Square Enix condemns Final Fantasy 14 "stalking" mod and threatens legal action

gamesindustry.biz:

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has issued a statement to players condemning the "Playerscope" mod accused of tracking players across characters without consent.

In a statement, Yoshida confirmed the existence of "third-party tools that are being used to check [Final Fantasy] 14 character information that is not displayed during normal game play," acknowledging it can be used to disclose a segment of an 14 character's internal account ID, which is then used in an attempt to further correlate information on other characters on the same account.

According to IGN, the only way to opt-out of having your information scraped is to join the tool's private Discord channel.

In response, Square Enix's development and operations teams have requested the tool in question be removed and deleted from public mod depositories - which is seemingly has, although it could still be shared privately - and is now pursuing legal action against the creator(s).

"Aside from character information that can be checked in-game and on the Lodestone, we have received concerns that personal information registered on a user’s Square Enix account, such as address and payment information, could also be exposed with this tool," Yoshida explained.

"Please rest assured that it is not possible to access this information using these third-party tools.

"We strive to offer and maintain a safe environment for our players, which is why we ask everyone to refrain from using third-party tools. We also ask that players do not share information about third-party tools such as details about their installation methods, or take any other actions to assist in their dissemination."

Yoshida closed by reminding players that the use of third-party tools is prohibited by the final Fantasy 14's user agreement.