Country Flags by IP Address [Deleted]

[HWS]

As I understand it, this add-on shows the country a user's ip currently is located. This can change every time a user logs in.

Why don't you just add a custom field "Country" in your user's personal details to have that in the user record?

 

[Snog]

@Snog would it be difficult to show flags in the thread list?
Also might it be better for the database if the country of each member were saved in the database against their account? Would that help with caching?
I ask because I would like to use members' country information to filter threads by country.

Without looking at the thread list template, I don't think it would be that hard.

It's already in the database for any member that has logged in. It's in the user table, snog_country and snog_flag columns. The only time there is an additional database query is if the member's ip address and country change.

 

[Snog]

As I understand it, this add-on shows the country a user's ip currently is located. This can change every time a user logs in.

Why don't you just add a custom field "Country" in your user's personal details to have that in the user record?

Because the object is to track the country a user is currently in. For example I have a user on my site that constantly travels and it's interesting to see where he is and sometimes sparks discussions about where he is.

And a user's country shouldn't change if they are using a provider in their country. If it changes every time a user logs in, then they are either traveling, accessing by a mobile phone where the nearest tower is in another country or using a proxy.

It also helps track/catch people using proxies if you don't want to allow proxy access.

By using a custom field, tracking isn't possible.

 

[HWS]

By using a custom field, tracking isn't possible.

I know. This is why I suggested my solution with a custom field to Stuart. He wants to assign threads to the country of the thread opener to be able to sort it with that criteria. However, if a user travels around the thread will travel with him and won't be attached to a specific country. This is probably not what is intended.

 

[sbj]

Before I do this, may I ask why?

The country flag doesn't show their IP address, it only shows the flag of the country they are connecting from. That isn't something someone could use to locate them. Unless of course the country only has one inhabitant.

Like I said, their IP address is NOT shown.

I'll put this on the wish list, but I'm not going to rush to do it. Showing what country a moderator is not anything that needs to be hidden.

Anything new regarding this @Snog?
I also don't want that people see some user groups locations.

 

[Snog]

Anything new regarding this @Snog?
I also don't want that people see some user groups locations.

No, it's on the wish list but not a priority.

As I've said many times, there's no reason to hide what country a member is in. It does not violate an privacy acts and doesn't provide enough information to actually locate someone unless there are only 2 or 3 citizens in the country shown. Which is highly unlikely.

 

[Helldon]

What I would like to see is when on mobile the country flag is in the avatar section, now it loads in the middle of the userbanners.

 

[sbj]

As I've said many times, there's no reason to hide what country a member is in.

This is your point of view, this is not a fact.
Don't think that I am trying to run a illegal forum or something. But I will try to provide 100% anonymity to my users. I disabled and removed all personal things you have to enter when you want to register. For example birth date. You can say a birth date alone can't provide enough information to identify a person. But you must understand that people feel more "secure" when their personal information is not provided openly to anyone else. So I would like to give the users the decision if they want to hide their locations or not. I don't want to force people. I also think like you that it doesn't provide enough information. But let the users decide this. For that it would be great to give us the oppurtunity to hide it.

 

[sbj]

Ah, one another reason came to my mind. Maybe some admins want that people see each others locations but except the admins one? For security reasons?

 

[Snog]

What I would like to see is when on mobile the country flag is in the avatar section, now it loads in the middle of the userbanners.

Could you show a screenshot of what you mean? And what you're seeing?

 

[Snog]

This is your point of view, this is not a fact.
Don't think that I am trying to run a illegal forum or something. But I will try to provide 100% anonymity to my users. I disabled and removed all personal things you have to enter when you want to register. For example birth date. You can say a birth date alone can't provide enough information to identify a person. But you must understand that people feel more "secure" when their personal information is not provided openly to anyone else. So I would like to give the users the decision if they want to hide their locations or not. I don't want to force people. I also think like you that it doesn't provide enough information. But let the users decide this. For that it would be great to give us the oppurtunity to hide it.

My point exactly. What country they are in is not considered 'personal' information because the country they are in can't be traced back to an individual's exact location.

It really sounds like you should just limit viewing the country members are in to certain user groups such as the administrator group.

