Questionmark instead of username in Geocaches Hidden Top list

Question

What does a questionmark instead of a username in Geocaches Hidden Top list mean?

Answer 1

Hi - I don't want to sound argumentative - however I think the Question Mark is for a person who has chosen to be anonymous on GC (a new thing that can be done now)  -
I know a cacher who has hidden their statistics in both GC and Project GC and yet their name does appear on top finders / top hiders lists and other lists.
So I believe the '?' in these lists are for those cachers who have chosen to be anonymous
I had seen this on another stats list and noted that there was an anonymous cacher in the top 5 of the world finders list. Same '?' appears

Comments

Yup - I didn't hide my stats on GC but did on PGC (I could hide my stats on GC too but the point here is made) -
it shows that despite hiding my stats I AM NOT showing up with a '?' on the top finders list - I was not anonymous
Unlike the cacher shown as 6th in the world for cache find who is. It seems that that person is someone who exercised their rights under Geocaching HQ's privacy policy and not simply 'hiding' his stats.

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Okay, would you please let your PGC profile 'hidden' for a week or two? Than we will return to the top find list in Kent and see what is showing at#6, after the list is been generated anew.

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No need
Charlton11 on that list (second place, check him out on both sites)  has had his stats hidden, on both GC.com and Project GC, for over 2 years - He has never shown up as anonymous or with a '?' and appears on the lists with his ID
I don't know how to get through that 'Anonymous' ('?') and Hidden stats ARE two different things - I have shown with proof this is the case and yet I am still having to argue the difference
Anonymous - i.e the '?' instead of your ID is not as a result of you hiding your stats
You have asked the question - I have given you the answer, and evidenced this - and yet you are still saying I am wrong

If you knew the answer why ask in the first place ???

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In addition - I have just had it confirmed
On the geocaching site - Any user can say "do not share my information with third party websites."  Someone who exercises that right will show up as a question mark on Project-GC, Cachly or any other third party partner application.  
This is nothing to do with hiding your stats - which is a different operation on the geocaching site
I hope that is now clear and question answered

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thank you, Deepdiggingmole, for solving this mystery. Now it is crisp and clear answered.

Answer 2

It means that that position is taken by a person whose statistics are hidden.

Comments

no, it is not the statistics hidden flag. See comment from Deepdiggingmole below. It is the "do not share my information with third party websites" within GC authorizations, leading to the questionmark.