Recently there is a user gave an ID of my observation. When I clicked his/her profile, the user stated that he/she is a collector in the biography. Can I block this user in iNat? Thank you.
If you’re absolutely sure it’s the right thing to do, open your profile settings, there choose contacts, scroll down and there’ll be an option, but remember it’s 3 people max.
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or ask help at iNaturalist.
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I’m confused about why you want to block them?
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the concern is that by “collecting”, they’re poaching specimens of rare/endangered organisms. there might, ofc, be some misunderstanding.
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Does blocking a person stop them from seeing the blocker’s observations or just from commenting on or identifying them?
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It stops the blocked user from seeing the blocker’s observations, as well as messaging or following them.
I assume it also utilises the mute function which just removes any notifications from the blocked user.
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Thank you for answering. I speak the same language with that user, I don’t think there is any room for misunderstanding 
I found that blocking people cannot stop them from viewing my observations, so I changed all my locations of less mobile organisms into obscured for now
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Blocking people cannot stop them from viewing observations if they’re not logged in (and perhaps also using a different IP address). The web interface allows unregistered visitors to explore observations and filter by user-name.
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Why do you want to block a collector (of insects, presumably)? Just because they are a collector? This seems a bit petty, honestly, as you are blocking a person solely based on the fact that they collect. This person could be useful to you in the future.
In addition, why would you stop someone from even knowing your ID, the specific location, or whatnot of your obs? Just because they collect?
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Closing as the question has been answered and the forum is not a place to discuss specific issues with other users.
Note, iNaturalist blocking guidelines are as follows:
Blocking someone prevents them from messaging you, commenting on your observations, identifying your observations, and otherwise interacting with you on iNaturalist. It also removes their observations from your search results and removes your observations from their search results. However, it does not make you invisible to them. They can still find your observations and view your profile, they just can’t interact with you.
Blocking is for situations where you just can’t get along with someone and they won’t leave you alone, despite your best efforts to settle disputes in a civilized manner. It is not a way to hide from people, to prevent identifications from people whose opinions you don’t trust, or to opt out of the community ID (there’s another setting for that). Thus, blocking works both ways: if you block someone, they can’t interact with you, but you also can’t interact with them. If you misuse it to prevent someone from identifying your observations, you also prevent yourself from identifying their observations.
You can only block three people. We think this is a reasonable number that accommodates the people who need blocking while preventing abuse of blocking. If you feel you need to block more people, please contact us.
If someone is harassing or stalking you on iNaturalist, please let us know. If this represents a violation of our Terms of Service or represents other behavior we deem inappropriate for our site, we will investigate.