Why is my profile on a website called steamid? (+suggestion to improve privacy)

[Luna]

My profile has never been public, but I can still find it on a website, it is: steamid uk.
I'm new here, I've never logged in to any website. Is this a scam? Or who put my account there?

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Update (based on the feedback until 2023-10-16):

I would be happy to have a toggle (an option: on / off) to set my steam profile linkable.
This would be an improved version of the current privacy setting(s).

Toogle on (linkable): This means that my profile is reachable/available via the profile URL: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199562780592/

Toggle off (not linkable): The Steam server should give back the standard not found response: "The specified profile could not be found."

3rd party websites shouldn't be able to find out (determine) whether such a profile exists or not.
Neither the profile nor any content on it should be reachable via URLs / links.

I understand that the steamID (that numeric identifier) is important. My suggestion is to leave the steam identifier untouched (because some other systems might depend on it (eg. anti cheat?)).

My suggestion is only about the reachability of a profile on the Internet. Because I don't think it's a positive situation that 3rd party websites and search engines can easily collect information which I don't want to be collected, processed or linked. I lose control over such information (e.g. let's assume I just draw an anime character (which is not personal data), I don't want the steam ID website to save my creative anime art forever).

[Luna]

A picture becomes personal when they see your face, for example.
This is the law.

Yes I see they have a GDPR removal tool on that website, becaue they also "realized" that it goes against the law to collect and save this kind of information without permission.

And no, it's also not legal to collect non-public facebook/vk images (e.g. private or friends-only images, or even deleted images from the past!) and put them to the internet. This is surely not legal.

Thank you for the responses, you helped a lot and probably saved my life. This forum is at least helpful and quick.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Yuna:

A picture becomes personal when they see your face, for example.
This is the law.

When you make the choice to upload it to be used as a public facing profile pic, that's a choice. That site has an opt-out that will delete info, but only in that moment. Choosing to upload it is basically a waiver that you understand the risks. If you uploaded such a pic publicly, others would be able to download it because you chose to allow it to be public facing. That's why sites have fake accounts of people because others chose to go upload crazy even on their "friends only" or "private" profiles; mostly this happens on fb, yt and google/LI.

If you want to be anonymous, dont upload or post personal info, ever.

Originally posted by Yuna:

And yes I see they have a GDPR removal tool on that website, becaue they also "realized" that it goes against the law to collect and save this kind of information without permission.

It's more of a temporary opt-out. Other sites aren't in the EU nor work with the eu and are under no obligation to remove anything that isn't blatantly protected, and basic profile info for steam is not private.

Originally posted by Yuna:

And no, it's also not legal to collect facebook/vk images (e.g. private or friends-only images) and put them to the internet. This is surely not legal.

It's not private or friends only when it's your profile display picture which is always public facing.
Things uploaded to fb are not private, and people would be shocked if they knew how much was out there when they upload. There's facial recognition built into fb, and it can automatically tag people that have uploaded anything to their site of themselves or anyone else that has been tagged.

Many services, especially google, will actively collect and allow anything uploaded to be searched because the users consented on the site they use. Even if it's from other sites. That is what a search engine does. The site you're talking about, only saves public facing steam related information at the time of the scrape.

[NiCE GAL]

Originally posted by chocolate donut:

Thankfully a lot of these websites do have opt-outs now if you can prove it's your own personal data. You can't be sure it will erase you from everywhere but it's enough to stop the average person from snooping, just maybe not someone who would be really dedicated enough or is genuinely stalking you.

I've even successfully been able to ask Wayback Machine to remove & exclude a URL from snapshot history and from future snapshotting after emailing them and asking them to do so because it led to personal information about me.

Steamrep and Steam ID UK both allow you to opt out as well, and those are the two biggest Steam profile databases I know of. There might be more but I don't know of them.

This is new for me. Very helpful for people want to restrict their privacy.

[Luna]

I'm also kind of privacy-cautious. And I live in a EU country so I know we have certain laws to protect our privacy and get certain content removed.

I understand that the profile avatar is public information.

That GDPR removal tool is there to remove the historic information. Now it's clear to me.
In the beginning I just didn't understand who put my profile there, I hope one day the law will control this situation, or valve will remove these profile URLs entirely.

What about a "toggle" if I don't want my profile to be linked on the internet at all?

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Yuna:

A picture becomes personal when they see your face, for example.
This is the law.

Yes I see they have a GDPR removal tool on that website, becaue they also "realized" that it goes against the law to collect and save this kind of information without permission.

And no, it's also not legal to collect non-public facebook/vk images (e.g. private or friends-only images, or even deleted images from the past!) and put them to the internet. This is surely not legal.

Thank you for the responses, you helped a lot and probably saved my life. This forum is at least helpful and quick.

At the end of the day, the API alone houses basic information that is public even if you wholly private your profile from day one. The data is worthless and contains no identifiers. There is far worse instance online where users have agreed to forced-data collection and forwarding of such to affiliates so if you have a social media, what's on Steam is probably the least of your worries.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Yuna:

I'm also kind of privacy-cautious. And I live in a EU country so I know we have certain laws to protect our privacy and get certain content removed.

I understand that the profile avatar is public information.

