Stalked on gc.com

[+Mr. Wilson & a Mt. Goat]

4 pages later, and has the OP even posted again?!

 

No.

Therefore the seagull reference.

 

Oh seagulls, such beautiful birds...

 

Edit: Make that five pages for me now.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Mr. Wilson & a Mt. Goat

[+dfx]

GS can do something about that too, if they chose to. It's possible to keep the logs out of a google search.

 

An advanced google search for "Lone R" within: www.atlasquest.com brings up 5 links to help pages on AQ. Nothing about the over 400 letterboxes I've found. But a "Lone R" search within: www.geocaching.com brings up pages and pages of my visits to caches.

 

That only works because Google plays nice and honors the robots.txt hints though. Most respectable search engines do, but the content is still out there, meaning that any web spider which ignores robots.txt can still get all the information. In other words, if somebody really wants to get those logs, they will, no matter what.

[+addisonbr]

it won't stop a stalker from stalking you

This is true in the extreme, but I guess I'd gently suggest just two things. One is that it is not always a waste of time to make things more difficult for the less competent and less determined creepy people.

 

And two, sometimes it's simply nice to have a little control over your data. Wanting to control access to (say) an organized gallery of every photo I've ever posted on this site doesn't necessarily mean that I believe I'm about to be gunned down in a parking garage. But I'd still like it if I was able to restrict that link from my profile page to a friends list. It would probably encourage me to share more on cache pages.

Edited October 18, 2011 by addisonbr

[Clan Riffster]

And two, sometimes it's simply nice to have a little control over your data.

I have absolute control over my data.

For that data I want the world to see, I simply put it on the Internet somewhere.

For that data I'd rather not share, I put it in a folder in my gun safe.

[knowschad]

205 posts later...

Edited October 18, 2011 by knowschad

[+Team Firenze]

some will win, and others, like myself, will lose a lot. As I have explained already for me being able to read the logs of other cachers (for example, hiders of caches I might want to go for, but do not yet know the hider and his way of rating terrain) is of utmost importance. These cachers will rarely be my friends (apart from the fact that I feel that most cachers do not have that many true cacher friends and thus the term friends is not a good choice).

Fair enough. People who want to read sorted and chronologically organized lists of logs by individual cachers with enabled privacy controls, but who are unwilling to send a simple electronic request asking for permission and identifying themselves, would lose a bit of functionality.

 

identify myself?...and how would you be able to discern between a genuine request and one from a stalker?

 

further more unless you are available 24/7 to grant me access, doing so even an hour later can be totally useless

 

 

 

Facebook and Google aren't using aliases, for one thing. For another, they are often posting a lot more information than where they cached last week. You are comparing apples with oranges. Both are round, but that's where the comparison ends.

 

100% incorrect. Facebook and Google can be just as anonymous as GC. You don't have use your real information on any of the three sites.

 

and when did Facebook change that?...i know for a fact they closed accounts because the person registering used aliases

 

it has been by biggest dislike of Facebook right from the get go

 

...and Google+ has been "real name only" since the beginning. Just last week a cacher using an alias was asked to change their account name or have the account locked. While it's possible that you could exist on either site with a fake name, the vast majority of the userbase does not and the hosting websites encourage (or force) you not to. That's a far cry from "100% incorrect" by my math.

 

I don't think anyone mention Google+ (only google). I haven't tried but I bet I could get a alias google Plus account as well.

[+DadOf6Furrballs]

And two, sometimes it's simply nice to have a little control over your data.

I have absolute control over my data.

For that data I want the world to see, I simply put it on the Internet somewhere.

For that data I'd rather not share, I put it in a folder in my gun safe.

 

+100

[+Sol seaker]

If it's getting to the level of actual criminal activity (following you everywhere, harassing you, sitting outside your house), there are people in your town whose job is to address it. They're called law enforcement.

 

+1

 

I hope people are looking at my profile and checking out the caches Ive done. Thats why i log them. Bragging rights. Yeah baby I did a 4 today. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Otherwise whats the point?

 

IBTL

 

Why do you (or I or anyone) need to know where the OP has been? Why do you need to see his detailed list of geocache finds? If you can't see that list, how will it affect how you geocache?

 

It adds interest to the game. I love looking at other people's logs.

