Make the username message less scary

turkey3

I was showing someone my project on their computer, someone who's not really tech-savvy, and when he saw the username message (I.e. This project contains the username block…) they got a little nervous. Why does the message say “protect your identity”? The person viewing the project thought that somehow his personal information was going to be taken by viewing the project. How on earth can the username block steal your identity? It's an exaggerated message and scares away visitors to the site.

Plus the message should not appear in the first place if you are logged off.

Last edited by turkey3 (March 16, 2014 00:10:36)

mathfreak231

In retrospect, you are 100% right. Everything. You. Said.

DadOfMrLog

Yes, I agree - I find it OTT. (That's one reason we added the extra little message in the InterXeptor splash screen about it using it for hi-scores, almost a year ago now.)

The only way I can possibly see the username block being abused is if it's combined with cloud - then it could potentially use it to keep track of your usage of the project in some way, and maybe even extract information from the user, if they're a bit gullible, perhaps (though it's still not exactly straightforward, and it should be clearly visible in the cloud log and in the scripting…)

I'd feel it'd be more sensible if that message (or something similar) only appeared for projects that also include cloudvars - it'd be rather less scary for scratch users overall.

I can also imagine some slightly more sensitive parents maybe getting the wrong impression about what Scratch can do if they see that message popping up so regularly on their kids' browsers…

Last edited by DadOfMrLog (March 16, 2014 00:23:43)

turkey3

DadOfMrLog wrote:
Yes, I agree - I find it OTT. (That's one reason we added the extra little message in the InterXeptor splash screen about it using it for hi-scores, almost a year ago now.)

The only way I can possibly see the username block being abused is if it's combined with cloud - then it could potentially use it to keep track of your usage of the project in some way, and maybe even extract information from the user, if they're a bit gullible, perhaps (though it's still not exactly straightforward, and it should be clearly visible in the cloud log and in the scripting…)

I'd feel it'd be more sensible if that message (or something similar) only appeared for projects that also include cloudvars - it'd be rather less scary for scratch users overall.

I can also imagine some slightly more sensitive parents maybe getting the wrong impression about what Scratch can do if they see that message popping up so regularly on their kids' browsers…

Exactly. It doesn't seem too kid-friendly when the first project the mom looks at says she needs to hide her identity. She'd say “Sorry honey, I don't think this is a safe site”.

AonymousGuy

+1. I've always thought it was kind of over exaggerating things - that is until cloud lists come out.

The_Grits

I get that message for all projects! XD Anyway that's a good idea! +1

joshuaho

I support this!

Failord

Support!

Epicness123

It used to not appear for projects without the block. But a bug caused this!

SUPPORT!

cheeseeater

+1! Saying someone can see your identity is scary, especially online. It should be changed to something along the lines of this: “You are viewing a project that uses the username block, your username could potentially be stored in a cloud variable. If you don't want that to happen sign out and play the project.”

ProdigyZeta7

+1 to that.

xlk

I was planning on photographing users at one point, by making video 100% opaque, test individual pixel colours, compress it into a cloud variable, and yeah, download it and decrypt it myself…..
Maybe just make it state that your username can be accessed by that project, not your e-mail, GPS position and bank account.

seanbobe

Support. I am only allowed on scratch forums due to message.

1234abcdcba4321

Support

IceCube291

Support

Firedrake969

+0.99999999999999….

davidkt

+1 ::operators

Tramcrazy

The only way you could possibly take the username is with cloud variables like this:

set [name (cloud) v] to (username)

Even then, you couldn't do anything other than know a certain person has looked at your project.

DadOfMrLog

Tramcrazy wrote:
The only way you could possibly take the username is with cloud variables like this:
set [name (cloud) v] to (username)
Even then, you couldn't do anything other than know a certain person has looked at your project.

Unfortunately, it could be used in a more malicious way than that. Social engineering within the project may lead a not-so-careful user to divulge personal info, which could then be encoded into the cloud along with the username. In that sense, there really is a threat - and the ST were prescient enough to see that.

However, the point I was trying to make was that a project without cloudvars can't do such a thing (but maybe I'm wrong about that, and ST can see a way to do it? But I don't see offhand…) - so it seems like it's overkill to have the message for *all* projects containing the username block

And, as turkey3 explained so much more succinctly than I did, that overkill could have a negative impact upon kids' use of Scratch, due to the sensitivities of parents who see that message and misunderstand its limitations/context.

Last edited by DadOfMrLog (March 16, 2014 20:46:37)

giacomo78

Support
The first time I saw that message, I logged out as fast as I could.

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