It has come to my attention that someone has acquired an email address that was not given to them by the owner.
First, I would ask that if you have obtained personal information from a member, that you would refrain from sharing it with others without express permission from the owner of said information.
Second, keep in mind this is the internet, not a church or a club in your local neighborhood. This makes it very difficult to screen out all persons who might be a potential threat to your privacy or your safety.
The administrators have gone to every extreme to protect your privacy to best of the abilities of the software available to the forum; however, this is never full proof. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security just because the administrators are looking out for you. There are ways around the security. None of the systems we have installed are full proof. And then you must consider, once you have trusted the wrong person, your information is no longer private and no security measures at that point could be taken by administration to reverse that.
Having said all this, here are some suggestions to maximize your privacy in the forum.
Please be cautious when sharing information with others. If you are uncertain of sharing your email address with others, create a new internet email address for such purposes such as yahoo, hotmail or gmail and use this address for sharing. When deciding to meet in person, be very cautious of giving out your home address and phone number. This is not to say, you should never share it, but be aware that risks always exist in such situations.
The intent of this post is not to scare you, but to keep you on your toes. There are risks and dangers everywhere you go and the internet is no exception. The internet just brings the world closer to your door.
Be smart and be safe.
~healthybratt
(Read 444 times)
[1] 
