IP logging

[markf]

Based on the response we received to our release notes to lj_releases, we have removed the recent change which displayed the country & city information of commenters when IP logging is enabled. We want to note, however, that comment IP logging has been a feature on LiveJournal for a very long time, and that the city & country information has always been

Comments

[matgb]

I thought the geolocation feature was a useful bonus, and as someone who's had some dodgy anonymous attack comments on occasions they would've made dealing with elements of it easier and quicker, while not actually hurting privacy.

But the idea of removing IP logging completely? Completely removes any local methods of dealing with spam and problem commenters, would make the site unusable for a variety of purposes where simply put Support and Abuse wouldn't be able to help.

You want to do stuff to help people deal with problems themselves, not remove them.

[mokie]

Agreed. IP logging isn't a new feature, and it wasn't a complained-about feature. I don't see the rhyme or reason in removing it when the complaints are specifically about posting the city/country.

Being able to see city/country at a glance would have helped me in dealing with a problem child commenter or two in the past, but I understand that others want the peace of mind of having an extra step, of others having to intentionally look that up to vet a comment. If we get rid of that option, then the burden is on LJ to deal with the problems IP logging addresses, like figuring out if someone's the same old creep under a new handle.

And I dislike the idea that people in stalker situations wouldn have to wait till a situation escalated to 'a legal need' to see if that new guy commenting was the old jerkwad bothering them again.

[musicboxclock]

Agreed. IP logging isn't a new feature, and it wasn't a complained-about feature. I don't see the rhyme or reason in removing it when the complaints are specifically about posting the city/country.

It was complained about, by a number of people who apparently thought it was just added. Late outrage was late on their part, but LJ is addressing their issues now since they complained about it now.

[mokie]

I didn't see those in the original post's comments, and have only seen a few here, which appear to be--no offense to the commenters--a kneejerk reaction based on a misunderstanding of what IP addresses are and how they work, e.g. the credit card comparison.

I understand that some folks are worried, and I respect that LJ is trying to address their concerns, but I think the mode of address in this case is irrational. Doing away with a useful tool that's been in place for a decade and comes with a warning before you ever post makes no sense compared to, say, offering a link for concerned readers to a simple page on what IP addresses are, how they work, and how to use a proxy if you're really concerned.

[rebelsheart]

option 3: it should be present, but done silently so that staff an retrieve the information if there is a legal need to do so.

+1

[ryuudo]

This, definitely this.

[trixieleitz]

Yes. I would prefer that it be user-accessible, but if that were taken away, Abuse folks should still have access to it, subject to the terms of their NDA.

+1

[_ofuda_]

[briarwood]

Sure, it's always been possible to suss out a location from an IP address, but only a minority know how and fewer are likely to bother.

That's not the same as throwing it out there so anyone can see it with no effort.

The IP logging is useful. As a community maintainer, it's a good indicator when someone is using multiple accounts, or anon comments, to troll a thread. It helps to spot sockpuppets. It's imperfect, because IPs are frequently shared, but it's a useful tool.

Livejournal is not foursquare. It shouldn't try to be.

[ide_cyan]

This.

[morwen_peredhil]

I agree.

+1

[wishgrant]

I was writing something up, but you put it better than I could.

[pauamma]

Yes, if IP address logging is active for the comm. (I just checked.)

[torrain]

Nope. I just checked too; I mod, am a member of, and am not a member of a comm (with three different accounts), and I can only see the IP addresses as a mod.

Presumably it's a comm setting?

[pauamma]

Maybe? (I can only see the commenters' IP addresses if I posted the entry, though. Not sure that was clear.)

[pauamma]

I think it should be substantially redesigned, so community owners or maintainers can prevent retroactive changes in the way that information is used, at a minimum. So assuming your poll question means "should the IP logging feature be kept as it stood pre-r80?" I have to answer "no", since you didn't see fit to have a "maybe, with changes" option,

[txvoodoo]

Yeah...I don't need to see it all. They could do ***.***.###.### and that would be good enough for indentifying sockpuppets etc.

What I really would like is for them to take this data, which they already display, and let us DO SOMETHING WITH IT, i.e. blocking/banning by IP.

[hinoai]

THIS. I've wanted to be able to block/ban ip addresses forever! Finally spam and harrassment by anonymous commenters got to the point where I had to disable anonymous commenting completely. It really sucks though, because there were also occasionally good comments by people without lj accounts!