Can Admin read all PMs?

[MovieHeretic]

You sound like you have a problem or have been screwed by this mod lol

Something to keep in mind.... every e-mail, every pm, everything you do on the net can be seen by someone. If you live by this rule then you will be much safer in the future. Nothing is safe on the net and the first mistake people make is thinking it is. If you don't want someone reading what you write, then don't write it.

With that said, if the users can't trust the owner or admin of a site, then they should not be members of said forum.

I wouldn't trust any Admin of a site who reads PMs without informing his/her member base, it just looks like paranoia or the Admin being a control freak.

[R1lover]

I wouldn't trust any Admin of a site who reads PMs without informing his/her member base, it just looks like paranoia or the Admin being a control freak.

That's not what I said, your putting words in my mouth...

what I said was very simple.... EVERYTHING can be accessed, e-mail, bank records, pms, instant messages, and on and on....EVERYTHING..... so if your worried about what you type, then don't type it.

[R1lover]

I wouldn't trust any Admin of a site who reads PMs without informing his/her member base, it just looks like paranoia or the Admin being a control freak.

To add to that, 99% of forum members are not on a forum to cause trouble and talk shiat... so this is a non issue unless your forum is a bunch of drama queens. I personally see no reason for any admin to read anything.

[Steve Machol]

Off-topic posts insulting a specific member have been removed. Please don't do this again.

[aussiefooty]

They meant they couldn't because it's not a default vBulletin feature. You can read PMs via the database, or via various vBulletin.org modifications, but it isn't and probably never will be (the legal and ethical minefield here...) a default feature for vBulletin or any other forum software. I'm assuming you don't have such a modification, nor does this site you're mentioning, hence unless they know how to view various fields in a database, they'd say they can't read other people's PMs.

No I don't and I am not going to get it either.
Private Messages are just that. I don't need to know what the others are doing. Anyway if they are having hassles they can report the PM or forward it to me.

[RichM]

This has turned into a silly debate.

When I had a forum, we would pro-actively read messages to:

1. Trace people who were advertising
2. Trace people who were scamming
3. Trace people who were otherwise violating our rules (abuse etc)

As a result, we renamed "Private Messages" to just "Messages" and we informed our users of this.

I think it's up to each board administrator whether or not they read the messages. Imo, nobody should have the right to tell another board admin what to do on their forum, providing they're not breaking the law in the country in which they reside. (And even if they are, it's a case for the authorities, not you!)

[Nick]

This has turned into a silly debate.

When I had a forum, we would pro-actively read messages to:

1. Trace people who were advertising
2. Trace people who were scamming
3. Trace people who were otherwise violating our rules (abuse etc)

As a result, we renamed "Private Messages" to just "Messages" and we informed our users of this.

I think it's up to each board administrator whether or not they read the messages. Imo, nobody should have the right to tell another board admin what to do on their forum, providing they're not breaking the law in the country in which they reside. (And even if they are, it's a case for the authorities, not you!)

I understand your reasoning (to an extent) but 1) why invade your members' privacy while searching for mis-use of the system and 2) why waste your time looking through the messages when you can simply rely on your users to use the "Report PM" function? If they don't like a message, they report it, and you take care of it.

I'm not questioning your procedures and methods, but I'm just curious.

[Dean C]

I understand your reasoning (to an extent) but 1) why invade your members' privacy while searching for mis-use of the system and 2) why waste your time looking through the messages when you can simply rely on your users to use the "Report PM" function? If they don't like a message, they report it, and you take care of it.

I'm not questioning your procedures and methods, but I'm just curious.

In his post he clearly stated he renamed it to messages and let his members know. That's not a breach of anyone's privacy. I post messages to my friends facebook walls and I'm well aware that others can read those messages.

As an example, if for some unbeknown reason I am taken to court, the police can contact MSN who keep a log of all Windows Live conversations and use that as evidence if they need to, even though it should be private.

Every day when you send an SMS on your phone, or an email it is logged by your ISP, and the government has access to this data.