 

The suggestion was made in the feedback forum that the detailed list could be made public, private or shown only to "friends". Not the actual log in the cache's online logbook. It's much harder to stalk someone if you have to go through every cache looking for that person's online log.

 

Yes, I know you can google their trailname and their logs will show up, but GS could do something about that too.

 

On the AtlasQuest database you can't google someone's trailname and get access to their logs.

 

You must login to the site first. And if the AQ member does not wish to provide a convenient one-click-link to all of their finds he can choose to set his Finds to private. Here's what a person's profile page looks like with the Finds set to private:

 

 

An AQ member can also set it so that their name appears as undisclosed in the log, but the letterbox owner sees the trailname, everyone else sees 'undisclosed'.

 

Here's what the privacy settings look like:

 

 

Personally, my settings are all public. I haven't had a need to go private but I believe that that is something someone decides for themselves, I do not have a right to that information nor should anyone demand it of me.

 

The logs are much more useful knowing that all logs are visible, IMO, but really... how big a problem is "stalking" from geocaching logs. Personally, I fail to see the problem at all. We don't know enough about the OPs situation to know what else it may entail, or even if it is real (sorry, OP, but that's true). In the years that I've been coming here, I can't say that I've seen one other instance of anything claiming to be stalking. I think your suggestion may be a solution in search of a problem.

 

Actually I've heard of MANY cases of it. I'm surprised you haven't.

 

I think it's a real problem here because of the logging, but people who are being stalked are not going to speak out about it here because it identifies them further, which they don't want. So by nature it's got to be a silent problem with silent victims in fear of it getting worse.

 

I'm dismayed at the response of many here that is, "if I haven't heard of this problem it must not be a problem."

And "It's your problem so deal with it."

And "That's just how the internet is, so deal with it." When actually there are a lot of ways to help people, which is what the thread-owner was asking to begin with.

He/she has a real problem, is asking for help, and is being blown-off by a lot of people.

I know these main forums tend to be harsh, but get real people.

Just because something is not within your experience does not mean it is not real; it does not mean it doesn't exist.

[jholly]

If it's getting to the level of actual criminal activity (following you everywhere, harassing you, sitting outside your house), there are people in your town whose job is to address it. They're called law enforcement.

 

+1

 

I hope people are looking at my profile and checking out the caches Ive done. Thats why i log them. Bragging rights. Yeah baby I did a 4 today. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Otherwise whats the point?

 

IBTL

 

Why do you (or I or anyone) need to know where the OP has been? Why do you need to see his detailed list of geocache finds? If you can't see that list, how will it affect how you geocache?

 

It adds interest to the game. I love looking at other people's logs.

 

The suggestion was made in the feedback forum that the detailed list could be made public, private or shown only to "friends". Not the actual log in the cache's online logbook. It's much harder to stalk someone if you have to go through every cache looking for that person's online log.

 

Yes, I know you can google their trailname and their logs will show up, but GS could do something about that too.

 

On the AtlasQuest database you can't google someone's trailname and get access to their logs.

 

You must login to the site first. And if the AQ member does not wish to provide a convenient one-click-link to all of their finds he can choose to set his Finds to private. Here's what a person's profile page looks like with the Finds set to private:

 

 

An AQ member can also set it so that their name appears as undisclosed in the log, but the letterbox owner sees the trailname, everyone else sees 'undisclosed'.

 

Here's what the privacy settings look like:

 

 

Personally, my settings are all public. I haven't had a need to go private but I believe that that is something someone decides for themselves, I do not have a right to that information nor should anyone demand it of me.

 

The logs are much more useful knowing that all logs are visible, IMO, but really... how big a problem is "stalking" from geocaching logs. Personally, I fail to see the problem at all. We don't know enough about the OPs situation to know what else it may entail, or even if it is real (sorry, OP, but that's true). In the years that I've been coming here, I can't say that I've seen one other instance of anything claiming to be stalking. I think your suggestion may be a solution in search of a problem.

 

Actually I've heard of MANY cases of it. I'm surprised you haven't.

 

I think it's a real problem here because of the logging, but people who are being stalked are not going to speak out about it here because it identifies them further, which they don't want. So by nature it's got to be a silent problem with silent victims in fear of it getting worse.

 

I'm dismayed at the response of many here that is, "if I haven't heard of this problem it must not be a problem."

And "It's your problem so deal with it."

And "That's just how the internet is, so deal with it." When actually there are a lot of ways to help people, which is what the thread-owner was asking to begin with.

