Is ip logging legal?

[ManosMax13]

Hey,

my friend and I decided to troll some kids in minecraft and used grabify which is an ip logger to get their regions or pc specs and ask like stupid question like: How is the lockdown in Amsterdam? Or we live near bye stay online so we can track your adress and meet in person. 

 

All innocent jokes. However we got banned from the server and I am not sure if this is legal or not and whether I should appeal for an unban. We are just 2 16 year olds that  wanted to have some fun and we had no malicious intent.

 

All opinions and help appreciated!

 

Info that we were able to get and used:

Ip

browser 

isp 

city 

gpu 

screen resolution.

[minibois]

5 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

All innocent jokes. However we got banned from the server and I am not sure if this is legal or not and whether I should appeal for an unban. We are just 2 16 year olds that  wanted to have some fun and we had no malicious intent.

Harassment and intimidation is not a joke.

Plus some of this could fall under invasion of privacy/doxxing.

[The1Dickens]

8 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

Hey,

my friend and I decided to troll some kids in minecraft and used grabify which is an ip logger to get their regions or pc specs and ask like stupid question like: How is the lockdown in Amsterdam? Or we live near bye stay online so we can track your adress and meet in person. 

 

All innocent jokes. However we got banned from the server and I am not sure if this is legal or not and whether I should appeal for an unban. We are just 2 16 year olds that  wanted to have some fun and we had no malicious intent.

 

All opinions and help appreciated!

 

Info that we were able to get and used:

Ip

browser 

isp 

city 

gpu 

screen resolution.

A.) That sounds super creepy and not at all funny. Especially with children.

B.) Pretty sure that information is illegal to obtain for anyone under the age of legal adult in whatever region (sounds exactly like what YouTube just went through recently)

C.) The host of the server is under no obligation to allow access for any reason. They could not like the second M in your screen name and ban you for that.

 

My advice: accept the loss, lessons learned, and don't do that again.

[ManosMax13]

3 minutes ago, minibois said:

Harassment and intimidation is not a joke.

Plus some of this could fall under invasion of privacy/doxxing.

We told most of them(because some just turned their pc's off that it was a prank. However since these things are practicly accesible in any site you join how are they an invasion of privacy. Also the chat was in a server with the person me and my friend noone else so nothing leaked in public

[minibois]

1 minute ago, ManosMax13 said:

We told most of them(because some just turned their pc's off that it was a prank. However since these things are practicly accesible in any site you join how are they an invasion of privacy. Also the chat was in a server with the person me and my friend noone else so nothing leaked in puvlic

You're just trying to justify your intimation here, I won't tell you this okay (even though that seems to be the answer you want).

[ManosMax13]

1 minute ago, The1Dickens said:

A.) That sounds super creepy and not at all funny. Especially with children.

B.) Pretty sure that information is illegal to obtain for anyone under the age of legal adult in whatever region (sounds exactly like what YouTube just went through recently)

C.) The host of the server is under no obligation to allow access for any reason. They could not like the second M in your screen name and ban you for that.

 

My advice: accept the loss, lessons learned, and don't do that again.

Well I dont think it  was really creepy but rather funny also some clever people that joined either understood it was grabify or when we got their ip they were like ok idc there is nothing you can do with it. I understand that the host has the right to do whatever they want I just want to find out if the ban was unfair and if what i was doing was illegal.

[ManosMax13]

5 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

We told most of them(because some just turned their pc's off that it was a prank. However since these things are practicly accesible in any site you join how are they an invasion of privacy. Also the chat was in a server with the person me and my friend noone else so nothing leaked in public

No im just trying to say that many sites log ip's so what if I directed someone to my site and just got their ip that way without using a logger why would that be illegal since so many sites do it. Coming from this point of view I wanna know since ip is public information why would it be legal?

[ManosMax13]

7 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

We told most of them(because some just turned their pc's off that it was a prank. However since these things are practicly accesible in any site you join how are they an invasion of privacy. Also the chat was in a server with the person me and my friend noone else so nothing leaked in public

I want to add that I know this is not okay but it was fun if it is legal.

[Blue4130]

4 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

I want to add that I know this is not okay but it was fun if it is legal.

If you are in the USA, it could be presented under stalking laws, but being convicted is iffy/not likely. There is no one blanket law that says you can't do what you did. But the law is open to interpretation, get one cop on a bad day and they will find a law to fit, even if they know it will never stick, if for no reason other than to make you have a bad day in jail for a few hours before being released. 

[ManosMax13]

4 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

If you are in the USA, it could be presented under stalking laws, but being convicted is iffy/not likely. There is no one blanket law that says you can't do what you did. But the law is open to interpretation, get one cop on a bad day and they will find a law to fit, even if they know it will never stick, if for no reason other than to make you have a bad day in jail for a few hours before being released. 

I live in europe greece to be exact.

[minibois]

12 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

No im just trying to say that many sites log ip's so what if I directed someone to my site and just got their ip that way without using a logger why would that be illegal since so many sites do it. Coming from this point of view I wanna know since ip is public information why would it be legal?

Ah, so now you're trying to imply morals based upon law and what others are doing?

This is the age old 'if all your friend jumped off a bridge' type of deal.

31 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

we live near bye stay online so we can track your adress and meet in person.

This is definitely intimidating or even threatening language and I think you're forgetting about that part.

[ManosMax13]

1 minute ago, minibois said:

Ah, so now you're trying to imply morals based upon law and what others are doing?

