Spying Tracking and Stalking

[Moloch Redgrave]

There is a person who created over 100 bots that is roaming them around the grid for tracking people's movement.  These bots collect data on everyone in the sim. They normally come in for 10 seconds do a radar sweep of the sim and collect data then TP' out to the next sim. I would see this constitute as spying, stalking, and tracking of avatars.

Your thoughts on the matter?

Edited November 14, 2022 by Quartz Mole
Removed name of alleged bot.

[Rowan Amore]

  If I were going to stalk and/or harass someone, I'd certainly NOT make 100s of bots with the same basic name.  Stalking 101.

 

[Rowan Amore]

1 hour ago, Paulsian said:

remove our personal information from whom ever is collecting it. 

What personal information would that be?  

[Lindal Kidd]

@Moloch Redgrave, read the replies and then ask yourself...

"Am I being paranoid?"

And if you answer "No", then ask yourself again until you get the correct answer.

[Wulfie Reanimator]

35 minutes ago, Paulsian said:

• avatar/account name
• travel locations
• time of travel
• objects on avatar clothings, script
• where they are going
• bot models to try to influence the target into purchasing
• track how many times the targets click other objects on other avatars
• what the target is interested in

None of this is personal information.

[Moloch Redgrave]

Well I see these same bots in my home , my business, and any places of great interest. They are definitely tracking something. They come in every hour for 1 min do what they do then TP to the next location doing the same thing.  Over 100 of them doing the same thing. So no I'm not being paranoid cause others see the same thing as me. So what I believe these bots are doing is gathering location information on people or whatever . Perfect if you want to know where someone is for tracking them. Like a private detective agency....

[Moloch Redgrave]

Funny how Linden Labs removed the name of the bot. You clearly can see there is over 100's of them or more . If you see [the bot] and many numerical variants ban her from your land or sim.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Quartz Mole

[Rowan Amore]

35 minutes ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Since when has Linden Labs started censoring posts. This is a serious matter that has to do with privacy and these accounts need to be shut down and exposed.

Note that they censored your original post here.

Blatantly disregarding moderators by continuing to post names can get you in trouble here AND inworld.  Forum vacations can include inworld vacations.

On 11/14/2022 at 7:52 AM, Moloch Redgrave said:

There is a person who created over 100 bots that is roaming them around the grid for tracking people's movement.  These bots collect data on everyone in the sim. They normally come in for 10 seconds do a radar sweep of the sim and collect data then TP' out to the next sim. I would see this constitute as spying, stalking, and tracking of avatars.

Your thoughts on the matter?

Edited 19 hours ago by Quartz Mole
Removed name of alleged bot.

 

[Rolig Loon]

How do you have any idea what the bot is doing or what data out is collecting?

[Wulfie Reanimator]

These bots are nothing new, they've existed almost as long as SL. If they were breaking TOS or doing something nefarious, we'd know.

Most likely they're just survey bots, not spies.

If you're bothered by them, enable avatar hiding in your parcel. If they happen to teleport into your parcel, enable banlines for a few days.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Wulfie Reanimator

[Nick0678]

26 minutes ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Your thoughts on the matter?

How do you know everyone else is not a BOT.

Those BOTs are the most harmless for 1 simple reason 'their owner was never in your contact list'.

[Paulsian]

If army of bots started swarming the area I were in I'd prolly be entertained for awhile I'd leave to one of my safe places, maybe one in a non scripted area (no that it would make a difference I like to think it would). My safe spaces are several 1000 regions apart. If I were followed I would quickly abuse report one of them for harassment. In the report I would explain where I was, what happened, concerns, and move on. I've been followed before, usually they teleport in at the edge of the region I go to as if I would not notice. I've noticed it happening to others in places that do not have a set teleport landing, when people come in, usually newer users, a few seconds after they land another avatar would teleport in from the same landing spot. I've noticed this several different times. Would think it was a friend sending another friend a teleport request, possible. Just a trend i've noticed. Would be nice if we had more control. Or ways to trap the bots and auto report them, remove our personal information from whom ever is collecting it. 3rd party data brokers taking advantage of this system, alienating users for way too long. 

[Paulsian]

48 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

What personal information would that be?  

Never had a bot farm, but if I did I would want to collect avatar/account name, travel locations, time of travel, objects on avatar clothings, script. Maybe to try to figure out where they are going and what kind of bot models to try to influence the target into purchasing? Maybe my fictional bot would track how many times the targets click other objects on other avatars to get better understanding of what the target is interested in. If I were interesting in adult stuff then eventually I would be swarmed with a bunch of fembots with lots of handy information in their profiles. 

[Love Zhaoying]

The bots are probably just having A.A. Meetings ("Automatons Anonymous").

[Paulsian]

I've seen the coolest people/performers be alienated by others when they were called bots. Currently difficult to tell bot accounts from non bot accounts, and we currenlty have no privacy settings restricting bots from collecting information relating to their targets which are us non bots. If we had option to block all bot interaction/visibility I would enable it. I really don't like being hit by scripts sent by bots in public spaces, which were reported and never corrected. 

