Real ID comes to WoW

[Kail]

hm..
I wonder if you're automatically opted-in to RealID even if you're not subscribed to World of Warcraft? Will my real name show up on friends' lists and friends of friends' lists despite not having played in almost 2 years? We do have battle.net accounts for D2.

Idiot question here: is this really a concern?  My WoW account's been dead for something like a year, but I don't recall having an account wide Friends list or anything, and I didn't think they'd let people add themselves to a friends list without my logging in or having some other way to give an OK.  Or does RealID import friends lists from other stuff or something?  I don't see why this would be a problem, and would be mightily annoyed if I was wrong.

[Soulflame]

Your account can be hacked.  It still has all of your information on it.

[Rendakor]

The RealID friend changes were not retroactive; people who have you on their friends list as Azazel or Kail still only see Azazel or Kail. You have to exchange email addresses and approve any RealID friends in game. So, no, this is not a concern for people who haven't played since the RealID shit went live.

[DayDream]

It's comforting to hear that simply never buying a new Blizzard game ever again will avoid the friend list aspect of this RealID bullshit.  I was hoping that my old WoW account make me deal with this.  Does anyone know how far RealID extends, and how it interacts with old information?

[Rendakor]

RealID friends is currently the only implementation of RealID; there are no retroactive changes that would expose your personal information whatsoever. They canceled the RealID forum posting thing, but even if that went live it wasn't going to be retroactive.

[Arthur_Parker]

I am entertained by these proceedings.  Carry on, sir.

As expected.

[Paelos]

I like your approach: "Just cough once if someone at Blizzard is holding a gun to your head right now."

[Ingmar]

Given that we're all afraid that people are going to set out to grief us IRL over any little thing, and how easy it is to get personal information about people as demonstrated in this thread, obviously this is the only really safe way to stop that orc you've been teabagging from having your account deleted in a rage.  

Serious mode: It does seem like they need several pieces of information too many.

EDIT: I don't think I could actually supply my original activation code, and it doesn't seem to be available via my Battle.net account. All my other Blizzard games list the key in the 'manage game' page on Battle.net, but not WoW. Now granted, that's probably a plus from the 'stop someone who hacked your battle.net account from REALLY deleting you' standpoint, but I certainly didn't know I needed to save it.

[caladein]

Looking at the list: Name, Account Name, E-Mail, CD-Key, and Secret Question/Answer are all for "access" to the account if you don't have your password (which they don't ask for).  Full Address might just be for a sanity check on the Account's billing address.

Past that there's just ID scan/photo, which I will agree is just them being obtuse.

[Arthur_Parker]

I've decided I'm going to have lots of fun with this.  They respond within 24 hours each time which is impressive.  It doesn't take them long because they just cut and paste the same id requirements and ignore any unrelated questions.  But if I make the questions related to the documents I have to supply, I should be able to force them to create a custom reply just for me.  Tomorrow I'm going to reply that I might be willing to supply the photo id etc they ask for, but mention I'm not keen on them having an accurate photograph of me.  Hence logic dictates I should grow a beard, have the DVLA issue a new license based on the updated bearded photo and ask if I'm then allowed to shave once the account has been deleted.  I'll also ask if they will cover the fee of £20.00 of updating the license.

Edit spelling.

[Musashi]

 

[waffel]

 

[WindupAtheist]

You brute, don't you know you're making life hell for blah blah wage slaves blah blah? At least that's what someone told be 6 pages ago or something. I forget who. I never did get a response to my bullshit email, I don't think.

[Modern Angel]

You're still sore over e-insults four days later?

[Pennilenko]

You're still sore over e-insults four days later?

He has the memory of an elephant.

[Lum]

Ironically, much more in this vein and Blizzard will save money by giving you a lifetime account, $40 in cash, and a signed promise to never contact them ever again.

[WindupAtheist]

I just find the random waxing and waning of MA's scolding instinct interesting.

[Ratman_tf]

I've decided I'm going to have lots of fun with this.  They respond within 24 hours each time which is impressive.  It doesn't take them long because they just cut and paste the same id requirements and ignore any unrelated questions.  But if I make the questions related to the documents I have to supply, I should be able to force them to create a custom reply just for me.  Tomorrow I'm going to reply that I might be willing to supply the photo id etc they ask for, but mention I'm not keen on them having an accurate photograph of me.  Hence logic dictates I should grow a bread, have the DVLA issue a new license based on the updated bearded photo and ask if I'm then allowed to shave once the account has been deleted.  I'll also ask if they will cover the fee of £20.00 of updating the license.

Tee hee.

[Azazel]

Hey, some of us found your email entertaining, so fuck his inconsistent refereeing. I think they addressed the issue of your idiot son posting with your name on it by nuking the forum changes. You need to follow it up by saying you don't want your idiot son linking the account which he uses to that Facebook thing since you use your facebook page to keep in contact with family in the UK and around the country, while he uses his like he uses his bedroom..

