Sorry. This is not OK. B bots profile scraping.

[Innula Zenovka]

4 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

If an avatar has a last name you need to use quotes around the name. Yah, not too smart, those Bonnies...

In this case, I think you need to search just for Quistess, without the last name.

[Ceka Cianci]

11 minutes ago, Quistess Alpha said:

"Coffee Pancake" -> No results.

I just type it in without those, then hit enter and get them..

[Quistess Alpha]

4 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I just type it in without those, then hit enter and get them..

Results for every pancake except coffee is what I'm seeing.

ETA: "Coffee" "Pancake" gets her in the top 5 results though.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Quistess Alpha

[Love Zhaoying]

The Bonnie website is getting a lot of free advertisement and attention from this discussion.

Am I missing out? Should I go check it, to reduce FOMO?

[EliseAnne85]

4 minutes ago, Quistess Alpha said:

Results for every pancake except coffee is what I'm seeing.

ETA: "Coffee" "Pancake" gets her in the top 5 results though.

I think because Resident was her last name, thus she's not a Pancake.  You need to type in Coffee if using just one name, I'd guess.  However, do you all think it's wise to visit this website right now?  Linden in other thread said they are in communication with this website.  I'd stay off of it for now.

[Ceka Cianci]

11 minutes ago, Quistess Alpha said:

Results for every pancake except coffee is what I'm seeing.

I wonder if you need to clear temporary internet files or cache or something..

I got to their profile  right away.. I'm not really seeing too much.. They seem more bland versions than our profiles really..

Mine had some link to a google translator in one of my pics, which  I don't even know where that came from.. hehehe

There aren't any links showing in an of my pics.. It doesn't even show my born date.. just that I'm premium and payment info used..

I'm gonna have to log in and see if I have that google thing linked.. I don't think i do.

ETA: Oh Ya, I remember now.. I linked it one of my pics so I could just get the link from there really easy.. DOH!!  hehehehe

Edited January 21, 2023 by Ceka Cianci

[Dorientje Woller]

2 hours ago, belindacarson said:

But why are you bothered, when the data collected/displayed, is fully publically accessible inworld anyway?

 

A Data Protection Policy would only be needed for RL info harvesting, which this isn't.

 

if you're within the EU, try getting this lawyer you need, to examine it for GDPR infringements.  I daresay all they'd do is scratch their heads "this is publiccally viewable info".

As European I have the right to object against data sharing. Further more, I have the right to a full insight of the data that has been collected about me and the right to request that this data is removed from the site in question. Nowhere on that site I see those abilities to grant me these rights. That's 3 violations against the EU Privacy Laws, and 3 violations against the EU Data Protection Laws.

 

[belindacarson]

4 minutes ago, Dorientje Woller said:

As European I have the right to object against data sharing. Further more, I have the right to a full insight of the data that has been collected about me and the right to request that this data is removed from the site in question. Nowhere on that site I see those abilities to grant me these rights. That's 3 violations against the EU Privacy Laws, and 3 violations against the EU Data Protection Laws.

 

but you're not a lawyer, so how can you claim that? you did say earlier you're getting a lawyer.  I mean, it's not personally identifiying data, so isn't covered under GDPR.

[Dorientje Woller]

Just now, belindacarson said:

but you're not a lawyer, so how can you claim that? you did say earlier you're getting a lawyer.  I mean, it's not personally identifiying data, so isn't covered under GDPR.

I don't need a lawyer nor am I a lawyer, but I don't have to pass the adminstration hassle to file a complaint at the EU. A good understanding person only needs a half word to understand what I am saying.

[Lewis Luminos]

The bottom line is, Linden Lab apparently thinks it's all ok, which leaves us with two options: accept the risk or delete your account.

[Arielle Popstar]

18 minutes ago, Lewis Luminos said:

The bottom line is, Linden Lab apparently thinks it's all ok, which leaves us with two options: accept the risk or delete your account.

Deleting one's account is not going to remove the existent data on that site. Better to warn new people their information will get scraped and then published to world wide web.

