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WikiScanner
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WikiScanner

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Also known as Wikipedia Scanner

WikiScanner (also known as Wikipedia Scanner) was a publicly searchable database that linked anonymous edits on Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated. It did this by cross-referencing the edits with data on the owners of the associated block of IP addresses, though it did not investigate edits made under a username. It was created by Virgil Griffith and released on August 13, 2007.

Key facts

Website.name
WikiScanner
Website.screenshot
250px
Website.caption
Screenshot of the website on August 22, 2007.
Website.url
wikiscanner.virgil.grVirgil Griffith'svirgil.gr (current)
Website.commercial
No
Website.type
Database tool
Website.language
Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish
Website.registration
No
Website.owner
Virgil Griffith
Website.author
Virgil Griffith
Website.current_status
Offline (at least since 2013, page moved)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official website
wikiscanner.virgil.gr
Show 3 more facts
Commons category
WikiScanner
inception
2007-00-00
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~11 min read

Article

6 sections
Contents
  • Design
  • Media coverage and reaction
  • Wikipedia reaction
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

WikiScanner (also known as Wikipedia Scanner) was a publicly searchable database that linked anonymous edits on Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated. It did this by cross-referencing the edits with data on the owners of the associated block of IP addresses, though it did not investigate edits made under a username. It was created by Virgil Griffith and released on August 13, 2007.

In his "WikiScanner FAQ" Griffith stated his belief that WikiScanner could help make Wikipedia more reliable for controversial topics. He also indicated that he had never been employed by the Wikimedia Foundation and claimed his work on WikiScanner was "100% noncommercial". On December 21, 2012, a research group from Fondazione Bruno Kessler released an open-source clone of WikiScanner called WikiWatchdog.

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