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I posted an answer to the question FileZilla Server refusing connection - 425 error, where I copied an IP address from the post.

I now find that this IP address was replaced by XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, both in the post and in my answer, but no revisions are logged to that effect.

In addition, while the IP address was written in my answer in the format of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, in the post it was rather written as XXX,XXX,XXX,XXX, but it was still detected and changed.

What person or automatic procedure is responsible for these changes, and without leaving any traces behind ?

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Your answer was redacted by a moderator as it contained potentially sensitive information.

The question asker had submitted an edit to the effect that they wanted the information removed but a moderator changed it to redact the original information instead.

See What should I do if a user posts sensitive information as part of a question or answer? for more information on why and how.

In order to assuage any fears of moderators running amok and effectively censoring the site any redaction must be approved and cannot be done unilaterally:

Once you've redacted these, another moderator will need to approve your redactions (they can be found via the flag queue). This is done to avoid frivolous or misguided use of the tool to hide benign edits.

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  • I didn't know about redaction, and I see that there was some discussion about it not leaving any traces for "us mere mortals" to see and understand, which would have been helpful. Thank you for your answer.
    – harrymc
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 9:21
  • 2
    While I can see that "it would be nice" for users to see when a redaction occurs it may have a rather bad side effect of encouraging users to dig further into something to figure out what was redacted and why. It could potentially make a situation worse if someone were to dig further and find other "inconsistencies" or leaks of private information.
    – Mokubai Mod
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 10:07
  • 3
    That's kinda the point of redaction - its stuff that shouldn't have been visible in the first place. Personally I like RFC 5737 ip addresses even if OP has them.
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 10:41
  • I didn't mean to start a discussion about redaction, but the old revision doesn't need to be kept, just the mention "redacted by X" to appear, and even this only until this is further edited by someone else. It could be useful for knowing who to address on Meta.
    – harrymc
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 11:14
  • @JourneymanGeek What’s funny, but perhaps I am wrong, the retracted is address is still in the question author’s content.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 12:25
  • 1
    Seems to be the case. Done the Needful, pending approval. Also, better redaction UI yay!
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 12:31
  • 2
    "cannot be done unanimously" Don't you mean "must be done unanimously"? Unanimously means "all in agreement", so if it cannot be done unanimously then at least one person must disagree with everyone else for a redaction to go through.
    – Clonkex
    Commented Nov 20, 2017 at 22:05
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    @Clonkex I probably meant unilaterally then. I'm surprised it took this long for someone to mention that...
    – Mokubai Mod
    Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 4:48
  • @Mokubai Haha probably everyone just read it the way you intended and didn't notice that it actually didn't make sense.
    – Clonkex
    Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 5:32
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    would have been more poetic if the "unanimously" --> "unilaterally" edit had been done via redaction
    – Sir Adelaide
    Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 6:58

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