This is the age old 'if all your friend jumped off a bridge' type of deal.

This is definitely intimidating or even threatening language and I think you're forgetting about that part.

I just wanna know if it is legal, people can have fun sometimes with being morally wrong.

Now about the intimidating lanuage, i totally agree with what you said but when asked where did I live I always answered truthfully in greece and the other person lived in the us so its clear we were bluffing. The only people I think we scared were bellow 12 in my opinion because anyone smart or old enough would have understood it was all for fun.

We were like can you come outside in a bit so we can recognise you or like what color is your house. It was clear we were bluffing and talking out of our asses to everyone with more than 60IQ and older than 10 or 12.

[Blue4130]

5 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

I live in europe greece to be exact.

I would guess the police in Greece use similar tactics. Do you enjoy spending time in lockup? If not, don't do what you did. 

[ManosMax13]

4 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Tracing an IP, well that depends on your country.   Like it can be considered public information, like a phone number.   But intimidating someone, especially a minor, is illegal in a lot of first world countries.

I live in europe greece, we were just bluffing so I think we are safe,thanks.

[kelvinhall05]

You sound like a piece of shit. Why the hell would you

1. do that

2. think it's ok

[Windows9]

Someone could go into depression because of what you are doing. It might lead to suicidal thoughts.

[ManosMax13]

Just now, kelvinhall05 said:

You sound like a piece of shit. Why the hell would you

1. do that

2. think it's ok

It is a prank,when there is no malicious intent scaring someone as a prank is safe harmless and fun for the pranker,whether thats through the internet or irl.

[Blue4130]

1 minute ago, ManosMax13 said:

I just wanna know if it is legal, people can have fun sometimes with being morally wrong.

Now about the intimidating lanuage, i totally agree with what you said but when asked where did I live I always answered truthfully in greece and the other person lived in the us so its clear we were bluffing. The only people I think we scared were bellow 12 in my opinion because anyone smart or old enough would have understood it was all for fun.

We were like can you come outside in a bit so we can recognise you or like what color is your house. It was clear we were bluffing and talking out of our asses to everyone with more than 60IQ and older than 10 or 12.

You see, the thing is, police tend to not have a sense of humor. What you call joking/just having fun might not be to them. If they get called and you reply "it was just a joke" do you really think that the cops will laugh and leave? 

[minibois]

11 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

I just wanna know if it is legal, people can have fun sometimes with being morally wrong.

Now about the intimidating lanuage, i totally agree with what you said but when asked where did I live I always answered truthfully in greece and the other person lived in the us so its clear we were bluffing. The only people I think we scared were bellow 12 in my opinion because anyone smart or old enough would have understood it was all for fun.

We were like can you come outside in a bit so we can recognise you or like what color is your house. It was clear we were bluffing and talking out of our asses to everyone with more than 60IQ and older than 10 or 12.

As per the GDPR, someone's IP is their personal information. To acquire personal information, you need explicit consent that you're gathering information.

I am just guessing you did not ask for their permission, which means you are in violation of the GDPR when logging their IP.

 

So even without going into the morals of threatening and intimidating minors, you're doing some wrong stuff.

[kelvinhall05]

Just now, ManosMax13 said:

It is a prank,when there is no malicious intent scaring someone as a prank is safe harmless and fun for the pranker,whether thats through the internet or irl.

"it's a prank bro" is the worst fucking excuse I've ever heard.

 

 

You know what you did. You know it was wrong.

[ManosMax13]

1 minute ago, AMD1234 said:

Someone could go into depression because of what you are doing. It might lead to suicidal thoughts.

How could that live to suicidal thoughts like let me tell you the scenario we were "hiring" for staff in our server.

Do you live in uk,x city?
OMG YES HOW DID YOU KNOW

Well we live nearby wanna do the interview for staff face to face?
Nooooo
Come outside so we can see you  we will be there in 30min.

How would that lead to depression we didnt say ohh we are coming to hurt you and your family and kill you....

[kelvinhall05]

Maybe we should give OP's IP to the police. Public information, right? No harm in doing so.

[Windows9]

Post this on AITA if you think you are in the right and see what happens

[mr moose]

6 minutes ago, ManosMax13 said:

I just wanna know if it is legal, people can have fun sometimes with being morally wrong.

Now about the intimidating lanuage, i totally agree with what you said but when asked where did I live I always answered truthfully in greece and the other person lived in the us so its clear we were bluffing. The only people I think we scared were bellow 12 in my opinion because anyone smart or old enough would have understood it was all for fun.

We were like can you come outside in a bit so we can recognise you or like what color is your house. It was clear we were bluffing and talking out of our asses to everyone with more than 60IQ and older than 10 or 12.

 

The fact you think its fun to scare kids makes you the problem. you are a problem with the internet and the reason we are loosing privacy on it.  Keep it up, the more you do it the more ammunition you give police and governments to further control the internet.  Don't think I am joking or being over the top.  Every time they have to address any form of online bullying their resolve to do something about it strengthens.  

 

So stop trying to find if laws let you be a cunt or not and just stop being one.

[ManosMax13]

2 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

You see, the thing is, police tend to not have a sense of humor. What you call joking/just having fun might not be to them. If they get called and you reply "it was just a joke" do you really think that the cops will laugh and leave? 

No but after explaining there is no malicious intent and we actually live thousands km away so we were bluffing there is no reason to arrest us.