How does ATS board verify new members locations?

I am always curious about how ATS authenticates new members place of origin when signing up. It seems to me that as soon as world issues and controversies arise, there always seems to be a new member making introductions who can enlighten us to whats really happening. It alarms me that other members ask them for the Truth as if they are representing their countries actions in the world arena. Can't help but get suspicious of these new members agendas (if any).

Maybe it's the ATS mindset of being a member too long, but can someone explain the process used when signing up?

Thanks,
Itsallmaya

a reply to: itsallmaya
I never thought ATS does any authentication of that. You can type whatever you want in your profile.

If they wanted to it would be easy since ATS can see people's IP addresses and could tell if that isn't consistent with the location typed in the profile, but I never assumed they did any checking on that.

ATS has policies against false information so they could probably take action if someone was lying about that but so far I've not had any reason to doubt most people are where their profile says.

As you can see my location is blank so there's nothing to verify for me.

a reply to: itsallmaya

authenticates new members place of origin when signing up

I'm not sure but it could be that they don't care, as they shouldn't...

a reply to: itsallmaya

Well, I can't really give you any insight into how ATS does it, but I can tell you; there's really only one way to get insight into a person's location, and this is by looking at their IP address and that of their provider. Anymore though these can be spoofed relatively easily by the use of proxies and other tricks. An astute network administrator can usually sort through most of these tricks (because there's often a lot more than just a single IP address which shows up with various types of traffic). However, implementing these tricks takes time and effort as well as, in many cases, money.

For someone to invest this level of effort and money into concealing their location just to post here on ATS wouldn't appear to be a worthwhile endeavor. The reason being; the moderators do a pretty good job of keeping discussions out of areas which may be illegal or cause the site to be drawn into some sort of a legal dispute. The most likely places where you see people very intent on concealing their locations are sites where these same people are intent on committing a crime such as theft of some sort. They do this so they can't be traced by law enforcement. Because there's no significant commerce going on here these types would seem pretty unlikely. Sure there's site contributions, but these aren't tied to any specific topic or agenda. Likewise there is advertising, but again this isn't tied to any topic or agenda either.

They don't check that when you register. Time, knowing regular members, and double checking what's being said is as good as it gets.

a reply to: itsallmaya

They don't. Privacy is one of the most important foundations on ATS. Where you are from is not important.

Only under exceptional circumstances would a member's credentials - for lack of better word - be verified. For example if you said that you are the locomotive engineer of the Hogwarts Express, then you'll probably be asked some backup for your claims...

The times I've seen that happen? I could probably count the times on one hand - if it's that many. It is only done to prevent members from being mislead.

Or in other words: There are rarely, if ever reason to verify anyone's location.

It doesn't matter in any case as IPs can easily be faked via proxies.

a reply to: itsallmaya

Iv'e noticed that, I don't know about 'always'. Seems sometimes, as soon as thread starts someone says they are from there.

I guess thats possible if enough people are tuned in.

I guess if I was fabricating stuff that would lend credence. As a tactic, why not?

a reply to: itsallmaya

But there ARE people here from all over the world.😃

This is the go-to site for world events.

Who's Who

a reply to: itsallmaya

When signing up, new members are asked to provide an email address, which can be a disposable email address or any address a new member is comfortable using, choose a unique member name that isn't already in use, and enter a password.

That's it. There's no validation of a member's location or anything else.

A lot of members, including me, use the "Location" profile field as an extension of "Mood" or for humorous purposes. We can enter whatever we want, and there's no law against it, as long as it doesn't otherwise violate the terms & conditions.

When someone claims to be somewhere, whether or not to believe them is up to each of us to decide. While there are some special cases where the owners will, with permission, verify someone is who they say they are, they are rare, and even knowing someone is "the real deal" doesn't mean they are right.

The AboveTopSecret.com Terms And Conditions Of Use prohibit posting any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate, so if you should encounter claims which seem to match that description, please let us know.

But aside from that, as with everything else on ATS, what to believe is up to each of us to decide, and in all cases, skepticism is always a good idea.

a reply to: itsallmaya

back when i first joined, they'd send a reptilian by to look through your window

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: itsallmaya

back when i first joined, they'd send a reptilian by to look through your window.

Really? I had some guys in black suits show up and demanded a DNA sample and let me tell you my but is still sore.

We don't. Cripes, I have better use of my time than that and I think that applies to damn near the whole crew. I can't even think of a "why" as to this.

a reply to: itsallmaya

there are a few companies that can monitor website traffic very easily and its available as a pay for service to those that are interested

Sorry it took so long me to respond. I lost track of time and had to go to work.
I guess its naive of me to think new members, as well as long standing in some cases, would have a hidden agenda or maybe bias is a better term when responding to politics/current events etc..

I was just curious about the extent locations where verified.

Thank you for all the input everyone....appreciate it.

Itsallmaya