It's apparent that bots were developed for a purpose, no idea why, seems like there should be further development with non bot users' concerns in mind. It's no my world, they will do what they do and I will do what I do. 

[Love Zhaoying]

48 minutes ago, Paulsian said:

travel locations, time of travel

Very useful for Travel Agencies!

[Rowan Amore]

1 hour ago, Paulsian said:

Never had a bot farm, but if I did I would want to collect avatar/account name, travel locations, time of travel, objects on avatar clothings, script. Maybe to try to figure out where they are going and what kind of bot models to try to influence the target into purchasing? Maybe my fictional bot would track how many times the targets click other objects on other avatars to get better understanding of what the target is interested in. If I were interesting in adult stuff then eventually I would be swarmed with a bunch of fembots with lots of handy information in their profiles. 

None of which is personal information that anyone couldn't access.   I can inspect your clothing, see how many scripts you're running.  I can use the What is she wearing HUD and know everything you have attached.  I'm certain there are scripts in object that can tell who and how often something was clicked.   If I see you in adult areas all the time, I could send escorts there to talk to you.

Nothing you've mentioned is in any way Personal information.  It's all readily available to anyone and not just 'nefarious' bots.  Bots are probably the least intrusive.  I check out what people are wearing and their profiles ALL the time.  I can often tell where they go just by looking at their groups or their Picks.

Most bots collect information on how many avatars are in an area.  They (nor I) can not track you or where you go.  

Edited November 14, 2022 by Rowan Amore

[Paulsian]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

None of which is personal information that anyone couldn't access.   I can inspect your clothing, see how many scripts you're running.  I can use the What is she wearing HUD and know everything you have attached.  I'm certain there are scripts in object that can tell who and how often something was clicked.   If I see you in adult areas all the time, I could send escorts there to talk to you.

Nothing you've mentioned is in any way Personal information.  It's all readily available to anyone and not just 'nefarious' bots.  Bots are probably the least intrusive.  I check out what people are wearing and their profiles ALL the time.  I can often tell where they go just by looking at their groups or their Picks.

Most bots collect information on how many avatars are in an area.  They (nor I) can not track you or where you go.  

I'm good with this. 

[Lindal Kidd]

5 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

@Moloch Redgrave, read the replies and then ask yourself...

"Am I being paranoid?"

And if you answer "No", then ask yourself again until you get the correct answer.

I have to take this rather snarky comment back, at least in part. In another thread about this bot series, it appears that someone other than the original creator of them IS in fact using the same account name(s) as alts for stalking.

Note, simply encountering one of them occasionally does not mean you're being stalked...because (at least) two different people are using the same account name, for very different purposes.

[Nick0678]

4 hours ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Funny how Linden Labs removed the name of the bot. You clearly can see there is over 100's of them or more . If you see [the bot] and many numerical variants ban her from your land or sim.

They did so because its a violation to post usernames here , doesn't matter if that account is a bot or not.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Quartz Mole

[Moloch Redgrave]

Never gave the exact name of the person. We are dealing with 100's of accounts which have [the bot's name] in it.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Quartz Mole

[Nick0678]

4 hours ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Never gave the exact name of the person. We are dealing with 100's of accounts which have [the bot's name] in it.

You are repeating yourself... will be edited again.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Quartz Mole

[Moloch Redgrave]

Since when has Linden Labs started censoring posts. This is a serious matter that has to do with privacy and these accounts need to be shut down and exposed.

[Moloch Redgrave]

Quite clear your covering up the matter. I never gave the exact name of the person. Dealing with 100's accounts covering 1000's of sims . I moved 2x because of this and these bots still show up at my location and my friends location. So what is linden labs going to do about it. Nothing it seems but coverup the matter.

[Rowan Amore]

12 minutes ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Quite clear your covering up the matter. I never gave the exact name of the person. Dealing with 100's accounts covering 1000's of sims . I moved 2x because of this and these bots still show up at my location and my friends location. So what is linden labs going to do about it. Nothing it seems but coverup the matter.

Covering up what exactly?  What 'personal' information?    Bots can not track you anymore than a regular user can which is...not at all. (Unless you are wearing something that allows it)  There are literally 100s of bots used for whatever purpose.  No information they could possibly collect is private.  People have begun locking down their land to ban these bots so they have a smaller number of places they can enter.  Stands to reason, you'd see them more often in places that haven't banned them yet.  

Roaming Bot Data: About - LouNetizen.com

Second Life Grid Survey

Second Life bot software comparison - Second Life Wiki

There are also a couple of very large Estate Rental companies that use bots to monitor their lands.  I often saw the same bot at a couple of places I went.  Seemed odd until I realized both estates were owned by the same company.

There is no conspiracy.  There is no cover up.

 

[Rolig Loon]

1 hour ago, Moloch Redgrave said:

Since when has Linden Labs started censoring posts. This is a serious matter that has to do with privacy and these accounts need to be shut down and exposed.

Moderators have always monitored forum posts for violations of the Community Guidelines. If you violate them repeatedly (including arguing with the mods), you can find your access limited.