They (Red Shell) can’t track IPs since they constitute what is known as information that could identify an individual, that would be a violation of GDPR without your explicit consent, and cause them a fine corresponding to 4% of their revenue in the EU.
They have to track something which cannot be connected in any way to an individual, which is what they do by collection what according to regulation is considered machine but not user specific information.
You can be annoyed by this, but it is not illegal (i.e. it is possible for something not to be socially acceptable even if it is legal).
Also, Red Shell is pathetic compared to Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Netflix etc, including browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge or Internet Explorer. Ergo, as a user of any of these services or browsers it would be impossible to take the moral high ground and accuse FS of any wrongdoing.
By that definition, Red Shell isn’t spyware. I know there’s really no purpose in arguing this continually with people who have made up their minds, but I should let you know that all of the “data” that Red Shell uses to create an (again, I can’t stress this enough) anonymized userid for you is information that every single website on the internet can/does get from you. You can see all of that by running the EFF’s Panopticlick tool here: https://panopticlick.eff.org/
So, that aside, the issue boils down to two things: 1) you have a problem with FatShark collecting data about how players play the game and/or 2) you have an issue with FatShark knowing that you saw their marketing campaign(s) because your browser pinged RedShell or Google Analytics or some other analytics library.
If your issue is #1, you can rest assured that FatShark already has total access to the actions you take in game…cause y’know they built the game. This is how they construct things like the Challenge Book. I guess we could get into the whole “why is it online anyway? why do they have to track these things on the server anyway?” and the only response I can give to that is that FS have decided that spending money on the servers they run to track this stuff is a necessary expense to ensure the integrity of the game for the wider community.
If your issue is #2, I guess I really don’t have a convincing response. Analytics are ubiquitous and there are a wide range of ways they can be implemented. It is important to the success of companies, large and small, that they be able to measure if the money they spend on advertising is effective. As @Emplzza above mentions, Red Shell is likely one of the most privacy-focused ways to implement such analytics since it doesn’t gift every piece of data to Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. (who are all, given their size and control of much of the internet, extreme and current threats to online privacy).
They don’t need to know who I am, they’ll just create an online “profile” that they link my activity to and that’s effectively the same thing. I’m not alright with this practice on principal as its some scary social engineering when you really think about it.
the only thing I can add is that I’m playing a game and not using a personal info data container. And the game during the installation added a 3rd party software collecting some data without me knowing it. About facebook and google, if I remember right, it’s written they do that (collecting data).
I don’t care if the game data is collected, I do care if they do it out of the game boundaries. I understand the point every one is doing it, still it pisses me off.
The “online profile” is just about as limited in scope as possible. The online profile contains information about two things: which Red Shell-served FatShark ads you’ve seen (this can be blocked via the browser or by using the form on the opt-out link posted multiple times before) and actions you take INSIDE of the game (although, most likely, it’s just concerned with if you ever opened the game once). That’s it.
meh ne, I think it’s wrong as principle. I don’t care if it is done in a clean & safe way, just I don’t like it. As much as I don’t like it done by microsoft/google/whatsoever.
But with google/facebook I’m using their services for free. Microsoft is an operating system and it needs stability (but 7 and 10 probably went over the limit).
I’ll just make up my mind about it.
"5. Collection of Information
Fatshark may collect information from you when you use the Game. Such information includes your SteamID, computer configuration, gameplay behavior and progress, browser type, platform type and software usage. This information is gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, product support and other services related to the Game.
Fatshark may use any collected information to improve its products, administer the Game, analyze trends, or to provide services to you. In addition, Fatshark may use this information for the purpose of research, development, administration, support and marketing of Fatshark products and services.
This EULA incorporates by reference Fatshark’s Privacy Policy ( http://www.fatsharkgames.com/privacy/ ); by installing the game and accepting this EULA, you hereby accept the terms of the Privacy Policy."
So covert, really glad we have some internet detectives here that discovered this massive underhanded plot by a game developer to collect anonymous information on how effective marketing campaigns are. /s
As others have pointed out, you’re leaking more of your actual personally-identifiable information by just being on this and other websites in a mainstream browser, than by Redshell using a hashed string to make a good guess about whether or not your computer watched a youtube trailer for Vermintide 2.
Red Shell is a program we use to measure the effectiveness of our advertising. It’s not spyware.
It’s a marketing attribution tool. It helps us determine which of our adverts are most effective. It does this in a similar way to other analytics tools by using cookies to generate a unique token from device information, and comparing that with data taken from our marketing campaigns and game activations. In this way we can see which adverts are more effective. You can find out more about it here: https://redshell.io/home
If you like, you can opt-out of web-based and cookie-based tracking by managing your cookie preferences: https://redshell.io/optout
Whilst Red Shell is only used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising, we can see that players are clearly concerned about it and it will be difficult for us to entirely reassure every player. So, from the next update we will remove the implementation of Red Shell from those Total War games that use it.
Lol, or the game has been out for awhile and they got enough data out of it already, so they’re removing it to placate the more unreasonable part of their playerbase.
Thank you for all your enthusiastic feedback on the matter of Red Shell. We can confirm we will be removing Red Shell in a future update.
Whilst it’s a no more than a tool we can use to improve our marketing campaigns in the same way a browser cookie might (although even less ‘invasive’ than a browser cookie), we can also appreciate that this kind of mechanism is frowned upon by you, our fans, and whilst we’d love to be able to break down the very ins and outs of how it works and how safe it is, we’re not Red Shell and cannot always answer your questions or concerns as effectively as you’d like. We apologise that you feel violated and will note in the patch notes exactly when the library is removed from the game, but know that before that time the library will be out of action.
