions will be clearly stated.

1. Remove the user's subscription to the ACC mailing list so that they stop receiving internal ACC-related emails intended for tool users only. If you are not a mailing list administrator, please ask for one, or ping Oshwah to have him perform this procedure for you.


 * At the top of the accounts-enwiki-l interface, click on "Users" --> "Members". Search this list for the user that you're removing.
 * Once you have located the user in the mailing list members list, select the user by clicking on the check box next to their account, and then click on "Unsubscribe selected".
 * If the user is not currently present on the list or if you cannot locate them, you can find the ACC tool user's email address from their ACC tool user account by viewing it under the "Account management" page. Try searching for them using their ACC tool user email address.
 * Important: If you still cannot locate or find the user in the mailing list members list page, check with other ACC admins to verify that they have been removed from the subscription list by one of them. Also check if the tool user to be suspended has perhaps unsubscribed themselves from the mailing list.
 * It is critical that their removal of access is verified due to the private data and nature of the internal emails that ACC tool users receive.

2. Revoke the user's access to the ACC tool user interface. • Navigate to the "User management" page within the ACC tool user interface.

• Locate the user on the ACC tool interface that you are going to suspend.

• Click on the suspend button next to the user's listed account.

• Enter a clear reason and a detailed explanation in the reason text box that appears. This is what will appear on the ACC tool user's account status change log. Make sure that it provides clear an in-depth context for other ACC tool administrators to easily understand in the future.

• If it's necessary to explain via an ACC tool administrator-only email, send one to the ACC tool administrators team, and include the email subject or link in the ACC suspension reason.

3. Remove the +I parameter of the user on the #wikipedia-en-accounts IRC channel if you know their cloak or NickServ account name, and kick the user from the channel. • IRC command syntax to remove access: /mode #wikipedia-en-accounts -I *!*@wikimedia/UsersNickOnIRC (Replace 'UsersNickOnIRC' with the actual Nick from the user's cloak name)

• IRC command syntax to kick the user: /kick UsersNickOnIRC (Replace 'UsersNickOnIRC' with the user's actual IRC Nick)

• Notify the user of their suspension and removal of tool access via PM on IRC and refer them to the email that they'll receive for details.

• This matter should involve the ACC tool administrators and the effected tool user only. Do not notify or involve any ACC tool users. If informing any ACC tool users is deemed to be absolutely necessary after discussion and clear consensus by the ACC tool administrator team, the suspension should be communicated to all ACC tool users via an email to the ACC tool users mailing list.

4. If the ACC tool user has the account creator user right enabled on their English Wikipedia account, the user right must be removed. • If you are not an English Wikipedia administrator, you can ping Oshwah to have him remove the user right for you.

• Otherwise, if he is unavailable, you must contact an English Wikipedia administrator to have them remove the user right.

• First, look for a tool admin sysop on IRC and ping them in the #wikipedia-en-accounts-admins channel for help.

• If none is available, contact a sysop separately or post a request on the Administrator’s Noticeboard to have the right removed.

5. If the suspension reason is due to misconduct or a violation of a policy stated on the ACC tool guide (something that isn't due to inactivity, self-requested by the user, or another reason while in good standing), you must perform the following actions listed in each bullet point listed below: • send an email to the suspended tool user and notify them of the action and why. You need to include a detailed explanation and the reason for the suspension, information regarding the request(s) involved as examples so that they understand (do not include any private information such as the requester's email or IP), and any follow-up or appeal procedures in the message body. Your email must also cc the ACC tool admins mailing list. • A best practice you should keep in mind: If your email to the suspended user includes sufficient-enough details and information, and a clear-enough explanation so that a separate email to the ACC tool admins isn't necessary outside of sending a cc of this email to them, you'll know that you've provided a thorough explanation to the suspended user that is complete and well-written. If you feel otherwise, you should consider adding more information or reformatting your explanation or message body so that the user is not confused by your explanation in any way and that your message is clear, detailed, and concise.

• If necessary, send an email to the ACC tool admins mailing list with any information or details regarding the suspension that's relevant and/or necessary and for attention and visibility only by the ACC tool admin team.

Inactivity
Any account (other than a tool root or CheckUser flagged account) may be suspended by a tool admin and the account creator user rights removed from their Wikipedia account if their ACC tool user account becomes inactive for 90 days or more, per the tool report. Such suspensions are indefinite by default until the inactive tool user contacts an ACC tool admin to request their tool access be restored. ACC tool root administrators and ACC tool users who are checkusers on the English Wikipedia are exempt from suspension following inactivity.

