New Feature Addition · Access management (subscribers/authors) · Created by
Cyborg Starfish
accepted
privacy crawlers
What functionality is missing? What is unsatisfying with the current situation?
First, some background.
This request was inspired by another request that was declined a few months ago. That request was to opt out WorldAnvil users from predatory ChatGPT crawling. The reason why it was declined was the fact that there are many different opinions about the use of AI and WorldAnvil didn't want to make a sweeping decision. Instead, they decided to wait until OpenAI rolled out a feature that allowed users to opt out on an individual basis.
But in not making a decision on this front, WorldAnvil actually did make a decision. OpenAI bot crawing is opt-in by default, and I doubt that they will ever allow us to opt out on an individual level, unless they are legally forced to. We are resources to them, not people.
The workaround Dimitris proposed was to put our work on private, and allow only subscribers to see the content. However, this puts people with a lower tier subscribtion at a disatvantage. Personally, I'm not financially stable enough to upgrade to a higher tier, and I assume I'm not the only one. So right now, if we want to reliably protect our work, we have to hamstring our ability to reach an audience, or pay money to reach a broader one. I can't say that's really fair for people who aren't financially stable enough to upgrade.
How does this feature request address the current situation?
I'm reminded of the debacle of another bot crawler strip mining AO3 without anyone's knowledge or consent. When this news came to light, many AO3 users put their work on private, which in AO3 terms, means that you have to be logged in in order to see the work. I think such a privacy state should exist for WorldAnvil content as well.
For context, here is a link to AO3's statement on their situation. https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/25888. Of course, restricting access for everyone but active users will not block all scrapers, but it can help against the bigger ones.
Right now, privacy on WorldAnvil is an all-or-nothing situation. If it's public, it's open for the entire internet, including predatory crawlers, if it's private, it's completely hidden for everyone except assigned subscriber groups. A third privacy option alongside those first two could be helpful for people who want to protect their work from more prolific crawlers, but don't have the money to upgrade to a tier that allows them to have a large amount of subscribers.
What are other uses for this feature request?
It could also be useful for people who aren't necessarily worried about crawlers, but just want to share their work with the WorldAnvil community and not the entire internet.
Follow up
I would like to echo Blossom Tree Art's remark that it should be opt-in. Yes, it should be. After all, it's a third option alongside the two that are already there.
I'm not sure why this is still open, it's already been twenty days. Still, thanks to all of you for your support, it really means a lot.
Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up on this. Quite the opposite in fact.
The Team's Response
Hi! Thanks for your suggestion—a third visibility option for logged-in users only will be implemented. It will not be an immediate changes because it affects multiple systems on World Anvil, but we've heard you and it's now on our to-do list. Note that, as visibility settings are a Guild feature, only Guild members will be able to use this.
To address your follow-up: "I'm not sure why this is still open, it's already been twenty days."
Please note that we have a ton of stuff on our plate and we're a very small team, so our response can sometimes be delayed. We discuss and address all feature suggestions.
Current score
106/300 Votes · +24211 points