Possible problem with overall leaderboard

[afudc]

I have noticed over the last couple of weeks that the overall leaderboard leader's name has been different every time I look at it. As I write this it is Earthsinger. Whenever I try to look up information on groundspeak for the leader using the lonely cache link below their name I get an error message. This is probably because the id I see is PR0 which is not a full id. I just did this again and now the associated name is 6ftzpr&1/2zip (who I had a pleasant short conversation when we met at a cache a few years ago). Supposedly the top point find they have had is GC3V1VT. When I look at that cache's page on groundspeak the only finder is sasktravelbugs who have less than 24000 finds versus the more than 56000 finds attributed to the leaderboard's overall leader. I have looked at a few other of the top finds of the leader and found similar situations.
It sure seems to me that there are some issues here. As the current overall number two I do have a bit of a stake in this, but I truly just want to be sure that things are accurate. If someone has legitimately passed my totals, that is great, good for them.
All that said, I also want to thank Russ for all the work he has put into this site.
Steve

[desert dawg]

Although I am no where near the top in leaderboard standings, I too have noticed this same thing afudc speaks of... I think it needs looking into...

[Corfman Clan]

Yep, there's an issue here. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it until I convert LonelyCache to use the new Geocaching API as I previously mentioned.

This issue arose from Groundspeak making changes to be compliant with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Basically Groundspeak added the option for users to opt out of having their profile data shared with partner applications, such as LonelyCache. This occurs when a user checks, "Do not allow Authorized Developer Applications to access my public profile information" on his/her Settings/Authorizations page. How this affects LonelyCache is that it no longer receives that user's identity on any cache logs. What I think may be happening here (with no formal analysis), is that LonelyCache is totaling up all of the opted out users into one. FYI, user 6ftzpr&1/2zip has opted out.

With the new API, LonelyCache will get the finders' IDs, however it will no longer get the geocaching name for any user that has opted out (the current API is just the opposite, LonelyCache gets the name but not the ID ). Personally, I don't see how receiving both would be a privacy issue for Groundspeak, as the users are opting out of sharing their "public profile information," not what caches they've found or hid but I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV either.

I've been working on converting LonelyCache over to the new API so it would be impractical to put in a temporary fix at this time. The changes are non-trivial and extensive and I'm really not very happy that Groundspeak is foisting this change on all their, "partners." Hopefully I'll be able to complete the changes in the not too distant future but I am unwilling to estimate when that may be (probably a month minimum).

Thank you for pointing out this issue and for your patience in the forthcoming update.
Russell

[afudc]

Thanks for the explanation. I agree that you shouldn't attempt a temporary fix. It's just nice to have an idea of what is going on.

[Corfman Clan]

Just a quick update here. I presented a case for why the API should return both the Id and user name for users that have opted out sharing their profile. After some thought and discussion, Geocaching HQ has decided that it will be okay to give partner applications both a user's Id and user name. They are in the process of updating the new API to do so and that should be available later this month. This is good news going forward and I hope to have LonelyCache updated by the end of this month.

[Corfman Clan]

With yesterday's update, this issue is resolved. Yesterday, when I installed the update, there were about 55 some thousand caches with logs containing a 0 for the cacher ID. I marked all of those caches to be updated completely, that is, to have all found logs resynched. As of now there is about 17,700 caches left to be updated. My guess is that all will be updated sometime tomorrow morning and all leaderboards will be correct the following day, 7 December.