He/she has a real problem, is asking for help, and is being blown-off by a lot of people.

I know these main forums tend to be harsh, but get real people.

Just because something is not within your experience does not mean it is not real; it does not mean it doesn't exist.

again the answer to people stalking you by reading your logs is not to log your finds on the web site. Clan Riftser has right, that which you want to share put on the internet, that you don't want to share you put in a folder in your gun safe. It is really very simple. If you think privacy controls is the answer your wrong. They can be defeated and with Groundspeak's track record on software changes they probably will be compromised on each and every up date and probably half of the hotfixes. Quite frankly I would not trust Groundspeak to implement any sort of privacy controls because I think it is simply beyond what they can do. If I was worried about someone reading my logs I would not post them on this site, and if I was really paranoid I would not sign the paper log with my alias here, I would have a separate alias that I change frequently.

[I!]

Quite frankly I would not trust Groundspeak to implement any sort of privacy controls because I think it is simply beyond what they can do.

Oh yes. The bug that revealed the email address of any poster of any log was a classic.

[+Bamilbis]

Google "Dr June Siple" and see what ya get. She was heading up the math department at a high school in Massachusetts, USA when she got in trouble for posting on Facebook. Unfortunately for her and her $92,000+ per year job she made the posts right after Facebook made an update and defaulted everyone's posts to public. She had her security set to "friends only" and posted with that understanding. But Facebook's privacy change turned her friends only default (that she set) to public (that they set).

 

So there she was, talking to her "friends" about issues at work. At one point while sick she posted about "germ bag kids"...to her friends. Well, guess what. Thanks to Facebook her settings were changed to Public and those same "germ bag kids" parents got to see the posts.

 

She was forced to resign and her career is ruined. Once more, I don't care what privacy settings you think you have, if you don't want the world to know something then don't post it on the WORLD WIDE WEB!!! There's a reason every site starts with www.

 

Sheesh. By the way, I blame Facebook for this poor woman's troubles.

Edited October 19, 2011 by GeotaggedBloger

[+addisonbr]

I suspect that there is probably a middle ground between "everything must be 100% open to the world at all times" and "don't ever participate at all".

[+SwineFlew]

I got a feeling that there are a number of people in here that dont want the private control(s) because they are the stalkers themselves and want to keep on tap on others.

[jholly]

I suspect that there is probably a middle ground between "everything must be 100% open to the world at all times" and "don't ever participate at all".

I got a feeling that there are a number of people in here that dont want the private control(s) because they are the stalkers themselves and want to keep on tap on others.

The simple reality is unless Groundspeak replaces their infrastructure with secure servers and secure networking and takes great pains in their website programming that has to undergo a rigorous review of even the simplest one line changes they are not going to be able to provide any meaningful privacy/security controls. As pointed out Facebook is a prime example of the "privacy" controls failing. As was also pointed out the email mistake here. Groundspeak makes so many, in my opinion, stupid programing mistakes on their web site for me to trust them with privacy controls is beyond comprehension. It has nothing to do with wanting to continue to stalk, it has to do with realizing that it can not be done by the present management. If they were to implement some sort of privacy control and then it was found out it was worthless, or could be compromised, or they made a programming mistake and exposed everyone's accounts, now where do you go? If they implemented some sort of privacy controls I would really want to know they work and I can depend on them. And I don't think GS can elicit that type of trust in me. The real answer is don't post your logs if your worried someone is reading them.

[+Bamilbis]

The real answer is don't post your logs if your worried someone is reading them.

 

Common, "don't post your logs if you're worried someone is reading them"? Why would you post them if you didn't think someone was reading them? That's the point of posting them.

 

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want? Seriously, I don't feel one bit endangered. I suspect the vast vast majority feel the same. We all expect others to read our logs and we expect to read theirs. This is a case of a non-problem problem.

 

The OP has been outed as having another agenda. We are on page 5 now because we took the bait.

[knowschad]

Quite frankly I would not trust Groundspeak to implement any sort of privacy controls because I think it is simply beyond what they can do.

Oh yes. The bug that revealed the email address of any poster of any log was a classic.

 

While it wasn't as bad as that there was also the bug where, if you left the title of an image empty, the default was the name of the folder on your harddrive. I will say that they fixed that one very quickly once it was pointed out to them, though.

