Protecting Your Personal Data: Understanding Website Privacy Policies

[Devilin]

? Where is your privacy policy ?
There are strict laws governing, the collection and use of personal data, most web sites, have a privacy policy regarding, the storage and or use of such information,

 

[Devilin]

33 people have looked at this post, and yet there is no reply, the question is simple,
Could somebody please explain, why you don't appear to a privacy policy, what you intend to do it
ps And who is GHB Web Design ?
Could somebody resolve this with some haste , Before I take steps, over the obvious concerns I have

 

[chroot]

As far as I know, we have never drafted a privacy policy. We simply have never had any privacy issues. We are not a company, have no business license, and have no interest (or legal right) to make a profit. We are an ad hoc team of unpaid volunteers. We certainly have no interest in violating your privacy, but we simply haven't had the time or inclination to go draft a privacy policy. No offense, but we don't really care if you're upset about it. If you are uncomfortable posting here -- don't. We wouldn't want you to have to take any "steps" (). Bernhardt Media and GHB Web Design are trademarked entity names that Greg Bernhardt, the other site admin, uses for his designs.

Here's a privacy policy, adapted from http://www.vbulletin.nl/community/showthread.php?t=2978 , which we follow. Perhaps we'll make this our privacy policy from now on:

We store your registration details, host address and your posts in our database to have a fully functional web site. We do not store your information to 'spam' you or 'sell' to third party web sites. (And to prevent abuse like banning an Email address or host address)

Each post made gets stored in our database, this includes the host address used on that moment while making that post. Only our staff members are able to 'view' the host address, but their priveledges end with 'view'. They are not allowed to use it against you or share with others. The only person allowed to use the host address against you are the site admins (Greg Bernhardt and chroot). This is done in situations where it is used to search for duplicate users, trace back a user who has been abusive or has been breaking site posting guidelines.

Our memberlist is setup to not show the email addresses. (Users are presented with a email button instead.)

Our email system is setup to not show the email addresses. (Users are presented with a email form. Your details are not listed, and only if you reply to the email they will see your email address in the reply: field).

- Warren

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Yeah we don't have a concrete policy, maybe I will think about making one. But basicly we store your IP and registration information in our database for forum wide uses only, nothing to worry about. Bernhardt Media is my business and even though you see the bar at the top, PF currently remains a personal investment. GHB Web Design, wow how did you find that out, now your scaring me lol, I used GHB Web Design several years ago in my early teens. Anyway it is no longer an entity.

 

[Evo]

GHB Web Design, wow how did you find that out, now your scaring me lol, I used GHB Web Design several years ago in my early teens. Anyway it is no longer an entity.

GHB Web Design is listed as the registrant for physicsforums.com

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Oh I guess I haven't updated that in awhile

 

[Devilin]

We wouldn't want you to have to take any "steps" ().
- Warren

I'm glad you find me amusing, most people do,

Greg Bernhardt,
Its important to keep your whois, registration information current, and accurate, you never know who's going to insist upon a check, with the obvious legal implications, if any of the information is inaccurate

You should seriously consider posting a privacy policy, and doing some legal checks, as soon as possible, there's things you should be aware of regarding storing personally identifiable information, I urge you to do this now

I'd be happy to assist,

Thank you for explaining yourselves,

let me explain myself
The reason for all of this, isn't that I don't like posting here, I enjoy making a fool of myself, especially in subjects, I know very little about
No its all down to spyware, and certain cookies from your rotational banner by burst media, I investigate, things like that, I'm annoyingly persistent and rigorous, about anything to do with Internet security, and privacy, a subject which I'm sternly serious about, which lead me inevitably to both your privacy policy, and the privacy policy of vBulletin, I've already contacted them, about this over sight, being a UK based company, brings into effect, the notorious, 86 data protection act, with Eu updates, businesses need to be so aware these days, don't you think?

Hope you don't mind, me gently trying to Nudge you in the right direction, but as I said, I'm sternly serious about this subject

Have fun Devilin

 

[chroot]

We're not a business, and there's nothing illegal about not keeping your whois information current. Give us a break.

- Warren

 

[russ_watters]

We certainly have no interest in violating your privacy, but we simply haven't had the time or inclination[/Col. Jessup] to go draft a privacy policy. No offense, but we don't really care if you're upset about it. If you are uncomfortable posting here -- don't.

Maybe we could stick that in our TOS...

No offense, Devlin, but you seem a little(unduly) hung up on this issue. Its accounted for roughly half of your posts in this forum, and I rather suspect you've spent more time investigating it than you have browsing/posting our forums.

 

[Hurkyl]

Not necessarily anything wrong with that; privacy is an important issue. The attack dog thing is annoying though...

