Dear Niantic please stop and ban KOL promoting tools violating ING ToS in semi-official channel ASAP
(The reason I post it here because it’s directly related to and should be discussed seriously on the Ingress Community forum and later I will explain why in the last paragraphs)
Today, the owner of an Ingress fan channel that has 10,000+ subscribers (and thus turned him/her into a so-called Key-Opinion-Leader) wrote a post https://archive.ph/CJ9R5 , promoting a tool made by that owner together with other players, that scrapes and extracts specific, internal data from Intel Map and publishes it to the public via a Telegram bot automatically.
DO SOME PLAYERS HAVE PRIVILEGES?
This ille.gal tool, is violating Data Security policy https://nianticlabs.com/privacy/ and is an infringement by breaking Ingress ToS https://niantic.helpshift.com/hc/en/3-ingress/faq/1031-terms-of-service/?s=agent-protocol&f=about-the-trusted-reporters-program&p=web i.e. the Niantic Terms of Service https://nianticlabs.com/terms/
6. Conduct, General Prohibitions, and Niantic’s Enforcement Rights
You agree that you are responsible for your own conduct and User Content while using the Services, and for any consequences thereof. In addition, you agree not to do any of the following, unless applicable law mandates that you be given the right to do so:
extract, scrape, or index the Services or Content (including information about users or gameplay);
And by doing this the owner of that channel is violating Niantic Player Guidelines https://niantic.helpshift.com/hc/en/3-ingress/faq/3582-niantic-player-guidelines/?s=agent-protocol&f=about-the-trusted-reporters-program&p=web
4 - Play fair
Using modified or unofficial software.
(because those players have programmed the tool to extracts data from Intel map in a way that normal players won’t do)
Using multiple or shared accounts to circumvent gameplay.
(because we all know that, to scrape data automatically from the Intel map, multiple sub-accounts are usually required to escape from being identified and banned by the Niantic Lightship anti-cheating system.)
Manipulating matchmaking, outcomes, rankings, or any other element of competitive gameplay systems.
(because it’s publishing regional cell scores)
After seeing the post, subscribers to that channel immediately pointed out that it’s violating ToS:
“You are scraping Intel (with sub-accounts) at worst, letting others use your account at best”
“So far, I see:
* Using unofficial software to access Intel
* Sharing your account (hopefully yours and not an "Intel" account)
* Scraping/indexing data. This is brokers guild stuff.”
But the owner of that channel replied with a screenshot of Intel Map with his/her own Ingress account logged in, saying that it’s not a big thing. Yes, the owner that promotes to 10,000+ readers the ille.gal tool he/she made that violates Ingress ToS and is an infringement of rules and intellectual properties of Niantic, said “does not take a whole lot…”.
Here raises the question: Are some players having privileges that they can freely break ToS with no punishment? Where is the community manager (who has joined that channel and its affiliated chat group and even interacted with players there previously)? Nobody is handling this serious violation? Hey, it’s blatantly promoting ToS breaking tools to 10,000+ Ingress players!
Of course the owner of that channel and some other friends of him/her would say that it’s their own fan channel and thus they can say and promote whatever they like and they don’t need to follow any Niantic guidelines. This is NOT true.
That channel is entirely not their own playground at least since 2020/Sep/30, the moment it's used to host a formal Q&A by Brian Rose
https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/12307/iueng-q-a-sept-30-2020
Other players have already noticed the weird decision to use that channel to host a Niantic official session:
https://community.ingress.com/en/discussion/12168/why-is-ama-not-being-held-on-this-forum
“A player-based group “hosting” an official chat gives the appearance of favoritism. Niantic keeps directing us here, to their own forum, for communication.”
Now that the 10,000+ subscribers forum is used to host Niantic formal activity after its owner and moderator invited Niantic official to do so, it definitely becomes a semi-official channel where at least the owner and moderators should follow Niantic guidelines.
Excuse me, why is the Ingress account of the owner of that channel who is now ille.gally scraping data with the tool they wrote for 10,000+ players not warned and banned? Why is nobody advising them to STOP promoting ille.gal tools that violates ToS significantly?
DO SOME PLAYERS HAVE PRIVILEGES?
Comments
When some players are directly, permanently banned without any notice regardless of 3-strike policy, how could an admin and owner of a semi-official channel not be banned due to his/her blatantly writing, using and promoting to 10,000+ players a cheating tool that violates multiple guidelines and rules defined by Niantic.
Just because his/her channel is famous? Or because he/she helped organize a Q&A?
Despite the fact that this 13,455 + subscribers channel is de facto a semi-official channel after running a Niantic official Q&A session, it keeps mentioning (the author is the same as the post for the cheating tools released and used today) that are all people run that channel are not affiliated to Niantic https://archive.ph/fMAI5 .
Well, let's just take that assumption: "the owner is not affiliated to Niantic". Then please Niantic deal with this issue in a way that you do with normal players with no privileges. Treat that owner of the channel as a normal player, thank you!
Let me tell you how Intel scraping accounts, or accounts that deliberately promoting cheating tools in Ingress related official or semi-official platforms are generally handled by Niantic:
BAN (permanently, with notice)
BAN (permanently, without notice)
BAN!
Where is the justice, please?
Am I right in seeing that this tool shares cell scores?
Can you imagine that a semi-official Ingress Telegram channel is promoting and directly building and using tools that illegally scraps data from Intel Map and share to external parties with no account login needed?
What's going on with Ingress management team?