[+SwineFlew]

The real answer is don't post your logs if your worried someone is reading them.

 

Common, "don't post your logs if you're worried someone is reading them"? Why would you post them if you didn't think someone was reading them? That's the point of posting them.

 

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want? Seriously, I don't feel one bit endangered. I suspect the vast vast majority feel the same. We all expect others to read our logs and we expect to read theirs. This is a case of a non-problem problem.

 

The OP has been outed as having another agenda. We are on page 5 now because we took the bait.

 

Thats why I am in favor of blank logs with no dates on it.

[+John in Valley Forge]

useless comment removed

Edited October 20, 2011 by John in Valley Forge

[+t4e]

Google "Dr June Siple" and see what ya get. She was heading up the math department at a high school in Massachusetts, USA when she got in trouble for posting on Facebook. Unfortunately for her and her $92,000+ per year job she made the posts right after Facebook made an update and defaulted everyone's posts to public. She had her security set to "friends only" and posted with that understanding. But Facebook's privacy change turned her friends only default (that she set) to public (that they set).

 

So there she was, talking to her "friends" about issues at work. At one point while sick she posted about "germ bag kids"...to her friends. Well, guess what. Thanks to Facebook her settings were changed to Public and those same "germ bag kids" parents got to see the posts.

 

She was forced to resign and her career is ruined. Once more, I don't care what privacy settings you think you have, if you don't want the world to know something then don't post it on the WORLD WIDE WEB!!! There's a reason every site starts with www.

 

Sheesh. By the way, I blame Facebook for this poor woman's troubles.

 

no, blame it on stupidity and ignorance....what happened to personal correspondence?

 

i am sorry to say this but it served her right, maybe she'll think twice before using a social network to spill her guts about personal issues...use dadgum email next time, or the phone...jeez thanks to the social networks people have become really unsocial

[jholly]

The real answer is don't post your logs if your worried someone is reading them.

 

Common, "don't post your logs if you're worried someone is reading them"? Why would you post them if you didn't think someone was reading them? That's the point of posting them.

 

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want? Seriously, I don't feel one bit endangered. I suspect the vast vast majority feel the same. We all expect others to read our logs and we expect to read theirs. This is a case of a non-problem problem.

 

The OP has been outed as having another agenda. We are on page 5 now because we took the bait.

 

Thats why I am in favor of blank logs with no dates on it.

I've been thinking sbout that. I think if I get blank logs I'll just delete them as bogus logs as allowed under the cache maintenance guide lines. That should sovle problems for the both of us.

[Clan Riffster]

Sheesh. By the way, I blame Facebook for this poor woman's troubles.

I blame the teacher. Normally I would say there is no one on the planet smart enough to rake in $92,000 a year in the public education field, who is, at the same time dumb enough to believe there is ever such a thing as privacy when you post something on the Internet, but apparently, she would disprove that notion. Every year offers new opportunities to teach the upcoming generation that something they post on the Internet is there forever, as potential employers do background checks, going back several years, looking at all their Facebook, MySpace & Twitter posts.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

Sheesh. By the way, I blame Facebook for this poor woman's troubles.

I blame the teacher. Normally I would say there is no one on the planet smart enough to rake in $92,000 a year in the public education field, who is, at the same time dumb enough to believe there is ever such a thing as privacy when you post something on the Internet, but apparently, she would disprove that notion. Every year offers new opportunities to teach the upcoming generation that something they post on the Internet is there forever, as potential employers do background checks, going back several years, looking at all their Facebook, MySpace & Twitter posts.

 

Facebook, Twitter, Geocaching.com, blogs, etc, are only mediums. They are tools you can use to have a voice on the internet. Facebook didn't post her thoughts on "germ-bag" kids, she did. It doesn't matter what you use to "publish" your opinions, they're still your opinions and she was foolish enough to believe that there is privacy on the internet. The only truly private place for your thoughts and opinions is inside your own head.

Edited October 20, 2011 by Crow-T-Robot

[+jellis]

I don't even understand how someone can "stalk" someone else on gc.com.

 

By the time you've posted a log, you're already gone or (if you're logging over a phone or something) at least in the process of leaving, by the time someone found it and responded, you're long gone.

 

As far as log content, logs are public, why are you putting content that you consider to be private? If you're worried about log content being used against you, then just simply log the word "found".