Users that are suspended due to inactivity may have their account re-activated and their account creator user rights restored by request to any tool admin at any time. Tool admins should ensure that the user is aware of any changes made to policy and procedure while they have been suspended, directing them to re-read the guide and site notice before handling a request is sufficient. If the requesting user has been inactive for a long period or is not familiar to the acting admin, the user's identification status should be verified before proceeding.

Requests for re-activation following a very long period of ACC account inactivity (typically one year or more) may be held pending a review of the user's recent Wikipedia activity, conduct, logs, blocks, and relevant experience at the discretion and judgment of the acting ACC tool admin. Such requests that are put on hold pending a review of the user should be communicated to the ACC tool administrators by emailing the ACC tool administrator mailing list.

Own request and self-suspension
Any ACC tool user may request that their account be suspended by contacting any tool admin, although preferably by sending an email to the ACC tool admin mailing list. As with ACC tool users that are suspended due to inactivity, they will have their account creator user rights removed from their Wikipedia account during the suspension and may have their account re-activated and the rights restored by request to any tool admin at any time.

Any ACC tool admin may self-suspend their own account for any reason and at any time by using the interface to do so; the reason should be stated as being a "self-suspension" and include a reason for the self-suspension. Other tool admins should only re-approve the account if they are confident that the reason for the self-suspension has passed (for example that the user wishes to return or that there is no longer a chance of hijacking). See the section above.

Misconduct
Tool users may be suspended for any of the following reasons until they can convince the suspending tool admin, or tool admin team, that they can be trusted and will handle requests correctly in the future:
 * 1) Wikipedia account sanctions. If the tool user's Wikipedia account becomes blocked, banned, or globally locked for a reason in which the user's trust or ability to properly use the tool is called into question by the ACC tool admin team, the tool user account may be suspended for the duration of the block or ban, or longer depending on the reason and the severity of the matter involved. If the Wikipedia account becomes the subject of active sanctions, editing restrictions, or remedies (either community-imposed or as a result of an ArbCom ruling), the tool user's account may also be subject to suspension. For example: A tool user who becomes blocked for outing or sockpuppetry will typically be given an indefinite suspension on their ACC account. Blocks on other Wikimedia projects may be taken into account if they are for highly severe violations of policy, or the breaching of non-public data.
 * 2) Repeatedly violating the ACC guide. If the tool user begins a pattern of incorrectly handling account requests which results in one or more incorrect closes, suspensions may be imposed. Examples include creating an account where the IP is blocked, or overriding the antispoof check and creating an account for a request where "active" similar accounts exist. Tool admins should give leniency for new tool users, and for more experienced tool users where it is obvious they made an honest mistake. However, when a warning is repeated and appears to be the beginning of a pattern of incorrect closes, appropriate punishments and/or suspensions should be considered.
 * 3) Breaching privacy in ACC comments. Releasing personally identifying information in an ACC request comment, and after being previously counseled or warned, will result in account suspension.
 * 4) Breaching privacy outside the ACC tool. Releasing personally identifying information outside of the ACC tool will result in suspensions, even if it is a first offense.
 * 5) Continued misconduct after previous counseling and/or previous suspensions. If the user has been previously counseled and/or temporarily suspended, and if they continue to breach or violate any WMF, English Wikipedia, or ACC policies, guidelines, or procedures - indefinite suspension is the next step in the escalation of appropriate sanctions.
 * 6) Compromised accounts. Suspected or confirmed compromised accounts should be suspended indefinitely until the matter is resolved.

Users, including tool admins, may also be suspended for any of the following reasons:
 * 1) Loss of trust by the ACC tool admins. If the user no longer has the trust of the tool admin team for a reason not stated above, the tool user's account can be suspended. The suspension must be supported by a consensus of tool admins, and should only be lifted if there is a consensus of tool admins.
 * 2) Loss of trust by the ACC tool user team. If the user no longer has the trust of the ACC team, the tool user's account can be suspended. In this case, the suspension must only be lifted if there is a consensus of the ACC tool user team.
 * 3) When requested by a functionary, ArbCom, or the WMF. When requested by a CheckUser, ArbCom or the WMF, the ACC tool user account must be suspended. In this situation, suspensions can only be lifted with the express consent of the CheckUser, CheckUser team, ArbCom Team, or the WMF, respectively.

