Can moderators read members' Personal Messages?

[Cristina]

Just curious. 

[Tim_]

Hi Christina
We cannot read PM's unless they are sent to us.

Tim

[Cristina]

Thanks Tim. 

[Tangles (Donna)]

yeah ok and the pope is a catholic

 

[Tim_]

yeah ok and the pope is a catholic

 

I don't know why you should not believe me Donna.
Personal messages are private.
As Moderators we only see a private message if someone copies and pastes it and sends it to us in a message, something usually done only in the case of a complaint.
There is no log of the private messages that we can view as Moderators.


Tim

[Pieman]

"SMF strongly emphasizes individual privacy. For this reason, SMF does not provide an interface to allow anyone (including Administrators) to view other members’ Personal Messages.

This however does not mean it is impossible to do so, but SMF will not provide any kind of support for allowing the viewing of personal messages of others."

 

[Michael]

Hi All

I can assure you we don't have access to PMs as Tim has already stated. If a member decides to "report" a message then then Admins get sent a copy but that's it.

Thanks
Michael

[wendykg]

I recently sent a PM to one member regarding another member's mis-use of a forum....only to have the content of my message reported by the member who was mis-using the forum. So how does that happen

[Tim_]

If you look at the bottom right of a message there is a report to admin link
or they may have copied and pasted it into a message to us.

Tim

[Michael]

The only way that this could happen is if it was sent to the member.. Only the recipient(s) of the message can see the message so it was either sent to them by mistake or it forwarded on by someone else..

[wendykg]

But you don't get that option in a PM....so how can it come about? I was under the impression that a PM was exactly what it said it was, but if truth be told that it can be read by all and sundry, it's a bit of a disaster waiting to happen

[Michael]

Hi

As already explained, Personal Messages can only be read by the recipients of the personal message. When you send a message you have the option to put the recipient name in the To: or BC: boxes. See picture attached.

Only the people in these boxes will receive and will be able to read the message sent.

The only way other members could see it is if the member you sent it to decided to forwarded onto  another member.

It is the same principal as sending an email, only the people you send it to will receive it but that doesn’t stop someone you sent it to forwarding it on or copying it into another message and sending that.

Trying to suggest that "it can be read by all and sundry" is not helpful, it is not “a disaster waiting to happen”  it would appear to be your understanding of the system rather than a fault with the software.

Private Messages are Private, to suggest otherwise is incorrect.

Thanks
Michael

[Joan J]

Why would the moderators want to read PM's?  they get enough stick for trying to moderate the boards - Wendy I would suggest that you are careful what you write in PM's because unfortunately there are some people on here quite happy to stir things up between other members.  It happened to me when I first joined - I was befriended by someone who started sending me PM's saying things about other members then asked me who I thought never liked me etc ............. then all sorts started happening and I went on a paranoid trip.
It is unfair to suggest that the mods go looking at PM's - just be careful who you trust - sad but true
Joan

[hank]

All I can't see why mod's would want to read them and if you were that concerned don't put anything delicate in them.
The other point is most people are under the impression email is not read by anyone else well it's like sending a postcard anyone could have the ability to read it just like this post the only difference is that with PM's and email you either have to recieve it or be monitoring the network to read it.
If you want email to be private then there is more you need to do.

[Fred Hoggin]

Iv'e been reading this thread, but have not commented till now.

I think the mods team have more to control than PMs, i think it's a matter of if you would say it on the phone, send it in an email, or even put it in the a letter. then you have nothing to worry about.

We could all get paranoid about being spied on, Your phone calls, text's, emails, even you IP address is kept on file.

I personally would like to know that it is possible to track down terrorists, pedofiles, etc, The technology is there but for a private message it is as private on this site as it is on your phone, email, etc.

If you are slagging off a member or even the mods team, remember only the person you sent the message to has seen it.

If you are up to something illegal, then don't use your phone, email, letters, or PMs on a forum.

The software on this forum has a language censor built in. if you are still not sure then check out the link at the bottom of the forum. powered by smf, you will find lot's of answers there, and also appreciate how hard it is to run a forum.

This is just my opinion , and i welcome any criticism.

Enjoy Safe and secure PHO.

Fred.

[Joan J]

Well said - Fred - what I was trying to say - but you did it better
Joan

[kat.chloe]

I am sorry, but I had to laugh when I read this thread.  It reminded me of something I had done.

At work a friend send me an email about our mutual boss.  Now she was quite restrained in her evaluation, but me, nope, I went for it.  From memory I used the words ''fat cow with a personality of a toad who doesnt have enough brains to know she is stupid'' or something like that.  To this day I have no idea why I did it, I blame a complete brain failure, but not only did I hit reply to my mate, I somehow managed to cc my boss in.  I realised that after I hit send. 

I reflected on this a lot in the unemployment queue.   

Point to the story?  Dont put something in a PM what you dont want to be made public, the recipient might be an idiot like me and hit that damn send.   

[wendykg]

[
Trying to suggest that "it can be read by all and sundry" is not helpful, it is not “a disaster waiting to happen”  it would appear to be your understanding of the system rather than a fault with the software.

Thanks
Michael

[/quote]

I think you have a valid point there Michael....please accept my apologies

[Pieman]

wendy, take my hat off to you for the apology.

It takes a strong person to know and admit when this is the case..respect to you

even more so..because you are female!..i'm gonna show mrs pie this..maybe she'll learn sommat!
pie  

[wendykg]

Thanks for the support, Pie....must admit it nearly choked me, so only hope Michael reads it

[mustang]

Thanks for the support, Pie....must admit it nearly choked me, so only hope Michael reads it

You could always PM him 

[racheld]

I don't know why people are concerned about people reading PM's when people quite happily splash over facebook when they want to moan about someone or something