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  • Privacy concerns


    Avatar privacy

    Second Life® is a social experience, but sometimes you just want some peace and quiet. Here are ways to get time and space to yourself inworld.

    Show your online status only to friends and group members

    You can set your preferences so only your friends and fellow group members see when you're online:

    1. Choose Me > Preferences > Privacy.
    2. Uncheck Show me in Search Results.
    3. Check Only friends and groups know I'm online.

    Hide your online status and location from a specific friend

    Hiding your online status from a specific friend can be done on the web profile page at my.secondlife.com/friends.

    In your web browser:

    1. Visit my.secondlife.com 
    2. Click the People tab.
    3. Choose a Resident from the list, click on the Gear icon next to his or her name, and choose Permissions.
    4. Deselect See my online status to hide your status from them.
    5. Deselect See me on the map if you don't want your friend to be able to track your inworld location.

    Go into busy mode

    1. Select Me > Status > Set Do Not Disturb. Chat and instant messages are hidden, and an auto-reply is sent to those who IM you.
    2. If desired, customize the autoreply by opening the General tab of the Preferences window (Me > Preferences) and typing text into the Do Not Disturb response field.
    📝   At one time, being in Busy or Do Not Disturb mode would cause all objects or inventory offers to decline automatically. Now, objects or inventory offers received while in Do Not Disturb mode will be sent to your Objects folder by default.

    Create a private area

    On a Private Region

    Private Regions in Second Life offer the greatest control and flexibility for configuring access.  As the owner of a Private Region, you can control access and permissions for the entire region, as well as for individual parcels within it.

    For added privacy, you also have the option of ensuring that your region does not have an immediately neighboring region.

    For information about how to purchase a Private Region, please see Buying Private Regions.

    Follow these steps to configure your region to permit access only to designated Residents and groups:

    1. Stand on your Private Region.
    2. From the menu at the top of the Second Life viewer, select World > Region/Estate. The Region/Estate window opens.
    3. Click the Estate tab and set the following options:
      • Allow Public Access - Leave this deselected; doing so will allow only those on the access lists to enter your Private Region.
      • Allowed Groups - Use the Add function in this window to add the group you want to allow access to the Region.

    You may also configure the following options, which help grant administrative controls to others that you trust and further limit access to the region:

    • Estate Managers - Residents who are estate managers have access to region/estate controls. 
    • Allowed Residents - If there are Residents to whom you wish to grant region access who aren't members of the allowed groups, add their names here.
    • Banned Residents - Residents on this list will not be able to enter your Private Region. 

    On a mainland parcel

    The Second Life mainland offers an alternative to Private Region ownership, with some considerations. The mainland is made up of many interconnecting regions managed by Linden Lab. This means that you have configuration options for your parcel but cannot control who your neighbors are, what content exists outside of your parcel, and who is able to visit nearby parcels.

    For information about purchasing a parcel on the mainland, please see Buying land.


    Configuring access to your parcel

    Once you have ownership of your parcel, follow these steps to configure your parcel's security options:

    1. Stand on your parcel.
    2. Choose World > About Land in the Second Life Viewer.
    3. Click the GENERAL tab.
    4. To set the land to the group that contains the students or Residents you wish to have access to the parcel, click the Set button next to Group. The GROUPS window opens.
    5. Select the desired group and click OK. The group is now set.

    Click the ACCESS tab and configure the following options:

    • Uncheck Allow Public Access.
    • Allow Group Access - Check this to enable your group of students or Residents to have access to the parcel.
    • Allowed Residents - If there are Residents to whom you wish to grant parcel access who aren't in the allowed groups, add their names here.
    • Banned Residents - Residents on this list will not be able to enter the parcel. This list is typically added to on an as-needed basis.

    Limit avatar visibility on your parcel

    Parcels have a privacy setting which prevents avatars who are outside of the parcel boundaries from seeing avatars inside it, essentially making avatars within a parcel invisible to the outside world.

    To limit avatar visibility on your parcel:

    1. While standing on your parcel, click World > About Land
    2. Click the Options tab
    3. On the right, uncheck the checkbox called Avatars on other parcels can see and chat with avatars on this parcel
    Note This visibility and chat limitation extends like a privacy bubble up to 50 meters above the ground's default shape. If you live more than 50 meters above the default terrain height, you may still be visible outside the parcel boundaries.

     

     

     

    Use a scripted security system

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Some Residents find that using a scripted security system is a more flexible way to manage their privacy on their land. Scripted security systems can be set to allow more than one person to add or remove people from the parcel access list, allowing Residents who share land to manage the parcel access without having to deed the land to a group.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    There are many scripted security systems (sometimes called 'security orbs') available on the Second Life Marketplace or at shops in-world.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    In some Linden Home areas, scripted security systems are used in place of parcel access settings like ban lists.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    For more information on security systems and privacy in Linden Home areas, please see Linden Homes 2019 - Privacy.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     




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