 

If you're worried about someone figuring out that you're out of town, don't post logs until after you get back, this is the only issue I can even comprehend.

 

How do you think you're being stalked? Am I missing something else?

duplicate Edited October 20, 2011 by jellis

[+jellis]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

[cezanne]

But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

I guess it is pretty much absurd to accuse a cacher to be a stalker just because he is watching a cache. I know cachers who are watching

every single cache they have found at least for some time (some until the next find, some for much longer).

 

The watch list has been introduced to be used and no one needs to answer questions like "Why are you watching my cache?".

 

Cezanne

[knowschad]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

I don't understand... how are they giving you grief? Simply because they are watching your caches, or is there more to it than that (a simple "yes" will suffice if you don't want to go into details)?

[Pup Patrol]

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

Oh, my, I guess that makes me a stalker of a few cache owners and trackable owners.

 

Once again:

 

sticky at the top of this forum:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=238349

 

Reporting Abusive Posts or Correspondence

If someone directs correspondence to you that is abusive or derogatory through the site, a forum topic or a log entry, you should not respond before reporting it. Once two parties are involved, it becomes a "he said this" or "she said that" discussion that is generally difficult to deal with.

 

Forum posts are reported by clicking on the !Report link at the bottom of the post. Other issues are reported by sending an email with all of the particulars to contact@geocaching.com

[+addisonbr]

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want?

I wouldn't mind having a way to restrict the links on my profile page leading to all of my organized / sorted data.

[+jellis]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

I don't understand... how are they giving you grief? Simply because they are watching your caches, or is there more to it than that (a simple "yes" will suffice if you don't want to go into details)?

Yes way more then the few examples I mentioned. But can't be mentioned here.

And for the others no I am not saying just because a cache is being wwatched means being stalked. But when you know you are and you put a note on your cache page and the same cachers and only them view the page, well then I have a good idea. One of (sorry for mentioning them)was using Opencaching to log finds on my caches there. When I mentioned that 2 of them they couldn't have found because one was Archived and the other was missing and I forgot to do it on the OP site. That same cacher on that day viewed only those two caches and no one else.

Edited October 21, 2011 by jellis

[jholly]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

I don't understand... how are they giving you grief? Simply because they are watching your caches, or is there more to it than that (a simple "yes" will suffice if you don't want to go into details)?

Yes way more then the few examples I mentioned. But can't be mentioned here.

And for the others no I am not saying just because a cache is being wwatched means being stalked. But when you know you are and you put a note on your cache page and the same cachers and only them view the page, well then I have a good idea. One of (sorry for mentioning them)was using Opencaching to log finds on my caches there. When I mentioned that 2 of them they couldn't have found because one was Archived and the other was missing and I forgot to do it on the OP site. That same cacher on that day viewed only those two caches and no one else.

How do you know they only viewed your two caches and no other caches? I was not aware audit logs gives you the view history of who viewed your caches, just that they viewed your cache. So they cheat on opencaching.com, does that matter? Have they threatened you in any manner or posted harassing logs? If all they are doing is looking at cache pages I'm not sure that is a problem. Perhaps they want to see who else is finding the cache, maybe they are stalking someone else. I guess I'm glad none of my caches are not PM so I don't have to obsess over who is viewing the cache page. And actually if I was to really be stalking someone I would not view the cache pages directly but would get them via PQ's because those don't show up on the audit logs. Those are the ones you need to worry about.

[+jellis]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

I don't understand... how are they giving you grief? Simply because they are watching your caches, or is there more to it than that (a simple "yes" will suffice if you don't want to go into details)?

Yes way more then the few examples I mentioned. But can't be mentioned here.

And for the others no I am not saying just because a cache is being wwatched means being stalked. But when you know you are and you put a note on your cache page and the same cachers and only them view the page, well then I have a good idea. One of (sorry for mentioning them)was using Opencaching to log finds on my caches there. When I mentioned that 2 of them they couldn't have found because one was Archived and the other was missing and I forgot to do it on the OP site. That same cacher on that day viewed only those two caches and no one else.

How do you know they only viewed your two caches and no other caches? I was not aware audit logs gives you the view history of who viewed your caches, just that they viewed your cache. So they cheat on opencaching.com, does that matter? Have they threatened you in any manner or posted harassing logs? If all they are doing is looking at cache pages I'm not sure that is a problem. Perhaps they want to see who else is finding the cache, maybe they are stalking someone else. I guess I'm glad none of my caches are not PM so I don't have to obsess over who is viewing the cache page. And actually if I was to really be stalking someone I would not view the cache pages directly but would get them via PQ's because those don't show up on the audit logs. Those are the ones you need to worry about.

