Hunar
04-06-09, 12:46 AM
Didn't notice this thread before for some reason, but I have moved it to a safe area, for a very good reason.
This is an open public forum, and as such ANYONE can view it, and people are posting personal details such as phone numbers, there are some very odd people surfing the net (not just Karlr6!), and while I hate to be an old fuddy duddy about it, I really don't want WB members, or anyone for that matter, getting odd phone calls.
Some people may scoff at this, but let me give you an example, I can take anyone of these numbers and enter it into marketing websites, who will then add your number to cold call companies. This isn't paranoia, a fresh list of numbers is worth a fair amount of cash, and there are 'bots' that trawl the net scanning websites and forums for personal information, you have no control over where this information goes, or what they use it for.
Identity theft is also a real concern here as well, so I thought it best to err on the side of caution and move the post. If you want people to know you phone number or anything else, then send it via a PM or email, it's much safer.
Someone mentioned having a 'private' area for members only, there are 2 problems with this....
1. this has always been an open forum, and I believe Dabz has said before that he has no wish to change that, the only private area is the admin section, which we use to discuss upcomming events, forum changes, ideas to increase active members and of course how someone with a sat nav can get a ride out lost each and every time!
2. this will not solve the problem, if someone is trawling websites, they only have to register as a member and they can see it anyway, yes we do have security in place to stop the 'bots' but we have seen them find ways around these in the past. So they have to change the security stuff around a bit from time to time, when a bot finds a way around it.
Again I apologise if I seem like a killjoy or something, but having worked in IT for numerous years, and being in charge of network security for a business management college in Oxford Uni, you soon realise the benefits of being over cautious at times. There are some posts that include the persons real name, telephone number, email address and their avatar is a photo of themselves, I wouldn't like to start explaining the amount of trouble that can cause them.
The original thread has been moved to the admin area for discussion, to see if we can find a solution that is safe and suits everyone. Please feel free to add any ideas you have to this thread.
Kind regards
Hunar
This is an open public forum, and as such ANYONE can view it, and people are posting personal details such as phone numbers, there are some very odd people surfing the net (not just Karlr6!), and while I hate to be an old fuddy duddy about it, I really don't want WB members, or anyone for that matter, getting odd phone calls.
Some people may scoff at this, but let me give you an example, I can take anyone of these numbers and enter it into marketing websites, who will then add your number to cold call companies. This isn't paranoia, a fresh list of numbers is worth a fair amount of cash, and there are 'bots' that trawl the net scanning websites and forums for personal information, you have no control over where this information goes, or what they use it for.
Identity theft is also a real concern here as well, so I thought it best to err on the side of caution and move the post. If you want people to know you phone number or anything else, then send it via a PM or email, it's much safer.
Someone mentioned having a 'private' area for members only, there are 2 problems with this....
1. this has always been an open forum, and I believe Dabz has said before that he has no wish to change that, the only private area is the admin section, which we use to discuss upcomming events, forum changes, ideas to increase active members and of course how someone with a sat nav can get a ride out lost each and every time!
2. this will not solve the problem, if someone is trawling websites, they only have to register as a member and they can see it anyway, yes we do have security in place to stop the 'bots' but we have seen them find ways around these in the past. So they have to change the security stuff around a bit from time to time, when a bot finds a way around it.
Again I apologise if I seem like a killjoy or something, but having worked in IT for numerous years, and being in charge of network security for a business management college in Oxford Uni, you soon realise the benefits of being over cautious at times. There are some posts that include the persons real name, telephone number, email address and their avatar is a photo of themselves, I wouldn't like to start explaining the amount of trouble that can cause them.
The original thread has been moved to the admin area for discussion, to see if we can find a solution that is safe and suits everyone. Please feel free to add any ideas you have to this thread.
Kind regards
Hunar