PRIVACY Policy?!?

You are making an assumption on what will qualify you as "Payment Info Used". I also made an assumption...the opposite one...about this as well. Neither of us knows for certain, nor has LL said what standard they will use.

My point is only to point out that the new system could indeed make those with payment information and labeled as "Payment Info Used" more of a target to hackers than they were before. It was to refute the people saying that no it can't. Well, it can. Can does not mean 100%, but it means can. That is my point alone.

I am not, as I said, one of the "Sky is Falling" types. I love the idea of hardware profiling to put some real teeth for once (CC numbers never did it) into bans of griefers. I am worried about the new account status indicator, but not because of hackers. I am concerned about the effects it will have on the community through segregation, mistrust, and punishing the innocent based not on actions they do but a group they fall into and the banner's preconcieved notions of what those in that group are like.

I was merely playing devil's advocate on this point and pointing out that a hacker could indeed use this status indicator to target people with payment info they could access. Nothing more, nothing less.

In the end, we all will have to wait and see what actually happens.

Better buckle up, then. Some areas in the Mature Grid are Adults-only. This is the tool LL is providing us to try to keep underaged users out, along with griefalts. Until/unless they provide us a better tool, it might be a good idea to at least verify your identity with the Lindens if you intend to access those parcels.

... or stick to PG sims.

Yup, pretty much ^^ am guessing these terms are simple translation of subscription options available up to date, i.e. the premium members, 'old' basic members (including the alts of premium members, and the new basics who provide cc info to get their starting L$ 250) ... and the recent 'basic' accounts which provide no info and get nothing in return.

It just seems like the easiest way to go about doing it and well, programmers _are_ a lazy bunch, especially when given short deadlines ;s

but guess we'll indeed see soon o.O;

Exactly! This new system is going to be used, thats a given. If you have an unverified account, plan to run into many areas you will not be able to travel too. Especially in mature areas.

If someone is inclined to attempt to fleece people don't you think it is reasonable to presume that they will seek out accounts that have potentially high balanes to begin with?

And how would you do this in SL? I would look at the top 50 most popular businesses/clubs/groups and target it's owners, all of which, you can be sure, have provided the required identification information.

Isn't that how you would do it?

I think it means somone who has EVER had a vaild transaction.

The point, I think, is to identify someone's real identy. Not track who is solvent and has current transactions.

As long as someone has EVER used their cc to make a transaction, a record of it has been created and can be used to determine the true identity of the person. It would be nice if a Linden confirmed this and I assume they will eventually.

i really don't see what all the fuss is about.

SL has let you see who was new and who was old for a long time. SL has let you see who was charter, who was basic, and who was premium for a long time.

Basically up until this point, you knew that *everyone* in SL had a credit card on file. Has it been a problem? No.

hmmm i only ever noticed the Profile said "resident" or "charter"
i never noticed it say "premium" or "Basic"

Additionally LL wasnt providing tools to allow banning of Basic members.

I'm pretty sure there used to be a way, either in world or on the forums, of finding out if someone had tier.

Your last point is valid about banning, but I view this in the same light as people who said SL was going to turn into a field of banlines when P2P was released. It didn't happen. And if someone wants to say "only people with semi-verified indenties can come onto my club" ... well it's private land and if they want to turn away potential business it's their right/problem.

I don't post much, but I just realised something. Whilest the TOS is changing to support this policy, the old TOS (as far as I'm aware, its probably in there somewhere) states nothing about allowing LL to post notification about whether or not you've made payment into the game. As such, assuming people don't log into the game anymore (ie, not accepting the new TOS) then if their profile were to continue to exist in game, it should not display the status of their account until their first login (unless the account is made under this new TOS). Elsewise, this could be an infringement of privacy information, not to mention a 'possibly' security issue (its advertising who's details are in the system), and allowing for discrimination (which is also against the TOS).

Now, before people go pointing this out, yes, you can cancel and remove your account from the game. But, if I happened to be on holiday at the moment and not having access to the game, then I cannot cancel my account and privacy is still broken (having not accepted the new TOS).

Ofcourse, I'm sure the TOS covered this in the first place, or some other measure put in place, else I'm sure some people might jump at the chance for a legal battle, lol.

OK, Linden Labs are breaking their own TOS.

From the new 6.1:

Linden Lab will not give any of your personal information to any third party without your express approval except: as reasonably necessary to fulfill your service request,

My billing status is personal information. Putting a status tag in my profile is giving information to a third party, and I have not given express approval. Furthermore, it is not 'reasonably necessary' to divulge that information under any circumstances except as required by law enforcement agencies.

Lewis

No it won't. Nowhere in the release notes does it suggest that this will be a dynamic and continuously updated property of our personal profiles. And even if it were, it does not provide access to that information.

No it's not. You might feel a bit sensitive about it but it's not personal information about YOU. It's a general statement about the verification status of your account. Nothing any data protection act would consider sensitive.

Wendel

Lewis, your existance here, with a premium account, prior to 6/6/2006, was a clear indication as to your billing status. Furthermore, when a user accepts the terms of service, they are giving their express approval for this information to be divulged. If you do not wish for it to be divulged, I suggest you click "No."

Here's a thought that just occurred to me while reading this thread. The new TOS allow for divulging this information, but the old does not, AFAIK. I haven't currently agreed to the new TOS -- what if I don't and what if I specificially decline to agree to it? What does it say about my account type then? If it says anything about my billing information, then LL is divulging personal information without my consent. I wonder what happens?

/me runs over to SL Answers to post this question....

Seraph, didn't I just post that a few posts up? (same thread)

But yes, put it in answers, even if its to alert the lindens that they might actually be breaking the law somehow here (but again, don't know if they are or not, I didn't memorise the old TOS).

edit (as its silly to post straight after): ps. i'm not making a complaint here, i still continue playing and all that, i'm just thinking of any legal implications. Probably non existant (as Seraph noticed too, so chances are LL realised), but better safe than sorry.

If you had a premium account here prior to 6/6/2006 you have already announced to everybody in SL that you had, at some point in the past, given LL billing information. Were you as upset then, as you are now?

We already had that...the self-styled upper classes were the content-creators and land barons. Now, we just have a hardcoded one.

No, but if you hack the grid and they bring in the law, you can bet your CC company (even if the card is cancelled) is gonna roll and give the info when the law shows up with the proper paperwork. This serves two purpose, allowing us to get rid of unverified's who now make up the bulk of griefers (two attacks on the club I hang out in, both newbies after the change) AND allow LL to go after folks that hack the grid itself (if they wish).

I myself HAVE NOT accepted the new TOS and I have been informed that my profile displays this information w/out my acceptance...

How nice of them.....

Yes, i checked my mates accounts (a few on holiday, a few i'm chatting with on msn before they log in, etc) and its displaying the stuff for everyone.

Ofcourse, theres other things to be concerned about in this update (and with the plans of future ones) - blocking people from accessing your land because of their account type.... is that not discrimination, against the TOS? Yet, it'll be a supported feature, added TO discriminate. Is LL going backwards or something? Just contradictions all over the place, I can't help but feel left confused.

....since 2004