[TimKoul]

So basically....the "privacy" section in everyone's web profile isnt really private? Why have the options to choose who we can show it to then? So the "nobody" option is just a sick joke then? The whole "privacy" section is a sick joke? If a bot can grab ACCOUNT DATA thats supposed to be private and post it on some random website thats supposed to be about....traffic?...., whats stopping them from also having our passwords and emails and posting them too? Why does LL allow this? I would absolutely sue. This is so wrong. The shady practices that the Lab does is the reason they are a private company. The amount of lawsuits that would spring from this if they were public would financially ruin them.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

35 minutes ago, Dorientje Woller said:

As European I have the right to object against data sharing. Further more, I have the right to a full insight of the data that has been collected about me and the right to request that this data is removed from the site in question. Nowhere on that site I see those abilities to grant me these rights. That's 3 violations against the EU Privacy Laws, and 3 violations against the EU Data Protection Laws.

 

If you object, why do you not exercise that right?   It's easy enough to submit a complaint to the relevant data protection authority 

https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en

[EliseAnne85]

23 minutes ago, Lewis Luminos said:

The bottom line is, Linden Lab apparently thinks it's all ok, which leaves us with two options: accept the risk or delete your account.

I don't think the Linden who closed the last thread said it's all okay.  Regarding the public information it apparently is, but near the end  said "we are in communication with owner..."  (See locked thread near bottom).  Which, to me, means they are checking some things.

Being in a person's private home or skybox doesn't seem okay to me.  That's stalking.

Edited January 21, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Caeruleiae]

37 minutes ago, Dorientje Woller said:

As European I have the right to object against data sharing. Further more, I have the right to a full insight of the data that has been collected about me and the right to request that this data is removed from the site in question. Nowhere on that site I see those abilities to grant me these rights. That's 3 violations against the EU Privacy Laws, and 3 violations against the EU Data Protection Laws.

 

It makes almost no sense at all for this person to be collecting avatar information, only place information. 

But in this case, your objections will not stand in any court, anywhere in the world. The only reason why is that Dorientje Woller is not a real person, and the data that these bots can and do mine is data related specifically to that name. That name may be a representation of your real person to you, but to a dataset, a website, and anyone that can or will have access to it, is not a real person. It's not you, it's not your information. The bot service doesn't have access to that information, because it can't. Sl would have been shut down years ago when they started if it did have that access. 

You only have a right to object to data sharing as it relates to your real person, not your avatar representation, and that goes for everywhere around the world. If the website was making personally identifiable information known to others, which it cannot and does not do right now, you would have room for complaint and it would have already been shut down. I know this for a fact because it's one of the things the company I work for does, go after companies that data mine unscrupulously and also those that do not protect against it. Linden lab protects against PII really well. 

It's still a stupid service, collecting avatar information for no reason. It would be better as a service collecting place information, because that's useful. Avatar information that it can collect isn't useful to anyone. It would be different if it was collecting human information, but it can't do that because it's not connected like that. I still don't like the way ll responds to concerns, and I can understand why people have them. Some objections are a bit over the top with assumption though., and I think it's because people don't really know what it's collecting or why. It's also probably because people should be protective of their information, and they assume their avatars actually have that PII, but they don't. Not like you think anyway, not like your bank, doctor, some websites you visit and other places might. 

[xDancingStarx]

30 minutes ago, Lewis Luminos said:

The bottom line is, Linden Lab apparently thinks it's all ok, which leaves us with two options: accept the risk or delete your account.

The famous "You don't like X about the game? Then don't play the game!" quality argument. It's totally fine for people to voice concerns about things that they don't like.

Edited January 21, 2023 by xDancingStarx

[TimKoul]

3 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I don't think the Linden who closed the last thread said it's all okay.  Regarding the public information it apparently is, but near the end  said "we are in communication with owner..."  (See locked thread near bottom).  Which, to me, means they are checking some things.

Being in a person's private home or skybox doesn't seem okay to me.  That's stalking.

If you choose the option "nobody" or "friends" to show your feed or any other part of your profile, its no long public (DUH). Some bot comes along and posts literally everything about you, on the internet, for all to see, without caring for privacy settings, that is a privacy breach. 

[Caeruleiae]

Just now, TimKoul said:

If you choose the option "nobody" or "friends" to show your feed or any other part of your profile, its no long public (DUH). Some bot comes along and posts literally everything about you, on the internet, for all to see, without caring for privacy settings, that is a privacy breach. 

That only applies to the website and what people can see on the website mysecondlife. I can see your profile just fine if we're in a same group, or I have your calling card in my inventory, or I see you out somewhere in sl. Your profile isn't actually private in sl at all.  That's not a privacy breach, that's people not understanding what those settings are. 

[Love Zhaoying]

11 minutes ago, TimKoul said:

So basically....the "privacy" section in everyone's web profile isnt really private?

