My point is that even if I have “junk” accounts (which I do), those provide access to my electronic devices because I need to check them somehow. Yes, I can take precautions.
Setting up an auto-forward filter is one possible solution, but runs the risk of missing relevant messages, if they don’t match the criteria. But yes, a viable option. So is viewing all messages in plain-text to cut down on the tracking or possibility of accidentally clicking on a link, although that makes some messages unintelligible.
The matter still stands that it’s more junk to deal with.
Because I come from a culture where personal information is supposed to be protected. Many jurisdictions have enacted legislation enshrining this idea, so I don’t think it’s a fringe opinion.
If common practice is to ignore/delete unwanted or unexpected email, what’s the value for sponsors to send me something I don’t want in the first place? It certainly doesn’t make me think fondly of their brand.
Just because having my information exploited is the norm doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
My point is there is a certain amount of ‘I don’t like it, you need to fix it for me’ in this thread (and several other recent threads for that matter), and that’s just not how the world works. I don’t understand the value of spam emails either, but I’m still safeguarding myself from them instead of expecting them to go away, because I don’t expect anyone else to solve my problem for me.
Curious, if the IFPA offered a “premium” account that provided all the current benefits but without sharing your email with sponsors, would you be willing to pay a yearly fee for this? It seems that oftentimes a lot of complaints about “exploited information” dry up when actual dollars are suddenly in play. OTOH if people are actually willing to pay to avoid pinball marketing, perhaps Josh has found a new revenue stream…
I certainly wouldn’t pay $10,000 for the benefit as suggested (jokingly) by @pinwizj above, but maybe some would be willing to pay a nominal fee for an ad-free option. Frankly, I wouldn’t because it’s really not that big of an issue for me…despite whatever impression I give by continuing to argue the point.
I chimed in because I’m pretty sure IFPA’s current practice is in violation of Canadian (and it sounds like European) privacy laws. But so what? It’s a US-based organization and I don’t really know what the consequences might be if they ignore the legislation. I’m certainly not going to make more of it beyond voicing my opinion on this forum.
@Kholdstaer, I’m not expecting anyone else to solve my problem for me, but I also know nothing is going to change unless attention is brought to that problem.
It just so happens that my wishes align with the requirements of the privacy legislation, so if IFPA chooses to comply with it, it’s a benefit for me! If it doesn’t, ¯_(ツ)_/¯
It’s a routine business practice to interview your customer/user base to ensure that you’re aware of any pain points and consumer sentiments. When multiple users say “I don’t like it, you need to fix it for me,” that’s helpful information to consider, whether or not you ultimately change your operating practices. Users said, “I don’t like this, fix it for me” and the IFPA wrote a privacy policy. Users said, “I don’t like this, fix it for me” and Eventbrite changed its ToS. Rather than shutting down dissent, you should be considering whether the user base you serve is pointing out an issue that you/your company deems worth fixing.
Consider me a cynic, but show me where a) a majority of the 58k registered IFPA players have the same issue, and b) the IFPA will move away from a profitable business model towards a less profitable one. There is no massive and sudden user backlash towards the IFPA like there is for Eventbrite, and writing a privacy policy doesn’t affect a business model. Your examples don’t really capture the right context here.
What I’m arguing is it’s easier and quicker to solve a problem yourself, even in the context of Eventbrite and the IFPA. Don’t like Eventbrite taking video? Don’t use it. Don’t like the IFPA using your email? Suppress yourself or do any of the things mentioned above. Don’t expect a company to cut off a source of revenue because of one thread with a handful of complaints.
This works, but only to an extent. Yes, I have to take responsibility for my actions, and I’m not completely helpless when it comes to privacy issues with particular companies. But there is also the issue of culture and the need for consumer protection.
We have privacy laws mainly because, without them, companies would run rampant without restraint. Once the need for a service becomes important enough, as a consumer, I no longer have any choice whatsoever. As is the case with my telephone service, which is supposedly private, or with my internet traffic or social media.
I argue companies (data brokers, license plate readers) are already doing this and you have essentially no recourse because you don’t even know when your data is gathered or when it’s sold or used. Facebook’s recent issues are the tip of a very profitable iceberg.
It also doesn’t mean we’ll continue accepting such practices as a society. There have certainly been common place and highly profitable business practices in the past that we’ve come to recognize as highly unethical.
Surely even you have you acknowledge how bad an argument this is. Are you really equating having an email address on file with the systematic collection and sale of any and all metadata with the intent of building psychological profiles?
This conversation is starting to skew away from the original point. We aren’t talking about ISPs selling your internet history or your phone company collecting who you call. We are talking about a pinball site collecting an email address. Those are completely different things.
The point was: That a player wants to enter an IFPA competition, but doesn’t want HIS details (name included) to go to the IFPA. Not suppressed, just not even submitted.
It then morphed into discussion about the upcoming law changes regarding GDPR for European Citizens.
The fact remains that an individual has the legal right to have their data REMOVED and DELETED if they so choose, not just hidden.
PS
I have seen nowhere in the thread how this can be achieved using the current IFPA system.
If a player was to have ALL of his results removed, would this impact, and change all TGPs for ALL tournaments he had entered, and thus change the data for all competitors in all of the competitions he had entered, or once the calculations are made and each persons WPPR points earned for the comp are distributed are they then set in stone?
If a player was removed from the results of a tournament, the TGP wouldn’t be impacted, but the TVA calculation as well as the distribution of WPPR points from 1st place to last place would definitely be.
That’s what I meant, not TGP (which only relates to games played - I think).
Obviously it’ll affect the TVA in the current comp they compete in, but would it impact a tournament they entered last year? As it would show their name as ‘Suppressed Player’?
Being Suppressed is different than being REMOVED as in DELETED.
All Suppressing does is change the ‘display name’ of the result to “Suppressed Player”. Everything else on the backend with respect to all calculations is based on that player’s actual stats (so they add their proper TVA amount, and they are included in the Ratings calculation in the matches against all other players, etc).
Scroll down to 30th place and you’ll see “Suppressed Player”. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to come to the conclusion that it’s Bowen. You can see that going into the tournament Bowen ‘would be’ ranked 12th, and his IFPA Rating ‘would be’ 1844.58 entering the Circuit Final.
The tournament value gets credit for the 12th ranked player attending, along with a player rated as 1844.58 attending.
The results submission process doesn’t ask for an email address, nor are you required to submit one to enter most events. I ask for one at my league events so I can send the link to the results spreadsheet but the email doesn’t go to the IFPA. If you want to use a fake name you can.
This has some holes in it. Tournament results for that tournament ID through the API still shows the unsuppressed name, and it would be fairly easy to reconstruct the suppressed player’s IFPA page with full tournament results by walking the player ID.
