SOE says no private info was included in EQ2 research logs

by Shawn Schuster Feb 17th 2009 at 5:30PM

Filed under: EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Legal

Sony Online Entertainment released a statement today concerning the buzz surrounding their database research for EverQuest 2. Apparently this information is not entirely true, according to SOE, as the personal information in these logs was not included. What does this mean for those concerned players out there? It means you have nothing to worry about.

According to the official statement, which can be found after the jump below, none of the information in these logs was connected to any real names or what's known as Personally Identifiable Information (PII). In addition, no player chat logs were shared with the researchers. Even in the situation where players voluntarily participated in a blind survey, the private information of those volunteers was kept confidential as well. Follow along below for the complete official statement from SOE.

The information Sony Online Entertainment provided for the research project was scrubbed of all PII (Personally Identifiable Information) prior to being provided to the researchers. For example, no content of any player chat logs were shared with the researchers. The information shared consisted of data such as which in-game characters chatted with each other and the volume and frequency of the contacts. None of this information was connected to, or linked with, the real names or other PII, of any players. Basically, the researchers looked at the connections between players and how their online networks were built and used, not the content of any actual conversations that these players may have had with one another (that content was not made available to the researchers).

Additionally, some EQ2 players voluntarily participated in a blind survey concerning their playing habits and demographic backgrounds. This information was anonymously gathered and shared between SOE and the researchers.

Finally, corporations such as SOE and the researchers' universities have controls and safeguards in place to help to protect the privacy of individuals who voluntarily participate in surveys for research projects such as this one.

Tags: breaking, breakingnews, everquest-2, personal, private, research, soe, sony-online-entertainment

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nadril said on 5:40PM 2-17-2009

So much for all the doom and gloom that was being put out in the last blog post comments.

Mr Angry said on 5:51PM 2-17-2009

Just because SOE quite rightly got torn a new one in the other thread, doesn't mean that player concerns can be dismissed in such a way?

Why the hell didn't they release this disclaimer first, to settle the community? I don't know who is running the show there, I suspect a lot of individuals are all doing their own thing, no consistency, no single voice. It seems that Smed is only good for photo ops with the Antonia Bayle models or talking about forthcoming announcements.

I don't know, but gender profiling is account specific, and it's something that was reported on, but that seems to be happening, which contradicts SOE's initial statement.

Can SOE confirm that player age was not used in this analysis too, as I simply don't believe they would exclude this key factor from player behaviour?

The statement made is vague and doesn't cover the reality of the situation. Misinformation, where just being straight talking here is required.

Whatever they have said here, it's about trust, and people just don't have that with SOE. NGE? Station Cash, the list is getting longer.

Despite given every assurance about personal info, they have categorically failed to outline how all this benefits us as customers. They needed to lead with this, rather than go 'big brother on our ass' in news story, then expect folks to settle down.

Another poor PR exercise SOE, get your ducks in a row.

moo said on 7:22PM 2-17-2009

Would be nice to be ASKED like say the Steam Survey or MSN Messenger where a window pops up, rather than it being hidden in the EULA.

Interitus said on 7:23PM 2-17-2009

I hope everyone feels throughly stupid for freaking out.

People like Mr. Angry I simply ignore they've made their mind up long ago, they just look for any excuse to whine some more.

FormerEq2Player said on 7:59PM 2-17-2009

I'm going to have to call BS on SOE:

(From the original source)
"Mixing in the demographic information produced a few surprises. Gender turned out to be a negative influence on interactions: even after their low numbers were taken into account, female players avoided interacting with each other. Time zones had some influence; players in the same time zone were 1.25 times more likely to partner than players even one time zone apart.

But distance had a much larger effect; players within 10 kilometers of each other were five times more likely to interact. Contractor concluded that, for the typical player, the game simply offered a way of continuing their real-world social interactions in a virtual setting."

If all Personally Identifiable Information was "scrubbed" as they say, then where are the researchers quoted in the article getting the location information from? SOE has a history of messing up and using some smooth PR moves and typically some vague wording to calm everyone down after the fact. There is no reason to believe wholeheartedly what they say.

Oh, and Mr. Angry...I highly doubt any of this was meant to benefit the customers. The researchers mentioned their experience in analyzing customer churn...so basically SOE is looking at ways to keep customers around.

FormerEq2Player said on 8:21PM 2-17-2009

I may have spoken too soon. Below is the actual study and it appears that the vast majority of the information was taken from 7,000 survey participants (which took place around 2 years ago or so) and then they compared it with the stats/logs that they were given.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121394419/HTMLSTART

Pingles said on 12:13AM 2-18-2009

That's okay, the folks who said they cancelled their accounts didn't REALLY cancel their accounts. They just like to say that.

And if you don't think I'm telling the truth THEN I'M CANCELLING MY ACCOUNT!

moo said on 5:00AM 2-18-2009

Who subscribes upto SOE games anyways? They give a veteran trial every other month.

What said on 11:32AM 2-18-2009

Someone is lying here.

"But distance had a much larger effect; players within 10 kilometers of each other were five times more likely to interact. Contractor concluded that, for the typical player, the game simply offered a way of continuing their real-world social interactions in a virtual setting."

You can't make conclusions like above without personal information.

whatxxxxxxxxx said on 11:34AM 2-18-2009

Someone is lying here:

"But distance had a much larger effect; players within 10 kilometers of each other were five times more likely to interact. Contractor concluded that, for the typical player, the game simply offered a way of continuing their real-world social interactions in a virtual setting."

You can't have that info without identifiable information.

Pigeon-ko said on 11:17PM 2-18-2009

I think that stuff came from the survey two years ago. I don't remember all of the stuff on that survey though. :/

JtheC said on 7:53PM 2-24-2009

Who cares really? This type of information is being collected and sold everywhere from your local supermarket via shopers club card to Starbucks to gas stations to banks, credit cards and so on...I am more concerned about what information is given out by my bank and credit card company information that really can hurt me then by someone I have a gaming account with doing something I do for fun......for Gods sake people get real...the only people that I.M.H.O. will get upset are people that have something to hide such as sexual predators, or adulterers or the like..nobody else has any reason to be freaked out over this. This shows again how people are taking a simple game..something that has NOTHING to do with real live..and take it far to serious. Go out and get a life, have a social life, meet real friends and experience life as it should be experienced ..not from behind a keyboard but real...and by doing this be also aware of the million and one way the bussineses around you collecting data on any move you are making..heck, the fact that I am typing this right now will probably be part of the data sold to some research institute or ad companie sometime in the future..Realize what is going on in this world and live with it or drop out, forget computers and our whole interconnect world ,buy a piece of property far away from everyone and stick you head into the sand.