Forum policy on private messages

[thewas]

During the current forum incident I was surprised to see private messages being posted publicly, something which in not few other forums can lead to a warning, ban or in some cases even have legal consequences.

Reading the nicely short ASR Terms and rules I didn't find any explicit paragraph on it, but the sentence "Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential." which could be applicable?

I don't want this to become a law discussion but I personally wouldn't want my private messages to be posted publicly.

What are your thought about it?

 

[Mort]

Seems litigious. Don't send anything you don't want to see publicly. This is the Internet.

 

[Esprit]

I don't want this to become a law discussion but I personally wouldn't want my private messages to be posted publicly.

It's more of a legal issue.
Anyway, it was an excerpt and the source was not indicated.

 

[thewas]

It's more of a legal issue.
Anyway, it was an excerpt and the source was not indicated.

Yes, of course it was more a legal or even ethical issue than a political.

The problem is that in this case the source can be easily broken down to 2 from 3 persons (as one of them commented on that thread making it obvious it wasn't him) and if someone knows those members well, even only one.

Also this discussion is more to handle future behaviour, to make sure (or not) that private messages will be posted without deletion from the administration or moderation.

 

[BeeKay]

What are your thought about it?

I would prefer to keep it smooth. If one wants to have their private message not being published why not start the subject with “confidential: …” to indicate this. If not acted accordingly by the receiver it’s at least a character flaw easy to be proven.
Other than that - don’t send sensitive things here.

 

[thewas]

Interesting to see the different mindset, I thought one of the reason sto use private message was well... privacy.

 

[JayGilb]

Interesting to see the different mindset, I thought one of the reason sto use private message was well... privacy.

Privacy does not exist on the internet. I personally would never post a PM, but to each their own.

 

[BeeKay]

One aspect of it, yes. But not necessarily in terms of secrecy. Main benefit is to discuss with other users topics that don’t need to be out there or are of any public interest. If one wants no disclosure at all just mention it in that message trail.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

Two things sum up my position on this.

I recognize that any information in the hands of others might become public.

If someone posts private communication without permission, I will judge them in a very negative way. No matter what the information is, trivial or not. Whether it was my information or someone else's.

 

[Chr1]

Personally I see private messages here or on any forum in the same way as sending an email to someone, or saying something to someone in person.
If you want it to be confidential, you best say so explicitly.

 

[restorer-john]

Assume anything you send as a PM is not private, but judge anyone who discloses or quotes the contents of a private conversation very harshly. The choice to betray was theirs.

In Australia, you give your word, and your word is your oath. Shit you say to your mates, friends, or in private- stays private. If it doesn't, you are dead to me.

Personally, I am disgusted with the way things have played out here in the last day or two.

 

[Mort]

Assume anything you send as a PM is not private, but judge anyone who discloses or quotes the contents of a private conversation very harshly

This seems contradictory. I would only judge someone if I had assumed it wasn't private. They don't betray me if those are the rules. I could be disappointed but not betrayed.

 

[D2013]

From what I have read, unless you have some kind of legally binding agreement they can be shared.

 

[restorer-john]

This seems contradictory. I would only judge someone if I had assumed it wasn't private. They don't betray me if those are the rules. I could be disappointed but not betrayed.

It means: Assume the worst, but hope for the best in people, and come to your own conclusions afterwards.

 

[thewas]

I recognize that any information in the hands of others might become public.

Of course, I think everyone understands that and hopefully acts correspondingly, but that is not the really the issue but how such is officially handled.

In the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation is a very important privacy and human rights law of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which also governs the transfer of personal data outside the EU. Making content public which wasn't intended by its originator so, can be seen as a breach and penalised correspondingly. My knowledge of the US situation is unfortunately zero, but it seems there exists something which has some similarities in California. https://thoropass.com/blog/compliance/gdpr-us-equivalent/ Working as an IT data/content manager its one of the first things someone in the EU faces with, so I must say I am quite surprised by the idea the Internet is still the "wild west" of the early 90s where such regulations didn't exist.

 

[BlackTalon]

I don't have a Private Message option, just "Conversations". So my assumption would be anything exchanged there may not stay private.

Plus I've been on enough forums to know that direct messages get publicized occasionally, particularly when there are disputes.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

I don’t really understand the need to reach for legal arguments. It’s simply almost certainly always the wrong thing to do

 

[wwenze]

Want evidence, get evidence...

 

[D2013]

It’s simply almost certainly always the wrong thing to do

Depends what was said, in the private messages. I've seen people share private messages to prove that the other person was lying about what they had said publicly.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

This seems contradictory.

It's really not, though my wording makes it so that I can see how you take it that way.

Rather say I KNOW that information out of my hands cannot be 100% private with a 100% probability. But it should stay private when dealing with human communication that is not public. And I judge people by their violation of that "should" norm when I find out they have pushed something private into public view.

...you are dead to me.

I get the sentiment, but there's no point keeping an eye on the dead. For those who spill the beans on the other hand....