In the first linked observation, the DQA was indeed ticked by the observer themselves who also made the initial ID. They were a new user (first and only observation), so I think it’s likely that they just didn’t understand the DQA and made a mistake. I don’t think it’s someone acting in bad faith/misuse.
I occasionally see these mistakes in DQA by new users, but they are pretty rare in my experience (I don’t think most new users scroll down that far!).
However, at this point, this thread has strayed pretty far from OPs original purpose/question which was
If folks want a separate thread about DQA options including best ways to use them with unknowns, we can make a separate one and move some of that discussion from this thread there.