# I'm not Swedish!



## TheAmoK (Jun 9, 2015)

I don't know if its just an error or a cruel joke, but under my name is a Swedish flag, even though my location is set to Finland...
I know its a small thing but its really annoying


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## milandro (Dec 22, 2006)

Another member explained me that this has happened because when he registered he was in a different country and apparently there was an automatic geolocation associated with his registration.

Could it be that you were in Sweden at the time or that you registered?


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## Sigmund451 (Aug 8, 2003)

I think somewhere in your profile you can turn off notification of your location if you dont want any flag (especially the wrong one). 
It could be where your ip is routed through. Who knows?


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## lesacks (Feb 15, 2015)

Maybe you're on Åland? You never know!


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## bvhoyweg (Apr 16, 2016)

Could be an administrator task
I had to solve a similar problem with geo location reporting based on IP adress. The database which maps IP to countries was several years old. These databases are publicly available.

If this forum works in a similar way, it could be this database needs updating.


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## milandro (Dec 22, 2006)

Well Tampere , being the second largest city in Finland wouldn't have been the subject of a controversial IP

by the way, OP< check your IP here






Tampere - IP Addresses by City


Tampere (City) IP Address allocation and assignment of static and dynamic IP addresses for Tampere City




tools.tracemyip.org


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## VSadmin (Mar 20, 2017)

Hello,

The flags are generated by a Google API and you can adjust your location *HERE* and sharing info under *privacy settings*.

Jeff M


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## TheAmoK (Jun 9, 2015)

lesacks said:


> Maybe you're on Åland? You never know!


😂 
No.


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## Pete Thomas (Sep 12, 2004)

The flags should not be there by default , i have already discussed this is an infringement of privacy under GDPR. It is not the fault of @VSadmin Jeff, but a problem with basic VS policy.

The forum is Canadian, so you can't actually expect the owners to understand the EU.


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## TheAmoK (Jun 9, 2015)

To be honestly it does not really matter, but it was just a weird thing.
I think now its fixed, somehow, at least now it looks that way. Lets see how long it stays this way


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## AddictedToSax (Aug 18, 2007)

TheAmoK said:


> I don't know if its just an error or a cruel joke, but under my name is a Swedish flag, even though my location is set to Finland...
> I know its a small thing but its really annoying


I think it depends on how you connect to the Internet. I go through a VPN and sometimes I choose to use a Canadian server to connect and it says I'm from Canada. Other times I go through a server in Las Vegas and it says I'm in LV. I'm actually in northern California but when I connect through the closest server I'm banned from the site because the Silicon 
Valley server is popular with spammers. You are probably connecting through a server in Sweden.


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## Kenneth (Dec 15, 2007)

As others have mentioned, how the flag comes out is definitely IP related, and is independent of your account location settings. I'm leaving mine on for now, I'm guessing I'll probably be the only one with the occasional Yellow and White flag , but Pete is right about the privacy issues, especially for us European users.

Keep safe,
Kenneth


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## milandro (Dec 22, 2006)

is it not so that one can decide, in the privacy preferences whether certain things are visible and to whom (per category)?

view you location details in profile and view your location details when you post? The options are all visitors, members only or NOBODY.

Looks rather private to me, if I am not mistaken that was always the case.


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## lesacks (Feb 15, 2015)

Kenneth said:


> Yellow and White flag


I bet the reverb in the Sistine chapel is staggering!


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## malteof (Aug 6, 2018)

Pete Thomas said:


> The flags should not be there by default , i have already discussed this is an infringement of privacy under GDPR. It is not the fault of @VSadmin Jeff, but a problem with basic VS policy.
> 
> The forum is Canadian, so you can't actually expect the owners to understand the EU.


Well, it seems to be randomised anyway (unless you moved to Sweden?)... So maybe not a privacy issue after all


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## milandro (Dec 22, 2006)

I suppose Pete moved the preferences to show that he could


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## Pete Thomas (Sep 12, 2004)

milandro said:


> is it not so that one can decide, in the privacy preferences whether certain things are visible and to whom (per category)?
> 
> view you location details in profile and view your location details when you post? The options are all visitors, members only or NOBODY.
> 
> ...


I took Kenneth's point to be that it should be opt in to have you location displayed as opposed to opt out.









GDPR: When do you need to seek consent? - IT Governance Blog En


Many people mistakenly think that organisations must get consent to process personal data, but consent is one of six lawful grounds for processing data, and you’d be advised to seek it only if none of the other grounds apply.




www.itgovernance.eu


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## milandro (Dec 22, 2006)

I see, this forum has showed my location ever since I can remember albeit not with a flag but in words, none of this is really new ( if I remember well before KENNETH’s account showed Rome or something like that!)


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## Pete Thomas (Sep 12, 2004)

milandro said:


> I see, this forum has showed my location ever since I can remember albeit not with a flag but in words, none of this is really new ( if I remember well before his account showed Rome or something like that!)


Of course, but you joined before GDPR. Opting in/out would not be relevant.

Whether it is relevant for those joining now is only speculation, and it could be argued that joining a forum is not compulsory, it is a person's choice so maybe it is moot whether something in the privacy settings are pre-ticked or not.


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## Kenneth (Dec 15, 2007)

My point is rather the fact that the location indicator is NOT decided by the user, not unless you know how it's being done. 

For example, I have, as rightly pointed out by Milandro, Rome, Italy, as my location in my profile settings. The flag showing up is the Vatican one, which reflects my current IP, which is not something I chose to share, although in this case, I don't really mind it. I can, of course, turn off location sharing, but I like to have it on so people know where I am -- I've had some great contacts that way over the years. BTW, Pete is probably showing up as being in Sweden because he knows how to manipulate the system !

Another thing is the fact that default privacy settings were/are set to most liberal, i.e., everybody, even non-members, get to see your info, some of which can be personal. I would've thought, as Pete noted, that due to GDPR (and they do display the "GDPR Compliant" badge quite prominently), this info is not shared a priori unless you say so. BUT, again as Pete says, this being a forum that you choose to join, you automatically opt-in to whatever settings the owners have decided.

Still, I like it that user control of these settings is now more granular, in that you may choose to display info only to members, and not to everybody. This is now my preferred setting, and was not available in the "old" forum.

Kenneth


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## Pete Thomas (Sep 12, 2004)

Kenneth said:


> as Pete noted, that due to GDPR (and they do display the "GDPR Compliant" badge quite prominently),


The registration form (correctly) requires opt _*in*_ for Receiving News emails and agree to terms and privacy. (obviously if you don't that box you don't join). It says nothing about your privacy settings and it shows the Flag bast on your IP (via Google API) whether you want it to or not. You can change that afterwards to another location, but it's not obvious. The ICO (or whatever equivalent) I'm sure now recommend that privacy settings must be obvious and also that privacy policies must be written in normal easily understandable language, not legalese or techspeak.

The same may apply to CPR, I don't know.


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## 14470 (May 14, 2004)

TheAmoK said:


> I don't know if its just an error or a cruel joke, but under my name is a Swedish flag, even though my location is set to Finland...
> I know its a small thing but its really annoying


As a Dane, I sympathize and cannot think of any greater offense. It would be like calling a proud Scott an Englishman or worse. Those darn Swedes. They are everywhere and good at everything. They make the rest of us Scandinavians look insignificant.


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## turf3 (Mar 9, 2015)

You may THINK you're not Swedish, but VS knows better!


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