How long does ESO store chat logs?

Sirian · May 2014

Hey, I was wondering how long ESO stores chat logs? The reason why I ask is because I am concerned that long term storage of data is an invasion of ones privacy. I feel like if they store long term chat logs of a player they could spy on a player by reading all their information and figure out what kind of person they are and etc. Essentially they would be stalkers of players? Also, could use chat log information against you by taking words out of context by claiming you are going to kill someone when you were actually talking about killing something in the game or in a movie and the ESO employees ending up calling the cops you for something you didn't do wrong. Is there someone who actually monitors zone chat and would do anything like this?

VlVEC · May 2014

It stores them forever and e-mails everything you type to your employer and family.

Arsenic_Touch · May 2014

...Invasion of privacy in a public zone chat..... are you actually being serious here?

Maldamus · May 2014

Lol, serious case of paranoia. Leave off the mushrooms, my advice.

KhajiitiLizard · May 2014

VlVEC wrote: »

It stores them forever and e-mails everything you type to your employer and family.

Don't forget it all gets sent to the NSA as well.

stabbykitteh · May 2014

VlVEC wrote: »

It stores them forever and e-mails everything you type to your employer and family.

And the NSA. Don't forget them.

(ninja'd. great minds and all that)

Sirian · May 2014

Well, the thing is I am asking a serious question. I am hoping to get a serious answer eventually.

Maldamus · May 2014

Serious answer, i imagine they are held for a length of time, but are subject to data protection, legal laws which would pertain to such transcripts. Also, leave the damn mushies alone man.

Adalich · May 2014

seriously, in the EU data protection act allows a company to keep a record of personal/personalised information only while it is required for that company to keep the information. That does include things such as law enforcement, tax evasion ect, ect.

highly amusing, is when those chat logs become searchable on google less than 12 hours after the comments are made. Makes you wonder how has google managed to index an in game chat log with chat posted less than 12 hours previously.

(not this game to be clear)

oh also if its a serious question, don't worry about it.

Nazon_Katts · May 2014

I don't know for how long ZOS stores chat logs, but it ain't so unlikely the NSA keeps a copy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-news/10506017/NSA-and-GCHQ-spies-operated-in-games-including-World-of-Warcraft-and-Second-Life.html

Sirian · May 2014

Wow, thanks so much for all your helpful information because I greatly appreciate it a lot. The main reason why I was asking these questions and I am bit paranoid on what I type on the internet is because one gamer is in jail for years and another gamer is going to trial soon and could face many years in jail as well because comments were taken literal and out of context.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/02/13/texas-man-faces-decade-in-prison-over-facebook-comments/?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/02/second-teen-spends-months-in-jail-for-video-game-threat/

TheGrandAlliance · May 2014

Don't post things on the Internet you dont' want (certain) people to see.

Problem solved.

/closefacebookaccount
/closetwitteraccount
/closegoogleplusaccount (who the hell uses G+? : ))

Locke_ESO · May 2014

Considering almost anything you do on the internet can be tracked by your IP address unless you take some hardcore precautions it's probably best to just stop worrying about it unless you really have something to hide. The internet is pretty much a public space so act accordingly... e.g dont say stuff you wouldn't mind people overhearing.

As for this game I'm sure that Zenimax keep all their chat logs for at least say 6-12 months as a matter of course in case they get asked to present them by law enforcement.

skeletorz_ESO · May 2014

BUSTED!!!

magickats242cub18_ESO · May 2014

ZOS does not need to send their chat logs to the NSA because the NSA has agents planted in every MMO monitoring the chat channels.

Tintinabula · May 2014

somoenes been typing naughty and scared a dev somewhere is fappin to their harlequin romance.

Evergreen · May 2014

Sirian wrote: »

I am concerned that long term storage of data is an invasion of ones privacy. I feel like if they store long term chat logs of a player they could spy on a player by reading all their information and figure out what kind of person they are and etc. Essentially they would be stalkers of players?

talking about killing something in the game or in a movie and the ESO employees ending up calling the cops you for something you didn't do wrong. Is there someone who actually monitors zone chat and would do anything like this?

You probably know about PRISM but did you know that everything done online is recorded by the program XKeyscore? Depending on what you say could raise a red flag for the NSA to obtain an individualized Fisawarrant. An analyst using XKS will also search your e-mails if they perceive justification.

Even if you did raise a red flag I'm sure your overall profile will not warrant any further action against you. Everything you do and type on the internet is intercepted and stored while a profile is built around your activity every moment you're online. All this is for your own protection and security though so just relax unless you really have said bad things.

Adalich · May 2014

TheGrandAlliance wrote: »

/closegoogleplusaccount (who the [snip] uses G+? : ))

Those of us who had a youtube account and then one day 4 or 5 years later wondered what is g+ and found out google had created an account for us using our youtube details, which were fake

Government does it all the time with social security details, passports ect its the price of freedom/security/not being murdered in your bed, unless your one of the ones who has been murdered in your bed. Not much use then really.

zhevon · May 2014

Judging by the amount of inventory space we are allowed - maybe a day (if that).

So, if the OP wants to know if its a good place to conspire with hitmen or to deal illegal drugs, I'm sure its fine.

