Discussion @ LnL on “Privacy in SL”!

As it happens every Thursday, there was a discussion last week at LnL's Lounge! It was hosted by Lewis and the topic was “Privacy in SL”. The group addressed many issues such as the controversial features the Firestorm team presented in a poll to its users, like being able to always see your friends online even when they mark themselves as offline to you. Some thought it was a breach of individual privacy and a breach of Linden Lab’s Terms of Service; others defended it was useless as residents cannot be fully invisible (they are visible in their groups, for instance). The group also talked about online monitor scripts used by those who have very long lists of friends, or should we call them contacts lists?! Getting notified when someone unfriends you and other similar features seem to fuel unnecessary drama in Second Life, everyone agreed. Another topic was Redzone, the SIM scanner that searches for copy bots and their alts. This led to a lively and controversial argument and counter-argument discussion. Some defended that it is totally unacceptable for a scanner to gather IP information, as Redzone does; other stated that if used correctly, it was not a problem. It was also stated that some people were being banned from SIMs for sharing the same IP information of a banned resident, not being the same person or an alt, while others defended that if you are not doing anything wrong, you have no reason to fear Redzone. The use of this scanner, especially by owners of SIMs with high traffic, clubs for example, to identify griefers and defend themselves from copy-botters was supported by some of those present. Others presented the counter-argument that anyone really wanting to grief would be able to hide their IPs and override the scanner. To the moderators question whether these tools are ethical to use, some said an assertive no, others maintained it depended on how they were used, being the intent of the user a key element. There is no simple answer! Everyone agreed on one thing though, that privacy issues should be taken very seriously! It was a very interesting discussion, lively and fast-paced! Great group, lots of interesting arguments! See you next time!

~Lizzie~