Admins who read members private messages
- Thread starter D
- Start date
I think if the Admin has a good reason to be looking at your PM's then i think that's ok. For example if there has been suspicious activity going on or there is a threat that has become known. Also i guess it's important for your safety. But if the Admin then confronts you about a conversation your having then i find that that is rude and invasive. Admins should respect the privacy of their community and should only intervene when necessary.
nolvorite said:
He'd probably get REALLY bored reading mine 😛
Only time I would ever consider looking into it was if I had very good reason to believe someone was doing something illegal through them {and I don't just mean downloads} and other methods {telling others involved to report the PMs etc.} were for some reason not enough.
My objective then would just be to wipe anything illegal off the board. Certainly not publish it.
I don't find this a solid practice and have never, nor will ever do it on any of my forums.
I think the only reason that I could agree with something like this is if there are reports of some type of scam or abuse that is being done via PMs. It would than be my responsibility as an admin to try and stop whatever is happening, I would never infringe on private conversations if I didn't feel as if it was a threat to my forum or my members.
I think the only reason that I could agree with something like this is if there are reports of some type of scam or abuse that is being done via PMs. It would than be my responsibility as an admin to try and stop whatever is happening, I would never infringe on private conversations if I didn't feel as if it was a threat to my forum or my members.
I think its wrong for any administrators to breach a privacy policy and read member's PMs. If it was an online game, then I'd say read member's PMs, but an online community? Come on now. That's ridiculous. That's why you watch what you say over some people's forums because you don't know if they're logging their Pms and watching them. 😛ShadyX said:
For the longest time now I've never called PM's "private messages", I always call them "Personal Messages" because in fact they aren't really private. As Fowler pointed out there are many ways that admins can read those messages. (Don't forget that the recipient may decide to share the message.)
I'm going to extend this even further, when you're on the internet you never really have any privacy and you should never make the assumption that you do. Everything you say is saved somewhere, somehow and can thusly be accessed. Whether you're on a forum, blog, email, instant messenger or whatever, it's all the same because the information is stored. So the only way to ensure you want something to remain private is never put it on the internet. There is no other alternative.
Now, what the admin in that particular situation was distasteful yes, but not illegal. I'd also imagine that merely by having that mod installed, somewhere on their forum is a message saying that all PMs are logged and can be read. (Probably under/above the message window.)
Personally, I'm not too bothered by the admins reading personal messages if it prevents spam being sent to me or it it gets rid of a troublesome user. I don't use PMs to send sensitive information.
Speaking as an admin, having the option of this mod can be useful at times though. Especially in the case of people who like to PM advertise or harass members.
I'm going to extend this even further, when you're on the internet you never really have any privacy and you should never make the assumption that you do. Everything you say is saved somewhere, somehow and can thusly be accessed. Whether you're on a forum, blog, email, instant messenger or whatever, it's all the same because the information is stored. So the only way to ensure you want something to remain private is never put it on the internet. There is no other alternative.
Now, what the admin in that particular situation was distasteful yes, but not illegal. I'd also imagine that merely by having that mod installed, somewhere on their forum is a message saying that all PMs are logged and can be read. (Probably under/above the message window.)
Personally, I'm not too bothered by the admins reading personal messages if it prevents spam being sent to me or it it gets rid of a troublesome user. I don't use PMs to send sensitive information.
Speaking as an admin, having the option of this mod can be useful at times though. Especially in the case of people who like to PM advertise or harass members.
D
Deleted member 9315
I wouldn't have the addon installed at all, as your kind of invading their privacy.
Poopy Head
Seasoned Veteran
If an Administrator does that, that's fine. It's their way they treat their forum; just don't join a forum if the Administrator is some sort of immature mean guy who does stuff like that. Of all my time on forums, I didn't even bother using the PM system that much but on some forums users sometimes, but very rarely, use it to pester you. Hasn't happened to me, but I believe it is the truth.
Like VirusZero said, nothing is really private on the internet, so don't discuss anything you wouldn't like somebody else to know via PM. I think this is only necessary in a report; but that's still a false thing to do because you can see the report when users report it. It's the Admin's right to their forum and they have the add-on, but in my opinion it's not the brightest thing to do when the Admins abuse that. I hate it when the Administrators abuse their powers; especially the owners because the owner can instantly read all your private messages and send them everywhere, because they have all rights to do anything they want on their forum, unless a user reports it only for breaching the terms of use of any forum software. I don't have the add-on installed myself because I have no interest in wasting my time breaching everybody's privacy. First of all, I'm nice and let the users discuss via PM whatever they want as long as they are following the rules. Second of all, I don't like to waste my time doing something like that. I couldn't stand myself if I did something like that. Just make sure you discuss things that you could tell everybody else until you fully trust the Administrator of not reading your private messages.
I understand what the Administrator did wrong, and nobody even used a report. They wouldn't have anyway, you did nothing that went against the Admin's wishes from the sound of it. Report the Administrator who did something somewhere, or anywhere were somebody could do something about it. That's what I'd do. If the Administrator who did it wasn't the owner, maybe you could simply report him to another Administrator and they could do something about it.
Like VirusZero said, nothing is really private on the internet, so don't discuss anything you wouldn't like somebody else to know via PM. I think this is only necessary in a report; but that's still a false thing to do because you can see the report when users report it. It's the Admin's right to their forum and they have the add-on, but in my opinion it's not the brightest thing to do when the Admins abuse that. I hate it when the Administrators abuse their powers; especially the owners because the owner can instantly read all your private messages and send them everywhere, because they have all rights to do anything they want on their forum, unless a user reports it only for breaching the terms of use of any forum software. I don't have the add-on installed myself because I have no interest in wasting my time breaching everybody's privacy. First of all, I'm nice and let the users discuss via PM whatever they want as long as they are following the rules. Second of all, I don't like to waste my time doing something like that. I couldn't stand myself if I did something like that. Just make sure you discuss things that you could tell everybody else until you fully trust the Administrator of not reading your private messages.
I understand what the Administrator did wrong, and nobody even used a report. They wouldn't have anyway, you did nothing that went against the Admin's wishes from the sound of it. Report the Administrator who did something somewhere, or anywhere were somebody could do something about it. That's what I'd do. If the Administrator who did it wasn't the owner, maybe you could simply report him to another Administrator and they could do something about it.
They shouldn't do it- I have a suspicion that TAZ reads pm's. If there has been a reported post and you read the wrong pm in the database when searching for it, make NO mention of the Pm- even if they're angry at you.
Affiliates