 

[Kerrie]

devilin, no one cares about your privacy this much...

 

[Devilin]

We're not a business, and there's nothing illegal about not keeping your whois information current. Give us a break.

- Warren

http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac003.htm

I believe you'll find, Network Solutions your sever, has a legal agreement which you must sign, about keeping accurate information, industry standard type stuff, in a dispute about the accuracy of the information, somebody could take steps , and freeze an account they believe is inaccurate

As for not being a business, Warren, you are taking money, even low you may not be profitable, once finances are involved, along with personal identifiable information blar blar blar I'm sure you know the rest


russ_watters Yes I'm very hung up about this subject

Listen, I'm trying to be helpful, again I offer my assistance, in helping you create a privacy agreement, there are certain legal aspects which you should be concerned about, once you start collecting, and storing personal identifiable information, do a quick search, find out about this stuff

Although your more than welcome, to ignore me, the choice is entirely yours, but please take a few minutes to investigate the legal aspects

 

[Devilin]

devilin, no one cares about your privacy this much...

I do, I also care about your privacy, I believe its an important issue,

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Devilin, we appreciate your help and your point has been made.

 

[Evo]

I believe you'll find, Network Solutions your sever, has a legal agreement which you must sign, about keeping accurate information, industry standard type stuff, in a dispute about the accuracy of the information, somebody could take steps , and freeze an account they believe is inaccurate

As long as Greg is reachable, he is ok. Obvioulsy he is reachable through this website.

Network Solutions is just one of a number of domain name registration services. Of course they are the oldest, being the company formed when the Internic was dissolved.

I would bet that greater than 50% of the records are seriously outdated.

Freezing an account does not disconnect the service. (I know I am in the industry and ISP's are my clients) Network Solutions does not check accounts for accuracy. It would probably require no less than a criminal investigation for them to take action.

 

[Devilin]

As long as Greg is reachable, he is ok. Obvioulsy he is reachable through this website.

Network Solutions is just one of a number of domain name registration services. Of course they are the oldest, being the company formed when the Internic was dissolved.

I would bet that greater than 50% of the records are seriously outdated.

Freezing an account does not disconnect the service. (I know I am in the industry and ISP's are my clients) Network Solutions does not check accounts for accuracy. It would probably require no less than a criminal investigation for them to take action.

Hi Evo
I'm not talking about this site, just generally
Outdated records, are a easy target, far more of a harassment tactic than anything else, you contact the sever, the sever is obliged to contact the registered name, Blar blar blar, its an excellent way of getting somebody's attention, but you can close web sites, with less than criminal action, if you know what your doing, its all down to the sever, if the sever believes its in its own best interest, to freeze or suspend a account, it does, simply reading through agreements, pointing out beaches of agreement, can close a site down, if the sever believes its in its own best interest, to do so, its neither easy or fast, but it is possible
Evo Being a industry insider, you should know about, privacy policies and personal identifiable information, why don't you clue these Chaps up?

 

[Evo]

Hi Develin,

The people here are really good people. From the infractions I have witnessed elsewhere, I would think this forum would have very little to worry about. But, I guess you can never be too careful.

but you can close web sites, with less than criminal action, if you know what your doing, its all down to the sever, if the sever believes its in its own best interest, to freeze or suspend a account, it does, simply reading through agreements, pointing out beaches of agreement, can close a site down, if the sever believes its in its own best interest, to do so, its neither easy or fast, but it is possible

True, the "path of least resistance". Easier to take action and ask forgiveness later. I am all too familiar with this approach. However, the potential loss of business lawsuits if it is found that they acted too hastily, usually prevents such harsh measures from being taken without a warrant.

I've had to give testimony in court in dealings with ISP's before.

All of what you said is relevant, but your posts were a bit aggresive, even if they weren't meant that way.

 

[Devilin]

Hi Develin,

I've had to give testimony in court in dealings with ISP's before.

All of what you said is relevant, but your posts were a bit aggresive, even if they weren't meant that way.

My apologies, if I seemed aggressive, I just tend to get into a mind set, on these types of issues, my original post was read by over 30 people, and nobody bothered replying, and I realize I had absolutely no idea, what type of people were running this site, there are rogue forums around, as I'm sure you know yourself, so this instantly put me into a mind set,

Court case? Wasn't a Spamer was it ? , some of them were getting pretty clued up, towards the end, suing for loss of business, unbelievable :surprise:
I was involved in closing down rogue sites, in the early days, hacked empty sites, mostly, when providers were still using preset admin passwords, on F.T.P access, the good old day's, we even used the good old, atg.wa.gov and there like, at times, when credit card were involved, I started getting board low, and moved to investigating software, just before it starting to become messy, people suing for loss of earnings, people suing for infringement of newly created data protection laws, very messy indeed

ps /\ Evo, I'm not sure if you've heard of these guys, European, it might be of some interest http://www2.oecd.org/pwv3/

 

[chroot]

1) We have roughly 6000 unique visitors every day. 30 views is not very many at all. You got responses from both administrators within a day. I'd really be happy if my cable company could respond as quickly.

