Update: No More Cheating in Foursquare
There are now reports of unintended consequences of the “cheat code.”
“The problem? Many legitimate Foursquare users, myself included, have been triggering the cheater code left and right, even though we’re exactly where we say we are when checking in. And that’s just as frustrating as having to deal with the cheaters, since we’re unable to collect points or other credit even though we’re playing by the rules.”
- PC World
—- Original Post 4/8/09——
It seems a few bad apples have ruined it for everyone else and now management has had to up the ante as TechCrunch describes:
The red-hot location game has announced that it is implementing a “cheater code” that checks your phone’s GPS signal to determine if you’re actually where you say you are. You’ll still be able to check in wherever you want, but you’ll only be rewarded with badges and points if [sic] Foursquare
The comments are interesting but no one seems to mention if the extra “check” need an extra layer of “ok” from the user, aka does it need another privacy disclaimer for the confirmation? Also of interest, does this make the accumulated data (what’s really valuable if you talk to Joe Francica) more accurate and therefore more valuable?
- TechCrunch