Yes it lets you see who viewed them and when.

No they are not threatening or harassing more like a fly that buzzes around you and no matter how much you ignore them they just don't leave you alone with their games.

[+baloo&bd]

Yes it lets you see who viewed them and when.

No they are not threatening or harassing more like a fly that buzzes around you and no matter how much you ignore them they just don't leave you alone with their games.

 

I've been watching the thread, or possibly by you definition stalking it. You have given no indication that they are doing anything even remotely irritating, much less stalking. If anything, you have made a good argument how the audit logs can be misinterpreted and misused.

 

You have given no indication that they have appeared at your home or work, called you on the phone or even sent you threatening emails. As others have stated, unless GC starts tracking cachers live and putting the info up on a map or something, there simply no way anything given out in day to day caching activities that would be useful to a "stalker". In fact, by your definition, the little "traps" you put out to "catch" them are more harmful.

[Mr.Yuck]

Trust me if it happens in real life, it happens here. I am also stalked. Just look at my profile and you will notice majority of my hides are being watched by 2 to 3 cachers. 2 of them I am sure I know who they are, and they have been giving me grief for years now. Changing my name will not accomplish anything if you hang out with the same cachers and cache the same areas. Best I try to do is ignore them. But like little kids they do things to get my attention like archive their finds on my caches and re-log them in again on a different date. Put logs after mine saying I left the cache out in the open. Try to get my caches archived because I took a little too long to do maintenance.

I do have a question for GC.

Premium Members have audit lists to see who viewed their cache pages. But I was told they won't let us see who is watching our caches on the Watchlists because that is "stalking". But if they are on our cache's Watchlist and we can't see them...who is stalking who?

 

That has been brought up before. They won't reveal the identity of the watchlist for "privacy reasons" (there's even a knowledge book article on the subject, although I don't feel like looking it up), but yet there's the audit log, which tells you who viewed your cache pages, how many times, and the exact time of their last visit. Why? Well, that's one of the 3 great unexplained mysteries of Groundspeak. Unless there's more.

[+Team Taran]

No they are not threatening or harassing more like a fly that buzzes around you and no matter how much you ignore them they just don't leave you alone with their games.

I would suggest you are not doing a very good job of ignoring them. You have mentioned contacting them about logging your caches and you have posted about it on these forums. Try really ignoring them and their antics and that means not sending them emails, not talking about it at local events, and not posting about it on any forum. If your caches need maintenance and you have a legitimate reason for not doing it, contact your reviewer. If they log a cache where the log book has not been signed and it bothers you, delete it without comment. Learning theory indicates that if behavior does not result in a benefit, it will be extinguished. It may take a long time though since it appears that you have been providing reinforcement by responding to their antics. If their behavior escalates and it may, then contact Groundspeak.

[+addisonbr]

They won't reveal the identity of the watchlist for "privacy reasons" ... but yet there's the audit log, which tells you who viewed your cache pages, how many times, and the exact time of their last visit.

Yeah, it's a pretty weird setup.

[AZcachemeister]

No they are not threatening or harassing more like a fly that buzzes around you and no matter how much you ignore them they just don't leave you alone with their games.

by responding to their antics.

 

DON'T FEED THE TROLLS

[+GeoBain]

Advice sought.

 

Without going into detail, I'm being stalked on gc.com. A person I used to know is using their gc.com account to check my geocaching activity. They have not found or hidden a cache since 2008 yet appear to be logging in to their account daily. This then allows them to go to my profile and check what caches I have found and read my logs for these caches. This then tells them where I have been and, of course, we often reveal information about ourselves in what we write in logs. There is little doubt they are doing this as I have laid a trap in a log to test whether my suspicion was correct and it has been confirmed.

 

Their behaviour is sad and pathetic but it is also an invasion of my privacy. I want to be able to continue to cache freely and write interesting log notes without having to worry about this person trawling my profile for information and using it for less than legitimate purposes.

 

I am unaware of any privacy settings on gc.com that would allow me to prevent them doing this. However, is anyone aware of a method by which this can be done?

