Request: Privacy Options additions

[2kneel4u]

I'd like to officially suggest/request that at least a couple things be added to the privacy options.

Last Seen, and Member Since.

Why? Well, I've had to - a few times - close and recreate accounts because someone was using those to work out who I was and in a way using it to "stalk" me - no it wasn't really serious, but it was annoying enough and problematic enough for me that I want to call it out and not have to delete an account again.

Yes, I know we like to look at a profile and get an idea of how long someone has been registered and the last time they were there. BUT, I think there are other ways to communicate "Activity" without using timestamps.

Qualifiers such as:
Activity = Frequent | Slowed Down | Inactive
Member Level = Veteran, Pro, Newbie

Stuff like this ☝️ And, they also "game-ify" the chat more. You can work it into badges if you want.

BUT - at a minimum, please, please make these controllable in privacy options. IMO you'd add other things like location and language as well.

 

[Inkandtatts]

I think you'll have to provide more context to get any serious responses.

How does a person manage to work out who you are to stalk you, based on the date you joined chat and your last seen time? Is this stalking irl or online only?

 

[2kneel4u]

It actually seems like an obvious add - and is likely a pretty straight-forward change. I build systems like this for a living.

Last seen, and Member since can be correlated with your personal life. Your time at home, your time alone, your time on a business trip. If you have someone in IRL that is familiar with some of your daily life, it's not that hard for that person to get on the chat side, sort a user search by 'Last Active', look at Last Seen, or Member Since and have a pretty good idea of your user account.

Example: I'm a snooping land-lord who logs DNS requests to the wifi. I see someone is going to chat-avenue, typically when I'm not at home. So, each time I leave I check the log when I get back - if there was request to chat-ave, I get onto it, and search and sort by last active. Then view the profiles. I now have a timestamp from Last Seen I can correlate with the DNS log.

Example: I'm a vindictive, jealous, controlling husband. I caught my wife using Chat Ave and when I leave for a business trip I start using the user search for accounts last seen during my trip AND created during my trip.

Example: I'm a network sys-admin with access to DNS requests, etc. I know Janey is visiting chat-ave. I've worked out who she is by using the user search and last seen. I know Janey highly values her IRL relationship, so now I have something to leverage her with.

Do I need to give more examples? It can be an option, just like age, or sex. In the broader scheme of asks for the site, this should be a relatively minor addition.

Plus, Can anyone tell me why Gifts need to be a privacy option instead of Last Seen, or Member Since??

 

[Deleted member 270394]

I'd like to officially suggest/request that at least a couple things be added to the privacy options.

Last Seen, and Member Since.

Why? Well, I've had to - a few times - close and recreate accounts because someone was using those to work out who I was and in a way using it to "stalk" me - no it wasn't really serious, but it was annoying enough and problematic enough for me that I want to call it out and not have to delete an account again.

Yes, I know we like to look at a profile and get an idea of how long someone has been registered and the last time they were there. BUT, I think there are other ways to communicate "Activity" without using timestamps.

Qualifiers such as:
Activity = Frequent | Slowed Down | Inactive
Member Level = Veteran, Pro, Newbie

Stuff like this ☝️ And, they also "game-ify" the chat more. You can work it into badges if you want.

BUT - at a minimum, please, please make these controllable in privacy options. IMO you'd add other things like location and language as well.

So, you want to add a feature that hides your "last seen" status in the chat because people are stalking your account? Do they use the "last seen" status on your profile for this? I'm unsure if Boom will add that feature, but you can ask him. Just don't get your hopes up too high.

Also, why do you keep creating new accounts? I understand they're stalking you, but why must you create new accounts in the chat? It's common for people to check others' profiles. If someone is harassing you, report them to the room's staff.

 

[2kneel4u]

So, you want to add a feature that hides your "last seen" status in the chat because people are stalking your account? Do they use the "last seen" status on your profile for this? I'm unsure if Boom will add that feature, but you can ask him. Just don't get your hopes up too high.