Adalich · May 2014

to completely derail the thread.

today I searched google for the phrase "visions of moors" apparently theres only 1 website in the world in their index. 2 hours later I am getting 3 pages of results for the same phrase.

I searched bing for google maps and got 0 results. then I went to google maps in ie10 and google maps didn't work.

I went to flickr and searched for the word moor, 0 results, heather 0 results, boat apparently flickr doesn't have a single picture of a boat. I then searched sharing loads of results and after that researched all the above terms and each one came back with a full list of results.

I searched the name of somebody I went to school with years ago found a number of websites created by her except they aren't created by her they are created by social media startups.

I searched for web designers in my local area on yahoo. yahoo gave me the name of a company based about 100m from where I live. I know theres no company based there, its an empty building which is half knocked down. The funny thing is a little digging turns out yahoos web building team have a nice script which always returns a web designer near you which is actually a link to yahoos own business based somewhere in the world but certainly aint local.

OP if you are going to use the internet for any serious work, take a lot of drugs.

Orizuru · May 2014

Sirian wrote: »

Well, the thing is I am asking a serious question. I am hoping to get a serious answer eventually.

It's a silly question. You may think it's serious, but it's not.

MMOs work just like the internet. If you don't want it archived somewhere for any period of time, then don't say it in the game. The problem you are having has nothing to do with how long data is stored, its entirely with what YOU are putting out there to be stored. If you don't want the world to know something, don't tell them. It's that simple.

zhevon · May 2014

Adalich wrote: »

to completely derail the thread.

<snip>

Absolutely, all of the online phone book companies never clean out their yellow pages; totally useless for finding if a company it still in business or not.

daneyulebub17_ESO · May 2014

Has anyone confirmed there's any mechanism to hold on to it at all? Anyone have them pull an old chat log to confirm something?

I doubt they keep chat logs at all myself, unless somebody at ZoS specifically turns on the logging feature on a given conversation.

AlexDougherty · May 2014

Sirian wrote: »

Hey, I was wondering how long ESO stores chat logs? The reason why I ask is because I am concerned that long term storage of data is an invasion of ones privacy. I feel like if they store long term chat logs of a player they could spy on a player by reading all their information and figure out what kind of person they are and etc. Essentially they would be stalkers of players? Also, could use chat log information against you by taking words out of context by claiming you are going to kill someone when you were actually talking about killing something in the game or in a movie and the ESO employees ending up calling the cops you for something you didn't do wrong. Is there someone who actually monitors zone chat and would do anything like this?

As others have said, Paranoia overload. $:\$

They don't technically store chat logs, but the servers keep a sort of record with new chat forcing out the old, which probably takes less than a day for any record of what you said to disappear.

However from the content of your post I would deduce that you said something you really shouldn't have. If someone reported you for it, Zos could probably find it and save it for the purpose of deciding whether to ban you. So don't say it again.

daneyulebub17_ESO · May 2014

Hey, I was wondering how long ESO stores chat logs?

Sheesh, Mr. Weiner, haven't you learned anything??

Turelus · May 2014

If you're not doing anything illegal or threatening peoples lives, you don't really need to worry do you.
I would imagine they keep logs for some amount of time to help with investigations into RMT and cheating within the game.

Thunder · May 2014

Sirian wrote: »

The main reason why I was asking these questions and I am bit paranoid on what I type on the internet is because one gamer is in jail for years and another gamer is going to trial soon and could face many years in jail as well because comments were taken literal and out of context.

Actually, the comments were taken literally and in context. Taking a comment out of context would be like me saying to you, "I'm going to kill you!", but we are playing a video game and therefore the context of that statement is my video game character is going to force your video game character to respawn. If someone were to just take that single statement out of context they could imply that I actually wanted to physically kill you in real life, where in context it is quite evident that is not the case.

However, in the 2 cases you linked, it's the other way around. The players specifically stated they were going to do things in real life, and all authorities did was to take them at their word, something I certainly can't fault them for in this day and age.

Yes, once it became readily apparent the comments were not a serious threat on any level, the kids should have gotten a fine or community service and been sent on their way. The whole idea of making an example out of someone is a gross miscarriage of justice.

Regoras · May 2014

...can't tell if trolling...

Noswell · May 2014

daneyulebub17_ESO wrote: »

Hey, I was wondering how long ESO stores chat logs?

Sheesh, Mr. Weiner, haven't you learned anything??

That's Carlos Danger to you.

JessieColt · May 2014

Sirian wrote: »

Wow, thanks so much for all your helpful information because I greatly appreciate it a lot. The main reason why I was asking these questions and I am bit paranoid on what I type on the internet is because one gamer is in jail for years and another gamer is going to trial soon and could face many years in jail as well because comments were taken literal and out of context.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/02/13/texas-man-faces-decade-in-prison-over-facebook-comments/?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/02/second-teen-spends-months-in-jail-for-video-game-threat/

Don't make stupid threats and you wont have to worry about how long anything is kept.

zhevon · May 2014

JessieColtub17_ESO wrote: »

Don't make stupid threats and you wont have to worry about how long anything is kept.

I distinctly remember our 7th grade class (I'm in my 50s) being being told that idling saying "I am going to kill you" is generally bad idea. That concept should probably be extended to other threats and internet behavour generally.