WoW screenshots contain digital watermarks

[Canaie]

http://www.ownedcore.com/forums/world-o ... shots.html

In short, screenshots can be used to determine the account name and the realm that account was connected to. Setting the quality to 10 via /console SET screenshotQuality "10" will result in watermark-free screenshots.

[Abric]

... to what purpose would they do this?

Could be the answer to why people are/were getting hacked when their accounts were inactive.

[Canaie]

To track people playing on private servers and leaking alpha or beta screenshots that might still be under a NDA.

[Abric]

That pro does not sound like it outweighs the con. They tell us not to give out our user name and password... but then they give out the user name *and* our IP?

Someone in Blizzard is dumb.

[Canaie]

Read das thread!

Your account id/name, time stamp, IP of the realm you're connected to. Still, there's no good reason to have this enabled in the live version of the client as all this information can be misused by shady individuals.

P.S. Also, I'm curious if Blizzard will get into legal trouble over the EU's Data Protection laws.

[Abric]

Ug.

There is *zero* reason to put that sort of information on screenshots. While some bullshit can be spun up about it (catching "bad people"), that is not how the internet works. If you give someone with the dedication to fuck you one iota of information they need to fuck you with - they will.

To have a company do that? It's stupid - Blizzard should know better - yet here they are... getting caught doing something on a level of stupidity that surpasses the most basic of fucking common sense.

[Hektar]

It doesn't give your user name, it gives your user ID. This same information is available through Armoury. Its how apps can show you a posters other characters. Your user ID cannot be used to access your account.