In the recent days, there has been some unveiling of a massive data mining and scraping tool in Ingress, named Brokers Guild. There have been some high-level contacts that were using this tool, people that have been hand-picked by Niantic.
In their official statement (see below), it is said that these few players have been removed from the programs, and the developers are currently working on finding ways to protect themselves in the future. The methods used in obtaining data is similar to scanners and gym mappers. Everything that can be seen on the radar is protected. The scanners are using bots which get information, which is directly addressed in the statement for Ingress.
It was recently brought to our attention that a third-party site has allegedly used data from Ingress without our consent. Extracting, scraping, or indexing our services or content is a violation of the Ingress Terms of Service. Niantic does not condone the use of websites or methods that have done so. We are evaluating all options to protect our users, our game, and our rights and will take further action where appropriate. We are also reviewing the long-term plan for the Guardian medal. Ambassadors and trusted reporters alleged to have been involved in the recent activity have either voluntarily stepped down or will be excused from their roles.
Ingress is defined by the passionate players who enable amazing experiences. We ask that you continue to foster relationships and make Ingress a welcoming community within and outside the game.
They are ready to remove the trusted users which are involved in the usage of these tools. In the beginning, Niantic was against scanners, but now, they ignore the small ones that are still in use.
We all expect all the changes to reflect on Pokemon Go, mainly because they share the same database.
It is advisable the people dissociate with the users who use scanners or some other sorts of cheating methods. Niantic said: “We are evaluating all options to protect our users, our game, and our rights and will take further action where appropriate.” Nobody knows what these actions could be, but one thing is for sure, it involves the individuals who are creating these tools.
For the sake of fair gameplay, play safe, play fair and just try to have fun without cheating.
I have been personally affected by a bunch of names on the list. Finally after years of not being able to get a guardian because of relentless cheating. Something is being done!
Niantic has never been against “scanners.” The phone has been called a scanner and it is apart of the storyline. You might want to revise your article to reference ‘scrapers.’ They ‘scrape’ comm, you know, the in-game feed on what is going on. A database could be built from this. Once Pokémon Go launched, Niantic was made painfully aware how easily their apps can be manipulated. Just because people were in a slack hangout does not automatically make them guilty. This guilty till proven innocent is trash.