Are PM's Really Private?

[LvsTnk]

I saw a post where someone had cut and pasted someone's private message. I have a personal friend here on the DIS and sometimes we PM each other about our kids with special needs if we can't reach each other(we ALWAYS DIS LOL). I would be mortified if someone read a PM they didn't understand.

Anyone know or did I post this on the wrong board?

 

[SuiteDisney]

I used to post on a different site where I later found out that the PMs were "monitored for appropriate content." The person who owned the site would read everyone's PMs. So now I don't put anything too private in my PMs, but I really don't think they're read here.

 

[Bob O]

Nothing on the internet is private!!!! Anything can be looked at by people who are computer savvy and i always assumed the people who run the site have access to our PM's.

 

[JasonLyons]

if they need a reader of p/ms here, i volunteer

 

[Michelle]

They are certainly private in that they can only be read by the person who receives them. What a person does with the PM once it is sent to them is another story and no one can really control that.

 

[Lars624]

What a nice offer Jason.......are you always this willing to help? LOL

 

[janette]

Although they probably are not being read by anyone other than they were intended I wouldn't consider them completely private. Kind of like work e-mail. Most employers don't bother monitering it but they have the right. Since the PM's are part of the site the webmasters probably have the right to access them. I know that chat is logged and they can go back to research a problem if it is reported.

I'd agree that it's best not to consider anything on the internet completely private.

 

[LvsTnk]

I'm convinced......wish I never learned about that PM thing LOL!

 

[EROS]

I've never felt that PMs here were truly private. It goes without saying that the owner and his tech assistants certainly have access to PMs if they choose to inspect them. I have sent a risque note or two by PM; if PETE has enjoyed them, more power to him ........

 

[LvsTnk]

I definately don't want to get into the moderator- Pete thing. Even though I have issues sometimes I will surely keep that to myself. I think the PM that was cut and pasted was one of yours EROS...got me to thinking about my own PM's.

 

[EROS]

LvsTnk, I can't speak for anyone else here, but I have a personal policy about PMs. I would NEVER cut and paste ANY PM which has been sent to me. It's a question of maintaining the confidentiality and propriety of that communication. However, I have cut and pasted PMs of my OWN creation after eliminating the identity of the member to whom they were sent ........

 

[LvsTnk]

No, sorry it was the other way around someone had cut and pasted a PM you sent to them.

Sorry again I will just leave it at that don't want to start a fuss, I was just a little naive about the internet privacy thing.

 

[browneyes]

Originally posted by EROS
However, I have cut and pasted PMs of my OWN creation after eliminating the identity of the member to whom they were sent ........

Note to self: do not pm EROS any pics of Marilyn Monroe or coconuts.

 

[EROS]

Lvstnk, my dear grandmother, rest her soul, had an old saying:

WHATEVER YOU WRITE MAY BECOME PUBLIC!!!!

She died before the Internet was so widely available,but her words have as much relevance for PMs and E-Mail as they do for old love letters......

 

[LvsTnk]

Wow, was your grandmother a wise person!

 

[Crissup]

As a network administrator, people are always wondering if we read their email. Naturally, we could if we chose to, however, ethics prevents most admins from doing so. Most professional administrators know that it is the kiss of death. Once an admin loses their ethics, they're through.

In addition, do you really think the DIS webmasters have nothing better to do than sit around reading people's PMs?

 

[Serena]

Nothing to add, just wanted to say Hi Crissup!

 

[LucyStorm]

Evidently not. I recently had the contents of a private message that I sent to someone posted on the board. Even though my identity was concealed, I cannot begin to tell you how much I did not appreciate the conversation being made public. The whole purpose of private messaging, or so I thought, was so that you could have a conversation with another without it being brought to light before the rest of the community. Was it embarassing? No. But since I had respected that person enough to send my thoughts privately, I would have appreciated the same respect.

 

[EROS]

Crissup, I'm not implying that Network Administrators spend their days going through PMs to find titillating material . I just wanted to point that the "Private" Message is a misnomer. I'm sure that PMs are used on the DIS for CYBERSEX ; no harm, no foul between consenting adults............but members should be aware that such communication is NOT legally protected from inspection .........

 

[catsrule]

Did you get my PM, Jason?