This page in a nutshell: The ability to view the IP addresses used bytemporary accounts can be granted to non-admins who meet certain criteria. This tool is only for combatting policy violations and each use is logged.
Access to temporary account IP address information islogged. This log is displayed only toCheckUsers.
There are currently305 users with temporary account IP viewer rights, which together with Wikipedia administrators[a] makes for a total of 1,134 users with this permission, not includingglobal temporary account IP viewers who have been assigned the right across all Wikimedia projects.
Have made at least 300 edits to English Wikipedia[b]
Agree to use the IP addresses in accordance withFoundation policy, solely for the investigation or prevention of vandalism, abuse, or other violations of Wikimedia Foundation or community policies, and understand the risks and responsibilities associated with this privilege[b][d]
Admins are permitted to decline applicants who meet these criteria but are otherwise unsuitable for access to this tool.Stewards are authorized to make exceptions to the Foundation requirements (criteria 1–4) if someone needs access for a purpose that cannot be reasonably addressed by users who already have this access.
This is a summary ofWikimedia policy and does not represent anyconsensus specific to the English Wikipedia. In the case of any conflict between this section and Wikimedia policy, the latteris controlling.
It is never a violation of the TAIV disclosure policy to make a statement that does not rely on use of the TAIV tool. In particular, this means thatpurely behavioral comparisons of TAs to old IPs or TAs to named accounts are not governed by that policy. (e.g. "The edits atSun andMoon by ~2025-12345-67, 192.0.2.1, andUser:Example appear to be by the same person.")
However, TAIVs should take care not to give the impression that they are inappropriately disclosing TAIV information. Especially in the case of TA-to-IP behavioral comparisons, it is recommended to explicitly state that TAIV was not used.
Publicly linking a TA to another TA is allowed if "reasonably believed to be necessary". (e.g. "~2025-12345-67 and ~2025-12345-68 are on the same IP, so I am counting their reverts together toward3RR", but not "Hey ~2025-12345-68, you did some good editing as ~2025-12345-67".)
The same is generally true of metadata about an IP address, such as itsISP, whether it appears to be a proxy,[e] or a general location, unless this information is precise enough that it could plausibly be used to identify the user to a greater degree than they have self-disclosed. Note that some ISPs are very small or even belong to a single person, and that some countries havevery small populations or havevery few English Wikipedia editors. Avoid disclosing more information than necessary; when feasible, favor relative terms like "~2025-12345-67 and ~2025-12345-68 are on the same ISP and geolocate to the same area".[f]
Publicizing an IP address gained through TAIV access isgenerally not allowed (e.g. "~2025-12345-67 previously edited as 192.0.2.1" or "~2025-12345-67's IP address is 192.0.2.1")
However, admins are allowed to make blocks that, by their timing, imply a connection between an account and an IP (e.g. indefblocking ~2025-12345-67 and ~2025-12345-68 and then moments later blocking 192.0.2.1 for a week). The other restrictions discussed here still apply to the admin's block summary and any other public comments on the blocks. This may sometimes mean that administrators need to be vague in describing IP blocks; for instance, if a TAIV requests that the IP underlying several TAs be blocked, the blocking admin should respond with something like "Resolved" rather than "Blocked underlying IP".
And when "reasonably believed to be necessary", exceptions can be made at appropriate policy-enforcement venues. For any recent disruption, it will usually be enough to tell another TAIV or admin to look at an IP themself, so this exception rarely applies to short-term cases. But it may apply e.g. tolong-term abuse pages or particularly complexsockpuppet investigations. However, the disclosure should berevision-deleted as soon as it ceases to be necessary.[g]
Saying that a TA isnot using a specific IP or range (e.g. "~2025-12345-67's IP puts them far away from 192.0.2.1") does not explicitly violate the disclosure policy; but if a TAIV says this in one case, and does not say it in another, this can lead to editors assuming a connection in the latter case.Vaguer phrasing like "I do not see evidence that ~2025-12345-67 is evading a block" is preferable.
CheckUsers will generally not publicly link named accounts to TAs, since this effectivelydiscloses their IP address to any TAIV or admin.
Admins are permitted to remove the temporary account IP viewer permission for misuse of the right, including the disclosure of temporary account IP addresses in violation of theAccess to Temporary Account IP Addresses Policy.
Additionally, the permission should be removed from editors who have been inactive for a year.[b]
^This requirement is satisfied by editors checking a box in their preferences, stating they have read and agree to this condition. Because this is enforced by the software before editors can make use of the permission, editors are not required to state their agreement in their request.
^This sub-bullet is not based on the TAIV disclosure policy, but rather discussion with WMF Legal, who haveexplicitly endorsed this interpretation of policy.
^For convenience' sake, it may be preferable totransclude the disclosure from some subpage, e.g.Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Example/TAIV disclosure, so that when it is laterredacted and revision-deleted this does not also sweep up a large number of intervening edits.
Turn on the ability to display IP addresses of temporary accounts.