ACC tool admins should bear in mind the sensitivity of the information on the tool and the possible consequences of incorrect actions when deciding whether to proceed with a suspension or the lifting of a suspension. Instructions for suspension and (re)activation of an account following a suspension are outlined in this page above.

Appeal
Appeals regarding suspensions and denial of tool access should be directed to, in the first instance, the tool admin who carried out the action directly. If a discussion or reason that is satisfactory isn't reached by the suspended user, then the tool admin mailing list can be contacted by the suspended user requesting an appeal (except where stated otherwise). It must include verification that the suspended ACC tool admin was contacted first and the reason that you're choosing to appeal to the team instead.

Mailing list and IRC channels
An ACC user must never have access to any mailing list, IRC channel, or other privileged space if it is restricted to ACC users with higher access than they have on the ACC tool user interface. They should have the same access to other areas that are restricted to their level of access (or below) to the ACC tool user interface. An example would be that a non-tool admin must not have access to the tool admin mailing list or the tool admin IRC channel.

If a user is suspended for any reason or duration, their access to the mailing list and the IRC channel should also be revoked during the suspension.

All emails sent to tool users relating to their use of the tool should be carbon copied to the ACC tool admin mailing list. All emails sent to requesters should be carbon copied to the ACC tool user mailing list.

IP addresses
IP addresses may be banned if they have recently been, or are being used to abusively request accounts or if they are static and non-shared and are confirmed to be used by a blocked or banned user on the English Wikipedia or a globally locked/blocked user. In cases of severe and constant abuse of the tool, that is multiple bad-faith account requests coming in a short period of time, shared or dynamic IP address may be banned for a short period of time, generally not more than 24 hours to one week except in the case of severe and continued abuse, in which case it might be worth consulting a CheckUser to determine what exactly is going on.

Care should be taken when banning IP addresses which may be used by more than one person, as banning these IPs may undermine the role of the ACC tool.

Email addresses
Email addresses may be banned if they have been used to abusively request accounts or if they are confirmed to have been or currently used by a blocked or banned user on the English Wikipedia or globally locked user. Email addresses should generally be banned indefinitely.

Usernames
A requested username may be banned if more than one bad-faith account request has been made requesting that username. Bans made pre-emptively or after one request may be made at a tool admin’s discretion with good reason. Usernames should generally be banned indefinitely.

Lifting bans
Given the confidential information involved with the ACC tool, the tool admin may not have disclosed the full circumstances in their ban reason so they must be consulted before a ban is lifted. If it is obvious that a ban has been placed in error it may be lifted by any tool admin, as long as an explanation is sent to the tool admin mailing list.

The banning tool admin may remove the ban at any time, at their discretion. A consensus of tool admins or non-admin tool users (only where all information regarding the ban can be disclosed) is required to overturn any ban which the banning tool admin does not believe should be lifted.

Ban appeals
Bans may be appealed to the ACC administrators' mailing list.

CheckUser and ArbCom bans
Bans which are labelled as a CheckUser or ArbCom ban must not be removed by any tool admin without first checking with a CheckUser or ArbCom respectively. Lifting a ban labelled as such is grounds for immediate demotion.

Force breaking reservations
A user’s reservation of a request may be forcefully broken when a request has been waiting without an indication of why, and if the user who reserved the request is not available.

The user whose reservation was broken should be informed. An email CCed to the admin mailing list or a message on IRC is sufficient.

Editing comments
Tool admins may edit any comment of another user if its content breaches the requirements of any WMF, English Wikipedia or ACC rule, policy or procedure. This is primarily the case when personally identifying information is left in a comment.

The user who made the comment should be counseled on why they should not have put what they did in their comment. Also let them know that they may be suspended for any further infringement.

Resetting old requests
Old requests may only be reset where there is a need to do so, such as when a requester has sent an email to the mailing list after the request was closed pending a reply.

Extreme caution should be taken if the account was created, as this is tantamount to running a CheckUser and sharing it with the team.

CheckUsers and Arbitrators are bound by relevant WMF and English Wikipedia policies.

Changes to policy or procedures
Any changes to the guide, published procedures or internal private procedures which someone may object to, or which is a major change should be discussed before being implemented or enforced. Directives from the WMF and updates due to changes to English Wikipedia policies and guidelines are exempt from this requirement.