Disclosure Question: RL vs. SL

This is from the Privacy Policy...
Disclosing Personal Information in Profiles, Forums or within Second Life
You may choose to disclose personal information in our online forums, via your Second Life profile or while using the Second Life service. Please be aware that such information is public information and you should not expect privacy or confidentiality in these settings. Please consult our Terms of Service for specific guidelines and policies for the Second Life service.

This is from the Community Standards...
Disclosure
Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with regard to their Second Lives. Sharing personal information about a fellow Resident --including gender, religion, age, marital status, race, sexual preference, and real-world location beyond what is provided by the Resident in the First Life page of their Resident profile is a violation of that Resident's privacy. Remotely monitoring conversations, posting conversation logs, or sharing conversation logs without consent are all prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life Forums.
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Now, if someone in the forums posts post their sex, where they live, what they do for a living, or other personal info is it then public property? If someone happened to ask me about someone else that I remembered reading about from the forums, do I get in trouble for repeating said info? The community standards says I can only repeat info that is in their in world profile.

Its just a little confusing to me. I see a lot of posts in the forums about who we are and what we do in RL. Am I going to get in trouble someday for knowing this stuff? You could assume that since it was posted then the person doesnt care the info is out there. But I hate to assume.

You never really know who or why your talking to someone and a harmless conversation could be warped into some foul misdeed. I just remember myself talking to people and occasionally saying stuff like, [for example] "Oh, he lives up in Idaho and does programming for a living." What if he was a she in game this week and gets mad at me for blowing their cover? Or is it their own dumb fault for posting it in the past?

Sometimes I meet people in world and find out they have regional similarities and refer them to each other without thinking about it. But I realized I could be duped into placing a stalker into someones lap. Nothing wrong has happened, I just been thinking about this lately and wondering what the community thought.

Loki, these are very good questions. I tend to do the same thing as you, remember something about someone from a private conversation or a forum post, and then relate it in conversation to someone else. It's the same thing I do IRL, when talking to friends about other people I know or we know mutually, and it seems quite natural and certainly isn't done with malicious intent.

I would like an answer to this question, as well; Lindens, do we have to adhere to the letter of the law in this case ("don't disclose ANY info not given in a player profile" or the spirit of the law ("it's okay to repeat something that was said or posted in forums by the player in question as long as it's not done with a malicious intent"?

Yes, it is a precarious situation. I myself try to err on the side of caution while respecting someone's privacy without being silent to the point of an equally, but inversely disturbing paranoia. Over time, if I can, I try to gauge how open someone is with their info -- and if in doubt, I ask permission. It may seem kind of old-fashioned but I consider it respectful. Obviously, asking each and every time can get clunky, so when sharing stories, I usually relate what someone has done SL as opposed to their real-life achievments, for obvious reasons.

If the other person has voluntarily posted info about themselves in a public place such as a forum or during a large inworld party, then the information is out there. There is not a justifiable reason for using that info against someone, however, as you alluded to with the word "stalker".

But again, when in doubt, I ask: it says "reasonable level of privacy" after all.

I have been abuse reported for this. LL did not take any action against me however. I used an image posted on these forums by a user. I then textured an objext using this image.(I actually have about 50 different objects of this type) I showed the person who posted this image, who said I was in violation of TOS. Seems bizzare to me for an individual to post information on these forums and not expect that information to be brought inworld. If you willingly devulge RL information on these forums while posting with your avatar name, that information should no longer be considered private.

Let me clarify this one. You told me that you found my personal website and downloaded my photo from that, then uploaded it into SL. Now, I have told some people my real name, even given out the URL of my website. You weren't one of those people. As well I did NOT give you permission to upload and show my photo in the game.

Why is that wrong? Because 1) it's a violation of the ToS and my privacy, 2) I still hold copyright on that image and you copied it into SL without permission, and 3) you then used it in a derogatory way.

Those add up to a justified abuse report. I'm not clear why LL didn't suspend you for it.

I strongly support the right to keep personal info private.

I interpreted it this way ... I confided to someone in SL that my name is Ruth BodyBother.

The person I confided to would be in violation if they did any of the following: posted on the forums, "Hey Lash's really Ruth BodyBother!"; proclaimed/shouted it at an event; or passed notecards stating it.

But if they just told someone in SL in confidence then it isn't a violation. Even if they told 5 people at once. If it's a gathering, not listed in the events therefore not open to public, it still isn't a violation. If anything, it's gossip.

Well, that's how I understood it.

In the end, I've decided it's best to be vague. And if cornered, haul ass.

Excellent points, Cubey. It's the same general concern I have about Google's GMail. If your primary key (in this case, your avatar name) can be linked by person A to your Email, by person B to your Web site, by person C to your real name and address, etc., then eventually those elements can be combined into one composite datasheet about you.

When in doubt, I say ask first. I have a friend who maintains a fairly open blog. Even so, I asked permission before passing along his blog URL to another player. There are certainly some elements of caveat emptor to consider, but overall, I prefer that LL errs on the stricter side of these policies.

Cubey, not that I dont disagree with you but as I recall didnt you post your pic in the RL Photos forum for SL that we had here some time back? So is there a difference between the SL Forum and personal websites?

Cubey, with all due respect, your wrong. I had a pygmy village at that time and created "heads" from all the people who posted their pictures on SL's forums.
I have never been to your personal website, the photo was retrieved from the FL Picture thread on these forums. YOU posted that picture on SL's website for all the users to see, I explained that. When you responded so urgently and explained how upset you where, I told you I deleted it, and apologized for offending you. You were still very upset and ran off and called LL. I decided it was best to just leave it at that. I found the whole incident to be terribly amusing.

I intentionally did not name you in that incident here because the names are unimportant. I hold no grudge. I though the incident itself was very relevant though, and was a perfect example as to what Loki was refering to.

I too support keeping personal information private 110%, but not if that information is posted on these forums by your inworld avatar.

Yes, I had posted my photo in the RL photo thread for a *brief* time before I reconsidered and deleted it. Schwanson then showed up with it in SL quite a while after I deleted that post and told me that he got it from my website. Regardless of how he managed to copy the photo, he does not have permission to make copies of the photo, upload it, and use it in a derogatory way.

I do have the right to say how my own image is used.

I agree with cubey. I certainly dont copies of my personal pictures floating around sl.

To be honest, if I posted a picture anywhere on the Net, I wouldn't be mad if Schwanson used it to texture a shrunken head. It's my own fault for uploading it where it's accessible to all in and out of SL. Thus, I do my best to never make a connection between RL Lash and SL Lash.

And I have that cautious thought process marinating in the back of my head everytime I do a spread at xxxxhotbabbesin4life.com.

RL | SL

I have crossed the line a bit, I try not to....

if someone were to... lets say call me a "raving rum soaked third world dyke" although it may be true it's not their place to broadcast it to the world. It's my place to say these things about myself.

if someone is quoting me about statements I have said about myself I dont feel like that is a violation as long as I made them as public statements...

and if you want to find web pictures of me then look no further than Goth babe of the week... hint... 2002....

=P

/moon

I would call Ferran more rum marinated.

Surreal

if I didnt broadcast to the world that Im a rum soaked tart then Surreal would be violating the tos... see how easy this is?

like for instance if I were to say Surreal drinks as much, if not MORE rum than I do then I would be violating the tos, but technically I didnt just say that =P

mmmmmm rum tart

Surreal

YAY eat me!

*licks fingers*

Surreal