Niantic has updated its Terms of Service to warn Pokétrainers playing the game from the comfort of their home using bots, cheats, and GPS-spoofing jailbreaks that they will be permanently banned from the app. Here’s how to avoid a ban – and what to do if Niantic has caught you.
Previously, Niantic handed out so-called ‘soft bans’ to players caught hacking the game in their quest to catch ’em all, which amount to being barred for roughly 12 hours.
However, a recent update to the game’s TOS suggests that the company is now looking to crack down further.
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In a new note posted to its support pages, Niantic clearly stipulates that accounts will now be “permanently terminated” for TOS violations:
“Your account was permanently terminated for violations of the Pokémon GO Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software.
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It’s not clear how Niantic intends to clamp down on cheating, though some enterprising Redditors are endeavouring to get deliberately ‘permabanned’ in a bid to uncover the process and see if it’s being carried out at IP level.
To our eye, it looks like the bans are mainly targeting people using bots and emulators, and that users of third-party tracking maps and apps are safe enough.
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Got banned? As well as pleading your case directly to Niantic via the link above, it appears there’s nothing stopping you from creating a new account using a different user name and email address – depending on whether or not IP addresses are being blocked, you may have to use a different device or computer.
Whatever the case, it seems best to exercise caution until more is known about what exactly Niantic is sniffing out.
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Have you been banned from Pokémon Go? How do you think Niantic is cracking down on Pokécheats? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.