Is real privacy coming to SL?

I know many Residents have been asking for real privacy in SL for a long time now. Do you think that privacy is almost here?



Surely, with that kind of logic, LL will be implementing code that will prevent those who are not age-verified from using their camera controls to see what's going on in parcels responsibly flagged "adult." I am even more encouraged by the commitment of LL to protecting minors from inappropriate content, which involves the unpopular sharing of personal information, extra fees to cover the costs of verification, and banning all Residents who do not verify their age from certain areas of SL.

This will have the added benefit of keeping out Grid Shepherd, won't it, if he is also caught up in the implied new restrictions on camera controls? Or do you think the cameras will only be stopped from peering into parcels that are flagged "adult?"

yes one can cam into banned parcels. you can cam pretty much anywhere, even into a hollow prim. so this age verification thing is probably more to do about liability than anything else (no matter how it is presented).

I don't care about liability so much as i care about privacy, and the lack thereof. Linden has problems with grid issues, and losing inventories, LOTS of peoples' inventories. And Linden says that they want my
1) real name
2) address
3) driver's license, and/or state ID
4) last four of my social security number.

Are they insane? With all the 'data loss', identity theft, and similiar problems, Linden wants me to turn over all that info? to an UNNAMED company?
I refuse.
Period.
I pay for a premium account, and EVEN if i got a free one, it is not worth the potential risk. Do not tell me that people cannot access the Linden security data, if they try hard enough. And even if, as it says on the blog blurb, they 'don't keep the data', that (to me) means only that LINDEN does not keep the data. Who is this unnamed company? Why are they unnamed? What is their data security record? And i'm supposed to give up all this personal info, for what reason again? ahhh, the 'blanket' of 'keeping children safe'. I have a 13-year old daughter, who's very computer-literate. What's to prevent her from logging in, with my info? or any teenager, for that matter? is Linden going to install security cameras and become 'age police'? i realize that's a facetious question, but it points out the inherent unenforceability of such a program.
And again, I do understand the effort toward 'respectability'. But i refuse to give up ANY privacy rights, merely to play a game. Linden (even if i had a free account) does NOT need any of my personal data, ESPECIALLY my real life name, real life address, and part of my social security number, to proffer to an 'unnamed third party' for 'identification'.

I wonder if real privacy would be possible in SL? cHex, I'm with you and would love privacy and more rights as a land owner and tax/tier payer (lol..I can't believe I said that! but the feeling is there) I'm tired of the inmates running the asylum and want the keepers to set up some controls. Call me crazy but SL is just as much for me as it is for porn addicts, greed heads and griefers and I think they take up far too much of the time and space in SL.

I really don't get it. People are more than willing to provide LL with their credit card info, but when they have to provide the last four digits of their social security number, suddenly they don't trust LL. Weird. If I didn't trust LL (and the third party they choose to use) with a copy of my drivers licence, then why on earth would I trust them with the ability to withdraw money from my credit card?

I trust them with one, I see no reason not to trust them with the other.

Besides, there are copies of my drivers licence and passport all over the place. My bank has one. The stores where I once bought a phone have one. The university has one. The Chamber of Commerce has one, and every time I want to update my info I have to send yet another one. The wholesale store has one. The night club has one. My last employer has one. Several of these are even required by law to have one. There are several other countries in Europe where I had to leave a copy of my passport or my (complete, not just four digits) social security number at hotels and camp sites, also required by those countries' law. And those are just the places I can recall from the top of my head. Where I live providing a copy of passport or drivers licence is pretty much common practise when verification of age and/or identity are in order.

credit cards can be cancelled your social security number cant, if a company needs the last four digits of your social security number then from that they must be able to retrieve the rest of the numbers to do a check up on you, and with identity theft and data loss being as widespread i pity the people that hand that data over as it just takes one bad emplyee or a slip up to make info like that known to others.





i have lead a pretty accomplished and full life and up to now only my bank has seen my driving lisense and i dont have a passport .

A credit card can be cancelled and replaced, and you are covered for fraud by the credit card company.
When your identity is stolen, how are you going to replace your life? Nobody is going to protect you against loans taken out in your name, debts run up etc.


That's your choice to go through life not caring who has copies of your personal information. Some people do actually take care with their info. There are also people who have neither a passport, drivers license or social security number who will be labelled as underage because they cannot "prove" that they aren't.

I would be very interested to know what justification a nightclub gave you as to why they need your drivers license and passport though.

After doing some quick looking around the Internet regarding "age verification," it appears that in some parts of the world one must be of a certain age before being admitted into clubs or served alcohol.

Suzy, what you blithely profess to be quite "normal" in your country is actually very dangerous.
Thank God I live in a country that does not require such personal verification procedures.

Not true actually. Are you that badly protected in the US?



You must have missed the 'often required by law' part of my post.



Those people exist over there? I was assigned a social security number at birth. And a passport or national ID is compulsory here.



Without trying to sound harsh: that is their problem. Requiring proof of age and/or identity is completely reasonable. Why would it be unreasonable for any company to want to know who they are dealing with?



One of the two actually. I became a member, and they (oh horror) confirm who they have as members. Is that really such a foreign concept? I am all for privacy, but I am not for some weird right to be anonymous in your dealings with others. Luckily most countries have come up with ways people can prove their identity, not only to country officials but also to third parties: in my country your drivers licence or passport are the way to do that.

And where I live you get that at a liquor store - not the embassy or the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

That kind of id doesn't exist where I live. So what do they do at the liquor store? Guess what age you are? At least where I live some real proof of age is required for that.