(January 9, 2014 at 2:47 pm)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: I see no problem with googling stuff people have written. In the same way that attacking someone's words is not attacking them, investigating someone's words is not the same as investigating them.
(Nothing in this post should be construed to reflect official policy or the opinion of anyone other than myself)
I think that it's very important that a distinction is drawn between what is and what is not publicly visible. From my perspective (both as an ordinary member and a member of staff), there is no issue with doing an external search based on what a member chooses to make visible to others.
Using information that requires escalated privilege should be done only with a) adequate justification, and b) sufficient oversight. Furthermore, I cannot think of many situations where it would be necessary to do so.
Fortunately, moderators simply do not have access to the bulk of that information - only a poster's IP address is visible beyond what the general public can see.