That GDPR removal tool is there to remove the historic information. Now it's clear to me.
In the beginning I just didn't understand who put my profile there, I hope one day the law will control this situation, or valve will remove these profile URLs entirely.

What about a "toggle" if I don't want my profile to be linked on the internet at all?

Realistically there is no way to fully opt out. Once you request deletion, simply not changing anything and remaining private will disallow from newer information becoming available especially by remaining private.

Keep in mind that the eu also does not rule everything, and not all entities even have to do anything about basic public information. The best way to have as little information about a person exist online, is by never posting it and using private options when available.

For the sake of it however, I will note that moderation can recognize alts, game servers can often see your connection information and even hardware ID, as can anti-cheats. So if you're privacy focused, you should remain in good standing on any service you use to play games and stick to dedicated servers. Game servers & Anticheats may hold onto such information to whitelist or blacklist users, similar to the use of whitelisting or blacklisting SteamIDs (in addition to the aforementioned) from one, some, or all of their game servers or other games.

[Lilim]

Originally posted by chocolate donut:

Thankfully a lot of these websites do have opt-outs now if you can prove it's your own personal data.

Steamrep and Steam ID UK both allow you to opt out as well, and those are the two biggest Steam profile databases I know of.

How would you do that?

Hopefully not by logging into these sites with your Steam credentials and providing them with "proof of ownership" .

[chocolate donut]

Originally posted by Lilim:

Originally posted by chocolate donut:

Thankfully a lot of these websites do have opt-outs now if you can prove it's your own personal data.

Steamrep and Steam ID UK both allow you to opt out as well, and those are the two biggest Steam profile databases I know of.

How would you do that?

Hopefully not by logging into these sites with your Steam credentials and providing them with "proof of ownership" :trolol:.

No, you just need to "log in" with Steam OpenID. Steam does not send your credentials when using Steam OpenID...as long as you're making sure you're actually on the right website.

The best way to be sure is to already be logged into Steam on your browser before clicking on the button to access Steam OpenID. If it shows you as logged into Steam already, then it should be fine.

And no, they don't ask for any "proof of ownership." It's a simple button, or in SteamRep's case, you make a request on the forum.

[ShelLuser]

Originally posted by Yuna:

"Your SteamID is not nor was never private."

It's a unique number, which is used to identify a profile.
What about the right to be forgotten and the GDPR?

GDPR is about personal data, nothing about this is personal.

[Luna]

Originally posted by Lilim:

Originally posted by chocolate donut:

Thankfully a lot of these websites do have opt-outs now if you can prove it's your own personal data.

Steamrep and Steam ID UK both allow you to opt out as well, and those are the two biggest Steam profile databases I know of.

How would you do that?

Hopefully not by logging into these sites with your Steam credentials and providing them with "proof of ownership" :trolol:.

1. I checked this. The steam id website gives you steam-login a button, and you can only delete your data if you're logged into your Steam account.

2. I updated this discussion post with a suggestion (linkable vs non-linkable steam profiles). It would be very positive to have such (or a similar) privacy option. And then I could just disable this entire web-based stuff. This would be just an option, so it would be backwards compatible.

[DC-GS]

Originally posted by Yuna:

2. I updated this discussion post with a suggestion (linkable vs non-linkable steam profiles). It would be very positive to have such (or a similar) privacy option. And then I could just disable this entire web-based stuff. This would be just an option, so it would be backwards compatible.

While it would be possible to do so, it will have huge limitations.
This would disable: posting on the forums. Having any friends. Playing a lot of MP games online, probably some SP games too.
Just 3 examples. A lot of stuff is linked to your profile, which needs to be accessed by someone outside of Valve.

[Mad Scientist]

Your OP edits arent meant for here as that site isn't operated by Valve.
The more you use the forums the more likely your profile will be scraped.

If you have suggestions for that other site, go contact them.

[DC-GS]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Your OP edits arent meant for here as that site isn't operated by Valve.
The more you use the forums the more likely your profile will be scraped.

If you have suggestions for that other site, go contact them.

If I understand OP correctly, his suggestion is to make our Steam profiles invisible to the public, so such sites like steamid-uk wont be able to see / store the profile.

[Luna]

Mad Scientist: But this was a suggestion for Valve. And it's protective. :)

DC-GS: I prefer to use the steam desktop application. I can post on these forums and can have friends without steam profile links. So why would my suggestion have such limitations?
Furthermore, "which needs to be accessed by someone outside of valve" --> Then how can those services work when I set my profile entirely private? They can't reach any information on my profile (if I am correct).

I have very little experience, I only play battlefield currently. :D So I can't imagine why it would have such big limitations. :)

But thank you for the responses very much. :)

[Luna]

Originally posted by DC-GS:

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Your OP edits arent meant for here as that site isn't operated by Valve.
The more you use the forums the more likely your profile will be scraped.

If you have suggestions for that other site, go contact them.

If I understand OP correctly, his suggestion is to make our Steam profiles invisible to the public, so such sites like steamid-uk wont be able to see / store the profile.

Yes exactly.
The other services (anti cheat, etc) should work without any changes.
I think the backwards compatibility is important indeed.