2) We're not a "rogue forum," whatever the hell that is. We try to provide a good service to our users, and we enjoy providing that service. Please stop persecuting us.

3) Why on Earth would you want to attempt to close our site anyway? Furthermore, why are you even harrassing us? You seem to have a history of going around to different websites and harrassing them for no reason. Perhaps it's just a fun game to you? If this is going to be your only contribution to our community, we honestly don't want your membership.

4) You are free to use PF without providing any sort of personal information. If you choose to register to post, you are required to provide an email address, which is kept confidential and not abused in any way. You don't have to tell us anything at all else about yourself. We're not keeping credit card numbers, legal names, or anything else like that.

5) I should clear this up -- we don't accept any money. We are not an ecommerce site. People donate money to us via paypal, and it is paypal that holds personal information relevant to such financial transactions, not us.

- Warren

 

[Devilin]

chroot, I'm not trying to close you down, I believe you may have misunderstood the post above , where I was explaining to Evo, about my History,

Remember several years ago, before Spam filtering by network providers, when some people were receiving hundreds of Spam email's daily, I was involved, with many other people, in trying to slow down, or stop this abuse, spammer's, and virus writers, and other nasty individuals, often hacked web sites, for there purposes, or website were created, that were non secure, designed to take credit card details, from vulnerable people, I with many others, helped to close these sites down,? Ever received a Spam email offering cheaper Norton products ? , if you followed the link, it would have led you to a non secure website, trying to take your credit card details, if I received that email, or if you'd reported the email to me, I would have investigated, and then reported it to Norton, which has a very good report abuse interface, the attorney general, and the sever,

Its what I used to do, trying to protect the vulnerable, because its the decent thing to do,

Abuse still happens, vulnerable people are still exploited,

Now I'm not trying to close you down, or trying to harrass you, I believe you offer a decent and valuable service, and I congratulate you upon the excellent website that you run, secure pay pal and all that, , and I admire the excellent community you have created, and appreciate the time and effort, and financial burden, that goes into this site,

But could you also appreciate, that there are sites, that are designed purely for the exportation of the vulnerable,
And from my point of view I received a spyware warning, while on your site, so I investigated, I didn't set out to receive a spyware warning, neither did I intend investigating, your site, upon arrival, it just happened,

Personally I'd suggest closing this thread. to avoid any further misunderstanding,

And if you prefer I'd not post here in the future, that's your provocative

I'm sorry if there was an earlier misunderstanding, and I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you, but try to see this from both points of view,

Have fun Devilin

 

[Kerrie]

I do, I also care about your privacy, I believe its an important issue,

here's a thought, people who visit the internet have a choice to do so, if one is so concerned about their privacy, then i suggest they not have internet or phone service...

 

[Devilin]

Hi Kerrie
Privacy, you can't mention the word without considering its association with freedom, I and many other people, believe that you me and everybody has a basic human right to freedom, freedom to surf the web, and communicate with other people, without restrictions, by anyone,

Your basic human rights to freedom, are considered important,

The Internet is A brave new world, a way of communicating freely with others, although not everybody agrees with this, and some people wish to restrict, or observe what you do,

you could say, I have no problem with anybody observing what I do, I have nothing to hide, yet you probably don't have, government, or privately owned, cameras inside your home observing your movements,

You may not have a problem, with visiting a web site, and having your operating system altered, by Code in that website, or a additional dialer or toolbar added,

And you may not have a problem, with people deciding what you should see, on the net, i.e. you type in physics, but your redirected to something else

You may not have a problem with any of this, but I, and lots of people like me do,

People considered it so important, they spend their time, writing programs for you to use freely, without cost, to protect your freedom, because they consider it important

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/index.html

http://grc.com/default.htm

http://onlineprivacy.com/

Have fun

 

[Kerrie]

no, i don't have a problem with it, if i did, i would probably standing on my soap box like yourself and hiding in my home all day...taking risks in life is ok.

 

[Monique]

Standing up for a cause makes this world a better place. His point was made, let's move on.

Side note, the last few days I've been fixing up my dad's computer (which he inherited some time ago from an acquaintance).. it's infested with spyware, adware, registry keys, tracking cookies, etc etc.. ohthefun.. the same with spam everyone gets in their mail. It's good for people to know, who sign up to this site, that their email address is safe at PF.