Query HN: nab and block a creepy user?

Query HN: nab and block a creepy user?
40 parts by desaiguddu 8 hours ago | conceal | past | current | 44 feedback
Now we don’t have any longer too long ago created a market app. Which allows users to message assorted users. Now we have found one user making lewd feedback to assorted users.
After first document we blocked that user.
That user created one other narrative & started doing identical thing. How will we block such users? This is a cell app constructed with Flutter. Now we have our believe DB + Firebase for messaging.

Many apps this present day exercise cell phone numbers for verifying contemporary accounts. Clearly, it is removed from not likely for a malicious user to rating a brand contemporary cell phone quantity within the occasion that they care enough, then again it does customarily have a monetary designate, which is ready to withhold a gigantic piece of malicious users out. This may maybe also encourage cease some forms of fraud.

This is rather apparent, but use care in designing social interactions to your app, and introduce easy reporting programs and user-controlled blockading programs (e.g., even have to you fabricate no longer answer to a user’s document in a properly timed manner, a user have to quiet quiet be able to block communications from one other user utilizing a button within the app). It is recommended to permit users to take care of to absolutely allow messages from users who had been on the placement for a obvious period of time, or have some map of additional degree of verification. Additionally use into consideration introducing energetic, paid moderators who actively answer to stories as they advance in, in case your budget allows.

Allowing users rating entry to to originate text fields on the earn is inherently unhealthy. I basically have tried to withhold far from it in all of my apps (shall we say, I’ve made video games that exercise randomly-generated user names in resolution to permit users to input their very believe, and I completely added user feedback to an app I used to be once building _after_ I’d constructed a user reporting design and ensured I got a at the moment alert on my cell phone if a user despatched a document). It’s your accountability to strive to believe your app, and average your neighborhood, to mitigate these risks.


> a user have to quiet quiet be able to block communications from one other user utilizing a button within the app

Including to this – when you attain act, your ban have to quiet be that every particular person users are effectively blockading this user, ie a shadow ban.

That plot the putrid user, to themselves, quiet appears to be like to be interacting with the placement, true no one else appears to be like to care.


I am no longer definite it be appropriate for you since it be a cell app but I encountered the identical discipline with a single express user, which may maybe space off chaos in every single place.

The true resolution for us has been to invent the earn location completely aggravating for him, slowing down pages, disconnecting him randomly, striking off the styling randomly, throwing a 500 page randomly, his abilities was once basically unhappy.


There was once a plugin to attain this on Vbulletin forums.

It was once somethink fancy a shadow-ban but the place which it is likely you’ll give random timeouts/unhurried loads to the user


“Tachy goes to Coventry” was once the first implementation I do know of. And I’m able to no longer judge I remembered that off the cease of my head.


Fraud and abuse prevention basically boils the entire manner down to something fancy this.

You fabricate no longer have to quiet be excellent with blockading these other folks, but strive to be greater than your competitors so that the value/relieve balance shifts to encourage the user to head in other locations. Unfortunately trolls fabricate no longer depart, they true trip in other locations.

Much just like the saying about the hungry lion. If a hungry lion approaches your community whereas hiking, you fabricate no longer have to quiet be sooner than the lion, you true have to be sooner than no longer much less than 1 of the assorted other folks on your community.


I did the staunch identical thing on a internet location I stale to believe ~2011-2012. I went one step extra and customarily redirected the user to sites other folks on the entire mustn’t train over with through a url shortner. The user disappeared within about a hours.


Listed below are some methods for IOS:

1) exercise instrument identifer / advertising identifier to name the user and block them. anxiety: user can reinstall app and these identifiers are recreated

2) store a random identifier on the disk or in nsuserdefaults or some assorted app storage. anxiety: user can reinstall app and these areas are wiped

3) store a random identifier in icloud keychain. my working out is this doesn’t have the identical anxiety as above but its that which it is likely you’ll also imagine for user to wipe this.

4) exercise apple instrument take a look at API. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/devicecheck this allows you to associate 2 bits of recordsdata with a users instrument. which it is likely you’ll also exercise 1 bit to manage whether or no longer the instrument have to quiet be banned.

5) exercise a Third rating collectively instrument fingerprinting solution or roll your believe instrument fingerprinting. my working out is there’s enough entropy on the cell phone to uniquely name it. shall we say yow will uncover out what time the usual OS was once save in within the Foxconn manufacturing facility. i suspect apple have to quiet ban all apps that attain this but lots of apps attain this. 🙁


Possibly off-topic …

Can you present a reference for “receive out what time the usual OS was once save in within the Foxconn manufacturing facility”?


You would per chance likely also stat recordsdata within the filesystem. We found some apps had been stat’ing some recordsdata and these had assorted dates on assorted devices and they looked as if it would be around the time the instrument would had been manufactured. I’m able to no longer use indicate of off the cease of my head the what the names of the recordsdata had been.

You would per chance likely also moreover settle when the remaining update was once save in by stat’ing recordsdata within the filesystem. However here is much less precious for fingerprinting a instrument on narrative of it is at possibility of change.


So, a rather sketch thing to attain is to shadowban the user, so that they don’t know that no one can scrutinize their posts. They may also just rating bored. You are going to have to modify some of your utility code though. You would per chance likely also attain this by their IP within the occasion that they haven’t caught on.


