Why is it STILL possible for people to find us on the interactive map???

I concur with Philidor. I don't see anything that the users have agreed on or anything in the TOS that allows chess.com to reveal the users location without his/her consent. Could the admins please participate in this discussion?

www.chess.comPrivacy Policy  "As is true of most Web sites, we automatically gather information about your computer such as your IP address,

We use this information to:

• Improve our Web site and marketing efforts"

I fail to se that this would be the case

Are you implying that a glitzy, interactive, colour map showing approximate locations of members - which gives an indication of the scope of chess.com's coverage and market penetration is NOT an aid to marketing?

Are you also implying that a facility which shows graphically and succinctly which friends, opponents and members generally are online does NOT improve the web site?

It would definitely be a marketing aid toward the stalker demographic.

Interestingly, if someone is both a friend and an opponent, only their opponency is displayed on the interactive map of members. I shudder to think what would happen if someone was titled and an opponent and a friend and a member!

Indeed. Provided they want to stalk your ISP.

Please, look at Erik's reply in post #2. In my view it clearly shows that the intention has not been to show location without the member's consent! And that the fact that it does is a mistake!

No, I agree with you on these. I meant that the rules nevertheless do not give the right to disclose a member's location without the member's acceptance. At any rate, as I already pointed out, it seems to me that this is unintentional and a mistake. 

Other uses for the interactive map ...

Add a new filter to the Member Map called "Past Opponents" so that you can see your chess.com career writ large on a world map. (DeepGreene)

trying-to-play-someone-from-every-country

When I apply for a restraining order against my stalker I'm hiring you Artfizz.

Stalkers are solitary; if you are known to have one, other stalkers will generally keep away. It's the same principle as placing a plastic heron next to your goldfish pond.

Hhmmm, perhaps a "scarecrow" in the form of a peeping-tom would make an effective deterrent.

"Scarecreep"?

Thanks for the link.  I've been half-heartedly undertaking a similar quest, although I haven't even yet scored every continent, let alone made much progress toward every country.  A past opponents link would be handy, but I'd still keep my own Google Earth file I've got going.  My blog map is fairly up to date (I need to add a marker in Germany and another location in Australia-- in fact, I'll get to that today).

A curious thing happened to me recently. I'd changed my country designation to investigate the way my marker moves on the interactive map, and I received a challenge from a member seeking to play someone from each country.

I think there may be quite a few of us out there.  That's how I choose which team matches to sign up for-- the likelihood of getting an opponent from a new country.  I've gotten burned a couple times, where I signed up to play a national team and then got paired up against someone who played for that team because they had some connection to that country, but they now actually lived somewhere else that I had already played against.

Of course, lots of people put in locations that are completely fabricated-- there's no way to know.  I just record what they have in their profile, or if I've sent a message (with an explanation) asking their location, I record whatever they tell me.

You should do one of two things:

• request their IP address
• consult the interactive map

That's not accurate either.  As I mentioned a few posts back, my location is shown several hundred miles from where I am, and not even in the correct state.  So far most people have been glad to contribute to my hobby when I ask-- I've only been completely ignored once, and that fellow had already listed a state on his profile, so I had a narrowed down location.

...how do you know so much about stalkers?