Are Private Messages Really Private?

[TheGLForum]

There has been a lot of discussion recently about "Private" Messages (PMs) on forums such as TheGLForum.com. Some members have asked if they are truly private, or, can admins and moderators read and/or even modify a PM content.

Basically, all of the information on a forum is stored in a database. As such, there are tools available to allow the owner's of the site to access that data. So, technically speaking, it is possible for someone with access and technical knowledge to read a PM and potentially even modify a PM.

Some members have claimed that their PMs on other forums have been "hacked" or their privacy violated by forum admins or moderators. To be clear, we are not claiming that this has happened on any other forum. We would have no way of knowing.

Therefore, the real question should be "WILL private messages be read and/or modified by an admin or moderator?"

OUR POLICY ON PRIVATE MESSAGES

Your personal private messages are of no interest to TheGLForum.com. We have no intention of reading or modifying anyone's private messages. In fact, at this time, we don't even have the technical ability to do so.

While we do have guidelines and rules about posting on the public forums (language, personal attacks, insults, commercial posts, etc.), we do not have any such rules when it comes to private messages.

If you want to mention another forum in a PM, go ahead. We figure many enthusiasts belong to more than one forum anyway, so who cares? We want to make this forum so good that you don't want to go anywhere else.

The only time we would consider intervening in a PM situation would be if we had multiple complaints about a member sending SPAM messages to members. Even that would not cause us to read or modify the PM, only take some disciplinary action against the SPAMMER.

The bottom line

YOUR PRIVATE MESSAGES WILL REMAIN PRIVATE ON THEGLFORUM.COM

[Biker John]

Thanks, that's good to know.

[crabbywinger]

Good on you guys. This place is WAY better than the other one.

Crabby Bob

[Riverdawg]

Thank You!

[jmohme]

I have always maintained that there is nothing that is private on the internet. There are always ways to hack into anything if a person really wants to.
It is however good to see that the people that run this site have ethics about them.
Thanks

[wingleader09]

A good rule of thumb to follow is to never post anything on the Internet that you wouldn't want to read in the newspaper the next morning. That includes PMs, emails, forums and social networking sites. I have told my almost teen-age Grand Kids that anything they put on the Internet will be there forever and will follow them for the rest of their lives.

[TheGLForum]

A good rule of thumb to follow is to never post anything on the Internet that you wouldn't want to read in the newspaper the next morning. That includes PMs, emails, forums and social networking sites. I have told my almost teen-age Grand Kids that anything they put on the Internet will be there forever and will follow them for the rest of their lives.

Good advice.