 

Does anyone know if gc.com has a privacy officer (or similar) who I could contact for advice and assistance?

 

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation? Many thanks.

 

I thought U.N.C.L.E. was the one being stalked and that's why he quit and why you placed a tribute cache in his name.

[+adt1982]

Advice sought.

 

Without going into detail, I'm being stalked on gc.com. A person I used to know is using their gc.com account to check my geocaching activity. They have not found or hidden a cache since 2008 yet appear to be logging in to their account daily. This then allows them to go to my profile and check what caches I have found and read my logs for these caches. This then tells them where I have been and, of course, we often reveal information about ourselves in what we write in logs. There is little doubt they are doing this as I have laid a trap in a log to test whether my suspicion was correct and it has been confirmed.

 

Their behaviour is sad and pathetic but it is also an invasion of my privacy. I want to be able to continue to cache freely and write interesting log notes without having to worry about this person trawling my profile for information and using it for less than legitimate purposes.

 

I am unaware of any privacy settings on gc.com that would allow me to prevent them doing this. However, is anyone aware of a method by which this can be done?

 

Does anyone know if gc.com has a privacy officer (or similar) who I could contact for advice and assistance?

 

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation? Many thanks.

 

I thought U.N.C.L.E. was the one being stalked and that's why he quit and why you placed a tribute cache in his name.

Who knows what is going on here. In that other thread U.N.C.L.E IS a group account that just had 1 member leave because the hobby results in security/privacy issues and damages the environment. Maybe it's a geocaching soap opera!

[+t4e]

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want?

I wouldn't mind having a way to restrict the links on my profile page leading to all of my organized / sorted data.

 

why?

[+addisonbr]

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want?

I wouldn't mind having a way to restrict the links on my profile page leading to all of my organized / sorted data.

why?

For example, I'd like to leave photos on cache pages for CO's and visitors to those cache pages to enjoy. But I'm not excited about leaving a chronologically sorted photo gallery of every photo, available with one click to any- and everyone. I'd rather be able to restrict that kind of targeted, sorted and indexed information to a friends list of some sort.

 

I have that ability on every other web site where I can upload photos from my account (generally viewable by anyone visiting a page where I have uploaded it, but without everyone being able to see every photo I've ever uploaded with one click of the mouse, sorted and indexed). I'd like to have that ability here, as well.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

The solution is to simply realise this isn't a banking site and the info you put on here is FOR public consumption. You're given a fake name and they hide your address. What more do you want?

I wouldn't mind having a way to restrict the links on my profile page leading to all of my organized / sorted data.

why?

For example, I'd like to leave photos on cache pages for CO's and visitors to those cache pages to enjoy. But I'm not excited about leaving a chronologically sorted photo gallery of every photo, available with one click to any- and everyone. I'd rather be able to restrict that kind of targeted, sorted and indexed information to a friends list of some sort.

 

I have that ability on every other web site where I can upload photos from my account (generally viewable by anyone visiting a page where I have uploaded it, but without everyone being able to see every photo I've ever uploaded with one click of the mouse, sorted and indexed). I'd like to have that ability here, as well.

 

Actually, what would make more sense would be when you "Add a Photo" to a log, instead of just being able to upload photos to the GS servers, you could enter a URL to where the photo is located (i.e. on Flickr, Picassa, Photobucket, etc.) and use one of the many image hosting services that have the kind of access control you want. Unfortunately, GS has provided an image hosting service for a long time and it wouldn't really be feasible to change that such that all image were hosted externally.

[7rxc]

Thought you could do that already? At least for cache and tb logs.

Or did you mean as an option to the "add a photo" button?

 

Doug 7rxc

Edited November 22, 2011 by 7rxc

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thought you could do that already? At least for cache and tb logs.

Or did you mean as an option to the "add a photo" button?

 

Doug 7rxc

 

Yes, you can embed some html into a cache or tb page listing that is a link to an external image, but I'm thinking more when logging a cache one can currently "upload a photo". Changing that to "Add a Photo", and providing an option to link to an existing photo (of course, some sort of validation that it's actually an image might be a good idea), as well as uploading from a users computer would provide more flexibility for those that wanted to manage their photos elsewhere. I can, for example, use my phone to take a picture, the then, using a couple of different apps save it directly to my flickr or picassa account. It would nice if I could just link those photos to my log.