Measures to stop being tracked in world

Hey yall.
So I was minding my own business hanging out in SL. I didn’t want interruptions so unchecked all boxes (including the 'see my location' option) in my contact list so that I would not appear online to my friends. I wasn’t feeling sociable and just wanted to hang out listening to some music at this new venue. Out of the blue I got a IM from one of my friends which I didn’t respond to. I know, my bad! Not long after, he rezzed right next to me asking why I was ignoring him, even though I’d never before visited that place and certainly didn’t have the LM in picks or anything.

I can’t figure out how he knew I was there of all places on the grid.

I like this guy – hes a friend, but it freaked me out a bit. Rather than file an AR (which I don’t think it warrants anyway according to the TOS) I’d prefer to just stop this from happening again in future if possible.

From the homework I’ve done it looks like the only way someone can identify another avatar’s actual online location is to have given away a "bugged" item to sit in their inventory to track them... So, I figure if I delete all items from this person, I hope I should be in the clear...

Is this correct, or is there something else I can do?

Thanks for your help guys and gals.

Thirl

It's important to note that nothing sitting in your inventory can track you or act in any way; inventory items can be thought of as not existing from a scripting standpoint. They cannot do anything at all unless they are rezzed in-world or attached (worn). So deleting a bunch of stuff from your inventory won't help.

That said, it's probably a good idea to discard unknown items from untrusted sources (BEFORE rezzing them or attaching them) just to be safe. But unless you've been walking around with this person's stuff attached to you, it's not the source of your current problems.

There are ways to track people, but I'll let others who know more about such stuff go into all that.

Why not ask your friend how he found you?

there is a viewer out that shows a persons location with out that persons consent. It may be that the friend is using that viewer.

There are ways to track people yes and it is against the TOS. Only a few know how to and this will be over soon anyway

Only if the person is in the same sim. We tried that viewer, it does not work if the person is in another sim. Likewise, the 'feature' in SI that showed a persons' location anywhere on the grid has now been removed. I don't know if SI removed this, or if LL changed things so that it was no longer possible.

Rock

Key/UUID loggers.

Items are available inworld (approx $300L) which will notify someone every time you log in or out. You needn't be their friend, in any common groups nor even know they are monitoring you like this. It also works if you have preferences set to hide your status. As long as they have your name entered into it, it will notify them that you're inworld - even if they aren't inworld at the time. It can be set to send an email to them each time you log. They could be on vacation on a Miami beach and have their PC forward emails to their cell and will know when you've logged into SL. It could be considered an invasion of privacy/harrassment.

It works by collecting your avatar's UUID which is freely available on the internet. If you are on the same sim as the person your name on the list changes color. If there aren't many people on the sim it's easy to locate you by minimap.

If you both belong to the same group, your friend can go to the group members list, and see if you are online. It will display there, but only if you both belong to the group. There doesn't appear to be any way to turn that off.

There is also a setting in SL that you can check off next to a friend's name that allows them to see where you are on a map, and therefore teleport to your location. Be sure you don't have that box checked.

If those are the ways he found you, they really don't warrant an AR. The groups thing, you can't do anything about other than quit the same groups your friends belong to. The map location is a setting you can toggle off. I'm not inworld right now to look, but I think it is one of the boxes next to a person's name in your friends list.

You could:
1) Ask him how he knew where to find you.
2) Ask him not to do it again.
3) Create an alt and use that for your Greta Garbo, wanting to be alone moments.

HTH.

Happy Friday btw.

--
Aes

Alternatively, you could go see a rl shrink and try to cure your paranoia.

Pep (I understand the happy pills work wonders nowadays too.)

Weren't you the one that said all the shrinks needed to be shrunk?

And stop following me around!

--
Aes

These things show you that someone is ONLINE but it does NOT show you where they are.

Handy

My first reaction is just ask him how he found you....plain and simple.

Beyond that....I think it's a little creepy that anyone would go to such lengths to locate someone at all.....so they can pop up next to them and ask why they're being ignored. The 'needy' red flag is waving like banshee there. Think about it.....how creepy would it be if someone did that to any of us IRL?

I'm feeling anti-social and restless so I turn off my cell phone and go for a walk along the beach.......20 yards down the beach....a 'friend' suddenly comes running up and asks why I'm not taking his/her calls. People.....THAT is the first clue that one should RUN very far the other way. That's not a friend, that's a potential stalker!

There are other methods of tracking you too. Such as knowing that you're likely to show up in location X and rezzing a scanner on property X or a nearby property if they can't rez it specifically on that property.

The only truly legit way to keep somebody from tracking your online status, and yes even location on the grid, is not to log in at all. Like was suggested above, create an alt.

Again, these are ways to see that someone is online, but they do not show you where they are.

Unless you are in the same sim with them, then you can see the yellow dot in the mini-map.

Also the OP clearly stated she had turned the view me on the map feature off.

I've heard it claimed time and again that there is a way to find someone anywhere in world but I've yet to have someone prove it.

Just my .02 cents

Handy

Did you relog after unclicking your friends list? I don't think those settings change until you relog. So if your friend had mapping before you unclicked, he still did... If you didn't relog.

It's to do with the IM. I remember reading something a while back (and I just found it again) and *apparently* it's possible. Even if the IM isn't answered (hell, even if a new IM window is opened and nothing is actually sent), the avatar's exact location can be found out, according to the article.

Not going into more detail, for obvious reasons.

It's probably been half a year since that was fixed

Well that's good news then. I'm glad to be proved wrong

I had a feeling that was prevented in later fixes? Don't know about the technicalities.

It could also be as mundane a scenario as: you don't answer friend A's IM, so he asks mutual friend B if they've spoken to you today cos he's bursting with some news/gossip/whatever. Friend B says friend C told him she saw you a few moments ago at new Club X and he gives A a landmark. It's a public place; it doesn't cross his mind he might be intruding.

I'm pretty sure it often happens something like that, but the very nature of SL tends to make it seem more devious. Some people are just more pushy and less tactful than you'd like them to be.

Just ask the guy how it happened. Then point out you sometimes need to have your alone time and ask him not to do it again. If that doesn't work - end of friend. Sorted.

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Aes

are you absolutely sure about that?



Thirl, unfortunately this is a fact of life. TBH though, you may be his friend but I don't think he's yours.

eta (because I've just seen aeslyn's post) those bizarre sl coincidences are possible..

None of these 'online notifiers' can tell you where the person is though.

I *thought* that it was only possible via the mini-map now and then only if you are in the same sim.

Yes you are right. Online Notifiers can't tell this which is a happy thing.

It is possible to see where friends are if they have enabled this option in contacts.
Check your contacts list. The second column of checkboxes is "friend can locate you on the map". If you have checked this box next to your friend's name, he/she can see where you are and teleport to your location. Just uncheck it, and you should be fine.

You can view Friends Online from your account page at http://secondlife.com/community/friends.php

This also allows you to see where a friend is (as SLURL) if they allow you to map them. It doesn't update quickly so it's possible that was a way he found you.

This feature hasn't been working properly lately so the best bet is to ask him.