Watchers and Favorites

[+The Snowdog]

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything in the search. I know that you can no longer view who is watching a cache (including your own) because of EU regulations (and this has been the case for some time now). But you can view who favorited a cache - any cache, not just your own. What subtly in the law allows one, but not the other? Just curious... 

Edited December 14, 2022 by The Snowdog

[+Viajero Perdido]

You've never been able to see who's watching a cache, and my memory goes back 17 years.  This would've been a decision by Groundspeak at roughly the beginning of time, as I think it predates all those intrusive EU rules of late.

 

So possibly, the law allows both.  Or at least, we have no evidence otherwise.

[+The Snowdog]

Ya know, I might be thinking of who viewed a cache. Was that once a thing? I seem to remember that we once used that feature (or something like that) to figure out who was stealing containers.

Edited December 14, 2022 by The Snowdog

[+Viajero Perdido]

Ah right, who viewed a cache, that was available for a long time.  I almost forgot about that too.

 

EU pressure might've had something to do with that ability disappearing, dunno...  Or maybe just the fact it was bypassable, thus of limited value to anyone.

[+Max and 99]

2 hours ago, The Snowdog said:

Ya know, I might be thinking of who viewed a cache.

The Audit List on a cache page went away October of 2019. 

https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/353888-audit-log-on-premium-only-caches-to-be-removed-october-31/

Edited December 15, 2022 by Max and 99

[+The Snowdog]

Yep that is what it was, and as M & 99 pointed out it did go away because of new privacy laws. Thanks everyone!

Edited December 15, 2022 by The Snowdog

[+cerberus1]

16 hours ago, The Snowdog said:

 I seem to remember that we once used that feature (or something like that) to figure out who was stealing containers.

 

One of the reasons we were very happy to see the audit go bye-bye from PMO caches was the false opinion that someone could "figure out who was stealing caches" using it.  There were so many ways to look at a PMO page undetected, that it simply no longer made sense.

Unlike the watch, where you click watch and be watching that cache page forever, unknown, simply looking at a PMO page, even accidently, logged you in.

We finally stopped clicking on links to caches here in these forums when folks didn't warn that it's a PMO, when that one too-curious CO asked why we were looking at their NW cache when we're in the NE.