If you want secure, untapped communication use SSL and encryption keys at both ends. Otherwise, assume all your communication can and will be accessed by others.

[Nick]

In his post he clearly stated he renamed it to messages and let his members know. That's not a breach of anyone's privacy. I post messages to my friends facebook walls and I'm well aware that others can read those messages.

As an example, if for some unbeknown reason I am taken to court, the police can contact MSN who keep a log of all Windows Live conversations and use that as evidence if they need to, even though it should be private.

Every day when you send an SMS on your phone, or an email it is logged by your ISP, and the government has access to this data.

If you want secure, untapped communication use SSL and encryption keys at both ends. Otherwise, assume all your communication can and will be accessed by others.

You are missing the whole point of my post, and I get the feeling that you are nitpicking just for the sake of argument.

As I said in my former post, I don't see a reason to go reading through the messages (whether they are meant to be private or not) when they can be reported by concerned members. Why waste that precious time when you can use it to do something more productive?

As an example, if for some unbeknown reason I am taken to court, the police can contact MSN who keep a log of all Windows Live conversations and use that as evidence if they need to, even though it should be private.

Every day when you send an SMS on your phone, or an email it is logged by your ISP, and the government has access to this data.

None of this has anything to do with my post, because I clearly mentioned that I wasn't questioning his breach of members' privacy. My main curiosity was in the field of wasting time and why he prefers to do it.

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And if you really wanted to go at it: Just because you can read members' messages, it doesn't mean you should. Coinciding with your example, I personally don't go through my "friends" pages on Facebook and read their wall posts to see what they are up to, who they are talking with, and what's going on in their life. If it isn't directed at me, I have very little interest in what is being said, unless it's a general status update.

[Dean C]

You are missing the whole point of my post, and I get the feeling that you are nitpicking just for the sake of argument.

As I said in my former post, I don't see a reason to go reading through the messages (whether they are meant to be private or not) when they can be reported by concerned members. Why waste that precious time when you can use it to do something more productive?



None of this has anything to do with my post, because I clearly mentioned that I wasn't questioning his breach of members' privacy. My main curiosity was in the field of wasting time and why he prefers to do it.

-

And if you really wanted to go at it: Just because you can read members' messages, it doesn't mean you should. Coinciding with your example, I personally don't go through my "friends" pages on Facebook and read their wall posts to see what they are up to, who they are talking with, and what's going on in their life. If it isn't directed at me, I have very little interest in what is being said, unless it's a general status update.

Well I must nitpick now You clearly said and I quote:

I understand your reasoning (to an extent) but 1) why invade your members' privacy....

You clearly questioned him invading his members privacy, which is why I replied questioning you

[Nick]

Well I must nitpick now You clearly said and I quote:



You clearly questioned him invading his members privacy, which is why I replied questioning you

And I clearly said:

I'm not questioning your procedures and methods, but I'm just curious.

[Dean C]

And I clearly said:

You can't ask a question and then say afterwards that you're not actually asking that question. That's not even rhetorical, it's just wrong lol

[bigwater]

As has already been said, the question was simply "can it be done". Asked and answered empirically *YES*. It can be done.

Moral? Legal? Ethical? Doesn't really matter as it relates to this thread, so where's that "beating a dead horse" emoticon?

Actually it would be a good topic of discussion, maybe a moderator can split this thread off and we can talk about the why/why not aspects of it.

[comet]

Private messages are... private, you shouldn't read them.

I agree but there are alot of sites that read them and remember nothing is private!

[jtech77]

I have a question!

Due to the nature of my board, it enables people to easily try to collude and exchange information to collude on auction sites and I went into the sql and read some and found this was happening so I disabled it, but I would like to re-enable the PM feature. I have installed the read PM mod but I know that I need to change the name from PRIVATE MESSAGING TO like DIRECT MESSAGING, but can someone direct me to where I have to change this and also tell me how I can edit and which template file to edit to remind everyone that their PMS are not private and can be read and that they consent to this when they send messages. Also how I can change my terms of service.. Im looking into this but Thanks and any help is appreciated!