[Foundation-l] Note regarding status of privacy policy

Sun Aug 10 22:55:23 UTC 2008

SlimVirgin wrote:
> I don't know how or whether the Data Protection Act would apply, but I
> think if members of the UK group were involved in retaining checkuser
> information (and I have no idea whether they are), it would kick in if
> a request were made under the Act. I mentioned it only as an example.
>
> ...
>
> The legal sleight of hand hasn't worked with animal liberationists and
> I don't see how it can work here either. The courts do find a way to
> hold people and groups responsible for the damage and distress they
> cause, so the best thing is to avoid the damage ahead of time by
> making sure the checkuser and privacy policies are strictly enforced.
We may well be dealing with something unenforceable here.  If a person 
with checkuser privileges wishes to keep a private file full of data 
about every time he used the privilege, how can anyone stop him?  As 
long as he has those privileges such a file can make his work more 
efficient.  We can say that the file must be destroyed once he loses the 
privilege, but we have no way of making sure that he does.  If he tries 
to use the information later for improper purposes his ownership of the 
information will become obvious, but in most cases the file will just 
lie dormant until the hardware is ready for the scrap heap.

Ec