[Other-Other] Private Messages?

[jeff...]

How Private are Private Messages?

 

[DaveO]

Private enough, I think that there is a possiblity that high level admins can view them if they really dig deep, but that ain't gonna happen.
You plannin' a bombin' or something:icon_scra:icon_scra:icon_scra

Dave

 

[MikeL]

HA!

:new_blowi

 

[McRabbet]

I have full Admin privledges and do not have access to the content of PM's. I think they are fully private.

 

[TracyP]

I don't mean to be condescending but if I had something to say to a member that was so critically private, I would have to weigh the options of posting in an internet forum or making a telephone call or a face to face meeting. Just my tcw.

 

[SteveColes]

There is no easy way for anyone to see the contents of PM, BUT it can be done. I can do it and so can anyone who has direct database access. There are currently 4 of us. I have never looked at the contents of a PM.

If I were ever find out that anyone, member or staff, abused the implicit trust of PMs, I would ban them from the site, no matter who it was.

So the decision as to trust the security of PMs come down to an individual preference. For instance, I would put a lot of my personal info in a PM, but SS#, CC numbers, NO.

All that being said, this site is very secure and and this latest release of vBulletin has made it more so.

 

[jeff...]

Wasn't thinking of anything malicious, I don't know how we got on that topic? I guess good common sense prevails here in regards to personal information - Thanks Steve...

 

[SteveColes]

Wasn't thinking of anything malicious, I don't know how we got on that topic? I guess good common sense prevails here in regards to personal information - Thanks Steve...

I had posted about this before, and this gave me a good opportunity to restate it.

Your question is a very good question and it deserved the most correct answer I give it.

To be honest, I would love PMs to more secure than they are. But the overhead entailed would be bad for the rest of the site's performance.

One of the most popular mods available for vBulletin is one that allows staff to read all OMs very easily. That will never be installed here. Another very popular mod is one that allows selected to staff to sign on as another member. While that would make debugging some things much easier, it would also allow us the easily read PMs, so that too will never be installed.

BTW, no one should ever feel that questions like that should not be asked. These are important questions and should be answered by us.