It could be INTENDED to be private, but someone found an "exploit".

[Ceka Cianci]

2 minutes ago, TimKoul said:

So basically....the "privacy" section in everyone's web profile isnt really private? Why have the options to choose who we can show it to then? So the "nobody" option is just a sick joke then? The whole "privacy" section is a sick joke? If a bot can grab ACCOUNT DATA thats supposed to be private and post it on some random website thats supposed to be about....traffic?...., whats stopping them from also having our passwords and emails and posting them too? Why does LL allow this? I would absolutely sue. This is so wrong. The shady practices that the Lab does is the reason they are a private company. The amount of lawsuits that would spring from this if they were public would financially ruin them.

 

I think because it's not collected from there and getting collected from in world instead with bots..

So those filters are useless.. I never liked those damn online profiles.. they felt to social networky for me..

 

 

[Rowan Amore]

13 minutes ago, TimKoul said:

If a bot can grab ACCOUNT DATA

They are grabbing it inworld and, AFAIK, anyone can access your profile there.  

[Love Zhaoying]

Idea: If indeed the "B___B" team are using an "exploit" to get the supposedly-private Profile information:

They may THINK that they are "white hat hackers".  (This is a type of hacker who looks for exploits for "good", to be helpful, etc.)

That doesn't mean they really are.

 

[Prokofy Neva]

My criticism of this sort of enterprise isn't that they have bots; there are all kinds of bots all over SL. It isn't that they scrape data -- all kinds of data scraping goes on in SL and on the Internet at large and if you don't want your data scraped, you need to keep it off the Internet. 

I totally understand the argument that vulnerable groups of people don't want data scraped so they can be protected against violence. Too often this argument is wielded to stop free speech and free enterprise and doesn't get properly documented, however.

But I do have a condemnation of these sorts of enterprises nonetheless.

My critique of this sort of thing is the same critique of the pods; of groups with private jets and ambassadors and games and Mole-capture; of anybody who takes the "grid-wide view" with themselves in charge of that view and that activity whether to "fix sim seams" or fix anything, even dating in SL.

Because they are not elected and not acclaimed. That is, we don't have democracy in any form to actually elect people and create democratic institutions, unless only on a sim we own (rent from LL); but these groups are not even acclaimed, i.e. they do not in fact have the massive popular support they imagine, and the public at large did not get to CONSENT to their scrape.

I remember back in the day when the Electric Sheep created a viewer with the function to scrape all sims, see all the objects, see what was for sale, and then enable you to TP directly to buy that thing. So while at first this seemed like a great shopper's boon to avoid the lag and crazy layouts of merchants' events and go directly to the thing you want.

But then people realized that things they had casually left around, for $0 to give to a friend or move out of a deeded item, or things not for sale, were now in view. They could now be griefed and harassed. So eventually the uproar around this got that viewer killed off and in fact The Sheep themselves are no more. And that is often the fate of those with grid-wide authoritarian ambitions to bring an entire population under their control.

It doesn't matter if the data isn't sold. That is not the point. It doesn't matter if the bots are brief and don't lag the sim. That isn't the point. It's that again and again in the name of "science" or "fun" or "things to do," certain groups are allowed to get the upperhand and affect everyone's experience.

I think if we're to have this sort of thing, we need the scripted agents to be labelled as such; for their status to be required as visible on their profile; and for their dot on the map to be a different colour, say blue.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Prokofy Neva

[Solar Legion]

Newsflash for those using the Web Profiles as their point of reference: as of the latest versions of the official Viewer and (some) TPVs, those are essentially no longer the official profile systems. LL went back to the "original" system which uses an in Viewer Profile. And guess what? You cannot set those options on sch profiles.

Any argument made which uses the older Web based profiles and their settings is irrelevant/moot.

It was irrelevant/moot for as long as any TPV still had the "Legacy" profile system intact when LL first introduced the (now obsolete) web based profiles. No setting change you made on the web profile prevented someone pulling up your profile if they could see you.

As I stated in the prior thread: If you really think there's a case, go file it with the relevant authorities.

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Rowan Amore said:

They are grabbing it inworld and, AFAIK, anyone can access your profile there.  

I thought the posts earlier said they were somehow getting the "web" profiles, which you can set privacy on.

If they are getting it from in-world profiles, then that's completely different.

I had assumed there was some distinction between the information shown in the example "web profiles" in the OP and the in-world profiles.