Yes, they do - BUT - that in conjunction with the 'last active' in the user search is how the bad actor can pinpoint. Those two features together let you: 1) Get a small amount of accounts to look at (in contrast to all accounts), 2) Gives you the timestamp of last activity and member since.

And the person doesn't need to do the harassing, etc, via chat. So it's not really something I can report to an Admin. I might not even know that I've interacted with this person via chat. They know who I am in IRL because they've been able to correlate "Last Seen" and "Member Since" with my IRL comings, goings, internet usage, etc - but I have no idea who they are in chat, or if they've even ever logged in.

Also, why do you keep creating new accounts? I understand they're stalking you, but why must you create new accounts in the chat? It's common for people to check others' profiles. If someone is harassing you, report them to the room's staff.

Again, can't report to room staff because the harassing, etc, doesn't really happen in the chat, it happens outside the chat. But I can tell I've interacted with this person, because of what they said.

And that is why I create a new account, to conceal myself from the person, because I can't be sure who the person is online. So I close and create a new account to hide again. If I sometimes wanted to report, i had no way of knowing what or who to report.

This app is stuck between a chat site and a messaging app. Last activity, etc, is usually done in messaging apps with contacts so you have that insight into your "friends", but I would not make information like that publicly available as it's done here on the site. Those exact values could be accessible to friends, outside of that qualifiers like "Veteran" or "Newbie" for Member Since times and things like "Active", "Taking a Break", and "Inactive" could indicate Last Seen times.

I also want to be clear that when I say harass, I don't really mean in a legal sense, but I do mean that it's enough to embarrass me and introduce anxiety into my life.

 

[Trenton Mihm]

Sound like someone put spyware in your computer or route or most likely you are paranoid Schizophrenia.

 

[Inkandtatts]

It actually seems like an obvious add - and is likely a pretty straight-forward change. I build systems like this for a living.

Last seen, and Member since can be correlated with your personal life. Your time at home, your time alone, your time on a business trip. If you have someone in IRL that is familiar with some of your daily life, it's not that hard for that person to get on the chat side, sort a user search by 'Last Active', look at Last Seen, or Member Since and have a pretty good idea of your user account.

Example: I'm a snooping land-lord who logs DNS requests to the wifi. I see someone is going to chat-avenue, typically when I'm not at home. So, each time I leave I check the log when I get back - if there was request to chat-ave, I get onto it, and search and sort by last active. Then view the profiles. I now have a timestamp from Last Seen I can correlate with the DNS log.

Example: I'm a vindictive, jealous, controlling husband. I caught my wife using Chat Ave and when I leave for a business trip I start using the user search for accounts last seen during my trip AND created during my trip.

Example: I'm a network sys-admin with access to DNS requests, etc. I know Janey is visiting chat-ave. I've worked out who she is by using the user search and last seen. I know Janey highly values her IRL relationship, so now I have something to leverage her with.

Do I need to give more examples? It can be an option, just like age, or sex. In the broader scheme of asks for the site, this should be a relatively minor addition.

Plus, Can anyone tell me why Gifts need to be a privacy option instead of Last Seen, or Member Since??

I'm not suggesting it shouldn't be added and I'd like it myself (although I can hide by "last seen" as I have incognito mode)

Those are pretty far-fetched examples you give.

If you're the landlord or a network sys-admin I think you'd probably have far more info/leverage to stalk the person with than their visits to Chat Ave.

With the wife it's far easier to just catfish her or do other things to find out what she's up to

Sound like someone put spyware in your computer or route or most likely you are paranoid Schizophrenia.

Hi Trenton. How're things today?

 

[Trenton Mihm]

I'm not suggesting it shouldn't be added and I'd like it myself (although I can hide by "last seen" as I have incognito mode)

Those are pretty far-fetched examples you give.

If you're the landlord or a network sys-admin I think you'd probably have far more info/leverage to stalk the person with than their visits to Chat Ave.

With the wife it's far easier to just catfish her or do other things to find out what she's up to


Hi Trenton. How're things today?

I am doing fine.

 

[Inkandtatts]

I am doing fine.