This is purely cheating. And how could it be promoted to ten thousand players with nobody else standing out to stop it? Niantic should ban cheaters like that and not legit players. Oh sorry, Niantic is probably hibernating.
Those IUENG mods....is pushing the envelope gradually
At first, they ab.use their authorizations in IFS to suppress dissidents. Players are watching it as TV drama.
Then they released cheating tools directly violating ToS. Players are watching it silently and wonderingly.
Ultimately, they would conquer the entire Ingress player community. Players can say nothing but quit.
Looks like players from that channel came like a swarm to "disagree", with their obvious violations of building, using and promoting scraping tools that break Niantic Data Security policy and Niantic Terms of Service.
Someone from Niantic Legal team should really step in and deliver probation to those cheaters.
The IUENG Guild apparently has niantic's blessing yeah?
Are you saying that people who disagree with a forum post are cheaters who should be punished by Niantic? I may have to risk it and disagree with your post.
Would you please kindly not drive the topic away? As you can see that we are discussing something very serious.
Is replying to a post also an offense now? Chill out. I am certain that your thread will get the attention it deserves.
Not many people would think in the way that you say. Whom that should be punished is very obvious: the one who created, currently running and proactively promoting to THIRTEEN THOUSAND players the illegal scraping tool that literally act as a cyber attack against Niantic.
One common tactics the players I report would use frequently is finding problems from replies of my thread made by other players, not from what I said. They intentionally generate quarrels and instantly ask forum moderators to close the thread "because there are players not respecting others in the thread". Sorry for my being mean to you if you actually didn't intend to do so to prevent those players being punished as they should, but is just keeping click that button on every comment of mine in this thread simply because you don't agree with me, which makes it hard for me to identify whether you are of them or not.
Nevertheless, I would prefer this thread to live longer before (I don't know, Niantic Legal Department? Niantic Operations? maybe) someone from Niantic (my imaginary) could get more information. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.
Considering the fact they secretly dropped my IFS Artwork Winner qualification because I spoke poorly of their Promoting-Cheating-Tools channel with cancel culture reasons, it's very proper for Niantic to drop their accounts as well for promoting mass violations and stealing information from Niantic among the extraodinary 13,000+ subscribed players.
What's so different between this and taking a screen shot of a a cells score and posting it to a telegram chat? The answer is nothing at all, I don't see any issue with it, it seems more like you e got a vendetta against these mods in the chat and are trying everything to vilify them
Niantic could always sue that channel for its using Ingress trademark as logo and simultaneously promoting illegal activities and tools against Niantic
Hahaha omg what the heck?!
🤣 when even readers of that channel know clearly it's severely violating Niantic ToS
it seems more like you are intentionally defending the players who violate the ToS and infringe the rights and intellectual property of Niantic
Completely nonsense. This cheating tool can:
Can you? 🙄
What's that so funny? Niantic has been taking down 3rd-party tools companies and scraping website in the past years with legal suits. They for sure can take 3rd-party channel down as well when the channel is promoting illegal activities against Niantic. The IUENG channel has crossed the line.
For the eyes of Niantic:
I have to add one more thing, the full unmasked version of which I've submitted to Niantic Support (though I guess that won't work).
Upon being questioned "isn't it violating ToS?" That KOL who built, is now running and just promoting to 13K players the cheating tool, instead of denying it, replied with a screenshot of Intel, showing developer mode of browser where 3rd-party scripts are executed to illegally scrape data automatically.
Yes, that KOL player is not denying the fact that he/she violates the ToS directly. He/she was just saying that it's simple to do, and showed how this is done. The screenshot of Intel map, is literally showing his/her account ID.
okay now you are just making stuff up. he pressed f12 for developer tools, where do you see those illegal 3rd party scripts? Why are you blurring out the data that Niantic themselves provide? Did you not know you can actually see the regional score on the intel website?
you clearly have no idea what you are talking about
And someone is clearly defending players breaking Niantic ToS significantly by implying that "scraping is not scraping". That's of no use. Keep trying. Even that player who should be banned did not deny the fact that it's breaking ToS.
Dude, this is the same thing as seeing someone glyph hack when you have no idea what it is and accusing them of cheating. Open up a browser, go to intel and press F12, you'll see the same thing. No 3rd party scripts, nothing illegal about it. The fact that you blurred out a piece of data that is on the default stock intel says enough.
But I'm going to ignore you now, this has been fun.
Yes, I can go and check all the scores right now, then take a screenshot of them and put them into a telegram chat, wpuld younday that's against terms of services that I've just manually done what that does automatically?
A 5-minute test on that public cheating tool and any Niantic employee would realize that it's relying on illegal scraping that Niantic forbids. Save your effort. Try finding some new theories for your friends.
Cell score is benign. Unless you can provide evidence of comms or portal state scraping I'm going to call this a nothing burger.
Also Ingress assets are generally open for use.
With the development of this thread, I suppose that any Niantic employee can see clearly how a proportion of those 13,000+ subscribers would redefine Terms of Service with their own dictionary, to make an obvious, blatant ToS-breaking player sound like not that malicious. Can't believe that they are trying to make an issue of the concept of "scraping" and deny it when this is the most obvious thing regarding this entire illegal activity.
If not delivering any punishment this time, they would simply redefine spoofing and make every cheater sound innocent.
Scraping is scraping. Breaking ToS is breaking ToS. Niantic staffs are not fools, thank you!
Thanks for the lively discussion on this thread. Based on the content of the discussion, I will be closing it for future comments. I appreciate your understanding.