One thing I’ve viewed other folks attain within the past on older forums is to degrade the abilities for the offending user as properly, adding things fancy load flee delays etc. The speculation being that they rating frustrated and at remaining transfer on. It is mostly rather sketchy then again it was once reasonably smartly-liked in forums / bulletin boards.


I am no longer definite it be that sketchy if the behaviour is abusive. The anxiety with shadowbanning, even supposing equally correct of assorted alternatives akin to degrading abilities, is that it be originate to abuse by location homeowners.


Are IPs basically that efficient for setting apart users? VPNs, Tor, and even true Dynamic IPs issued by native ISPs made me continuously feel fancy that is a awful technique to ban malicious users.


I used to be once going to counsel the identical thing. If you ban malicious users, they’ll advance crawling support, practically as if breaking your design is a location.


Shadowbanning in its assorted kinds continuously is the most easy option, fabricate no longer let the user know they’ve been seen.

Allow them to think they despatched messages and feedback to assorted users, but fabricate no longer basically bring them.


Sure, shadowbanning is the most easy conception.

If you basically desire to place some work in, generate some automatic replies you point to them, so they suspect they’re getting short, plain replies.


I’m able to no longer depend the assortment of instances I clicked on a dead comment’s user profile completely to seek a fascinating assortment of dead feedback, every now and then going support months (years, even?). Out of some morbid curiosity, I scream, I’d true withhold clicking on ‘extra’ and on an odd basis the assortment of feedback may maybe be within the a lot of.

One the one hand, this plot appears to be like very efficient, but I’m able to no longer encourage but feel pity for this particular person and even some sense of cruelty if I had been to enforce this form of characteristic myself (even supposing I potentially would).

With out a doubt, I am also the particular person in staunch existence who will at remaining ‘use’ with that “one particular person” in a community who everyone has been tuning out for a whereas. I fabricate no longer rating the influence doing so matters to talked about particular person, on narrative of clearly they’re oblivious, but no longer much less than it makes me feel greater or much less responsible.


Originate no longer block them, degrade their efficiency to annoy them out of your platform. Or take care of them the manner which it is likely you’ll any spambot,add registration location,cumulative but minimal interaction designate(efficiency,monetary,parts,etc…) and as a remaining resort ban or space restrictions on their connectivity network (subnet,isp,electronic mail provider, vpn provider,asn,country,etc…)


Shadowbanning is also an option: they’ll think they’re sending messages to assorted users, but those assorted users will never scrutinize them.


How about constructing guidelines?

  A talks to B
  B blocks A
  A registers as C
  *no longer too grand time passesC talks to B

At this point C is believed of to be a harasser and due to the this truth this may be hidden for B. B can of route glean the ban if it be true a fraudulent definite.
To extra specify who’s who on this graph, the logic can receive the smallest time between ban and the creation of a brand contemporary user with the identical behavior (writes to B) as the reported one.

I feel here is far extra simpler than coping with other folks that abuse the staunch provider you are selling.


Connected quiz for other folks in identical eventualities: What are your experiences bringing these forms of abuse to the attention of the ISPs?


We desire a thing whereby a particular person can completely take a look at in to a provider once – without demanding the on-boarding process (too grand). Possibly a contradiction in phrases but I am striking it accessible since there are some mighty intelligent other folks in here, and anyone may maybe also just true have a solution.


Login with Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc…

Allow them to address narrative creation and detect misuse.


So, when a user completely will get as many tries to be a jerk as there are oauth companies and products? May per chance per chance likely work a point, but no longer optimum imo.


A itsy-bitsy bit linked, does anyone know any solutions to this for a public slack community? I am a member of one that has a public invite link (snappy disabled) and it be continuously stricken by one troll narrative that comes support every time the invite link is enabled again.


Construct it very easy for folks to document these messages, then save in a non permanent block on a user after the first document, until it may maybe per chance even be checked by a human.


Further to this, can some one encourage with this –

Under GDPR, user can seek recordsdata from for it be narrative deletion the place we now have to delete the entire user’s reference. If a user signup again there may maybe be no plot whether or no longer it is miles the identical malicious user, the manner to beat this?


You would per chance likely also stutter legit curiosity and withhold obvious recordsdata that will support you reidentify them for a sensible period of time (2 years?).


I have not got a solution here, then again it be extra friction for them to attain this, you have a time window for processing and no longer all trolls will pain, so which it is likely you’ll quiet have a smarter abilities for assorted users by enforcing it


GDPR penalties are steep, I’d highly counsel no longer doing this. You completely need one lawyer with too grand free time to ascertain you and destroy your existence.


maybe have some ai that detects lewd feedback and autobans those users. Oh and the usual thing of checking both ip and mac addresses every time other folks log in or register against a blacklist of IP’s/MAC’s stale by banned users.


To be dazzling I fabricate no longer think it may maybe per chance also be a putrid conception to have some wordfilters for sexual language etc, and if detected, no longer basically autoban but flag for a moderator to be taught about.


Reckoning on what the app is for there’s potentially some nuance wanted to that manner – you will want amass other folks harassing assorted users early, but you furthermore mght completely fabricate no longer desire to be snooping through legit conversations of that nature between two consenting users. I scream its much less of an discipline have to you are at the form of scale the place you have external moderators, but most things fancy this originate off with about a workers participants and most likely some neighborhood participants doing the moderating.

Be taught Extra

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *