Come along, because this is one of those news items that give you butterflies in your stomach: in early March 2018, Xbox players noticed that their real names, first and last, were showing on their Xbox Live profile to other people, without them having authorized it.
The reports began in a Reddit thread and spread fast. People on your friends list and those who had recently played with you could see the name linked to the Microsoft account, even if the privacy settings said otherwise. A player identified as Nadia C., who used a nickname made of emojis, told Kotaku she saw her own name in place of the nickname and also those of several streamers, friends and recent players.
She described the scare this way: “I started freaking out, to be honest, I felt a bit of anxiety and started sweating.” Her fear, and that of many people, had a reason: anyone who has run into trolls or stalkers in an online match knows how important a nickname is as a little protection. The concern was that someone from a Call of Duty match, for example, could look the person up outside the game.
What seemed to have happened: the option that allows sharing the real name with friends of friends showed up as “allow” on the accounts of people who swear they never touched it. How many people were affected was never made clear.
A Microsoft spokesperson responded to Kotaku: “We are actively working to resolve an issue that some users may be experiencing with their profile.” At the time, we tested on our own account here and saw the fix arriving gradually, with some names still on display.
What came next
A sweet tip that still holds today: every now and then, take a look at your profile’s privacy settings to check who can see your real name and other information.
Source: Kotaku, Microsoft.
Lady Combo
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