Ah, one another reason came to my mind. Maybe some admins want that people see each others locations but except the admins one? For security reasons?

An admin's location has nothing to do with security. At least I can't think of any instance where someone knowing the country of the admin would be a breach of security. IE: I'm in the U.S., does that breach any security? No.

I would bet that Mike, Brogan and most of the admins/moderators here are in England. Does that breach any security? No.

 

[HWS]

What country they are in is not considered 'personal' information because the country they are in can't be traced back to an individual's exact location.

This is not true in most countries legislations.

If you extract any information from the ip address, the data is personal. If you publish the location (even only the country) of a user based on their ip address you need to have the consent of your users. This can be done in the usage terms and rules of your site. Or you need an opt-out switch which defaults to "No".

You may get a lot of angry users otherwise.

 

[sbj]

What country they are in is not considered 'personal' information because the country they are in can't be traced back to an individual's exact location.

This is not right. It is a personal information. Even if you can't trace it back, still it is an information. Or what purpose does your add-on have? Your add-on would be meaningless... It provides that one personal information about the user. Some might want this, some not.

An admin's location has nothing to do with security.

Well, I am not a coder/developer/spammer/hacker or whatever. To some extent, I think that the country location of an admin could be a help for exploiting. I am just assuming. Not the country information alone, but maybe in combination with other information this could be a problem? No? I don't know.

 

[Snog]

Well, I am not a coder/developer/spammer/hacker or whatever. To some extent, I think that the country location of an admin could be a help for exploiting. I am just assuming. Not the country information alone, but maybe in combination with other information this could be a problem? No? I don't know.

Not really. Not unless the admin reveals other information.

IE: I have a client that is in South Africa, his server is in the U.S.. He would have to reveal a heck of a lot of other information for it to become a security breach.

 

[HWS]

I think that the country location of an admin could be a help for exploiting.

I doubt this. A serious hacker could get the ip address of an admin of a forum without problems anyway.

But you have the same problem with admins and mods like with your users. It is their personal information and you cannot make it public without their consent.

 

[sbj]

That reason came just to my mind. I don't know how these things work "behind the scene".

My point was about the revealling the country information about some people without their permissions.
So, either I disable the add-on, so nobody gets to see it, even though some would like, or I enable it, but now all are revealed, even though some don't want.

You know why I like this add-on? Because people are not bothered with entering locations. Automatically the country location is shown. Very good feature.
But some won't want this. But I can't offer a method to make exceptions. So I just can enable for all or disable for all.

Anyway, thank you Snog for replying and for this good add-on. I will wait for an update. Until then I will enable it just for admins.

 

[Snog]

This is not true in most countries legislations.

If you extract any information from the ip address, the data is personal. If you publish the location (even only the country) of a user based on their ip address you need to have the consent of your users. This can be done in the usage terms and rules of your site. Or you need an opt-out switch which defaults to "No".

You may get a lot of angry users otherwise.

I would like to see an example of this. All of the research I've done and had an attorney do points to the country as being too broad of an item to be considered personally identifiable information both in the EU and US.

 

[HWS]

All of the research I've done and had an attorney do points to the country as being too broad of an item to be considered personally identifiable information both in the EU and US.

Our attorney said exactly the opposite. ;-)

Any personal information extracted from an ip address cannot be published without consent. The country of location is clearly personal information (because it refers to this specific person, even if it fits to other persons as well). It is not important if a person can easily be indentified to deem an information "personal".

However it is no problem to add a line about it in your terms just to be sure.

 

[Stuart Wright]

Without looking at the thread list template, I don't think it would be that hard.

Would you consider adding it, please? I think people from other countries will be helped if they identify what country each thread may be pertinent to.
Thank you

 

[Snog]

Our attorney said exactly the opposite. ;-)

Any personal information extracted from an ip address cannot be published without consent. The country of location is clearly personal information (because it refers to this specific person, even if it fits to other persons as well). It is not important if a person can easily be indentified to deem an information "personal".

However it is no problem to add a line about it in your terms just to be sure.

This is why I hate lawyers. They never tend to agree on anything.

Rather than argue the point, I'll be adding the options soon.