[Soln]

Ironically, much more in this vein and Blizzard will save money by giving you a lifetime account, $40 in cash, and a signed promise to never contact them ever again.

until they go F2P, then angst

[Modern Angel]

I'm not being inconsistent. I'm being tired. But, specifically, WUA: your post touted how hilariously douchebaggy you were being. When it was pointed out, way to be a douchebag, you sputtered about how you weren't being a douchebag. If being an asshole and wasting someone's time is the entire point don't be pissy about it being pointed out.

I'll maintain that if you're invested enough in the situation to harass some poor fucker (bearing in mind there are a million other yous out there) but not enough to just click the unsub button your priorities are skewed. You're mad about your privacy but you ain't that mad.

[WindupAtheist]

You had a giant vaginal overraction to something that was specified as being reasonably "civil" while also being "demanding prick" in tone, and started crying about poor abused email jockeys. Fuck those guys, they can get trolled and like it. They don't give a fuck. They either paste form letters or kick things up a level to someone else. I've been the schmuck on the front line of listening to complaints before, as long as you don't have to talk to some simpleton live, it's the easiest job in the world.

You fucking listen and respond to my trolling, and you're not even getting paid! 

[Lakov_Sanite]

I wish I made 30k to get bitched at...seriously, I need a new job 

[Pennilenko]

You fucking listen and respond to my trolling, and you're not even getting paid! 

That was great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BpfydZdTE0&feature=related

[proudft]

Replyall ftw: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/12/esrb-unintentionally-exposes-email-addresses-of-people-who-filed/

 

Next up, the BBB sets the houses on fire of the people who called them.

[Arthur_Parker]

Tee hee.

Doh, dyslexia is a btich.

They solved the problem of avoiding sending me another generic reply by closing the query and sending a Customer Satisfaction Survey instead.  I've created a new email address, changed my account details to match and started the deletion request from scratch.

[Azazel]

I'm not being inconsistent. I'm being tired. But, specifically, WUA: your post touted how hilariously douchebaggy you were being. When it was pointed out, way to be a douchebag, you sputtered about how you weren't being a douchebag. If being an asshole and wasting someone's time is the entire point don't be pissy about it being pointed out.

I'll maintain that if you're invested enough in the situation to harass some poor fucker (bearing in mind there are a million other yous out there) but not enough to just click the unsub button your priorities are skewed. You're mad about your privacy but you ain't that mad.

The thing is, while WUA may have been dicking around to an extent, I thought it was a completely valid and feasable situation that he brought up, and I honestly wanted to see what Bliizzard's reaction would be to that scenario.

[Azazel]

The RealID friend changes were not retroactive; people who have you on their friends list as Azazel or Kail still only see Azazel or Kail. You have to exchange email addresses and approve any RealID friends in game. So, no, this is not a concern for people who haven't played since the RealID shit went live.

Good - thank you. I honestly didn't know how it would affect inactive accounts due to the "opt-out, not in" nature of the beast.

[Rendakor]

No prob, glad I could help.

[fuser]

Got an instant "we have received your email" response from blizzard over my PIPEDA request from July 8th. This morning I received a new email which states in three different places.

1) If you didn't find a resolution to your problem reply to this message and you will retain your place in queue.
2) You message is in queue to be responded to.
2) If you respond to this message you will create additional wait time

Seems like I'm getting two or three emails "did this resolve x" copy and pasted together. Wish I was getting a quicker and clearer response then Arthur.

[Arthur_Parker]

I'll spoiler all this as it may just be amusing to me, so it's easier to skip past.

[Stabs]

it may just be amusing to me

Actually we're all very entertained. Keep going and good luck!

[slog]

it may just be amusing to me

Actually we're all very entertained. Keep going and good luck!

I would go so far as to say this will be newsworthy for the major gaming news websites.  At least the ones that are not dependent on Vivendi for advertising.

[Lantyssa]

Wouldn't it require two driver's license changes and £40?

[Stabs]

The thing is under English law they're not entitled to demand a driver's licence at all.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/toolkit.pdf

For a subject access request all Arthur has to provide is name and address and any information he (ie Arthur) thinks is necessary to identify him (probably the account name). They are allowed to request a fee of £10. They then have 40 days to provide the information.

If they don't comply then the ICO has the following powers:

    * conduct assessments to check organisations are complying with the Act;
    * serve information notices requiring organisations to provide the Information Commissioner's Office with specified information within a certain time period;
    * serve enforcement notices and 'stop now' orders where there has been a breach of the Act, requiring organisations to take (or refrain from taking) specified steps in order to ensure they comply with the law;
    * prosecute those who commit criminal offences under the Act;
    * conduct audits to assess whether organisations processing of personal data follows good practice; and
    * report to Parliament on data protection issues of concern.
The ICO's new power to issue monetary penalties came into force on 6 April 2010, allowing the ICO to serve notices requiring organisations to pay up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.