Email address?

wanderingbadger44 said:🙏

If we go by that logic, then George Orwell is nothing more than a complete amateur.

Are you suggesting the entire purpose of being banned is to shut down all contact, even outside of this forum?

Does your oversight extend into our real lives too? : plašljivosvrtprekoramena:

Yes, dear forum user, the point of a ban is to stop you from interacting with other members for the duration of the penalty. If you choose to communicate privately with users through other means without creating clone accounts, that is your business.
A ban is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. It prevents you from communicating with the community here. There is nothing to debate; it is simply a fact.

melloworca6 said:Joshua Jones13, how should I know? 🤷

First off, I haven't been talking down to anyone in this thread, especially not to you.

Second, where exactly did I say you guys were talking trash? I said you trashed the thread, and I was being literal—I meant all that bickering on the previous pages where everyone is just taking shots at each other.

Do you honestly think all this fighting is going to achieve anything besides getting the thread locked? 🤷

Well, you actually asked how to find out. I mean, does it even matter what people say when they claim to know a regular forum user and know whether she actually handed over her private info or not? Probably not.

Brenda Cook4 said:What is definitely against the rules is posting someone else's email. We can look at this situation like this: if you open up your control panel and go to 'edit profile,' you'll see right away that your email and password aren't even in the fields marked as 'publicly visible to all users.' Instead, we have slots for ICQ, MSN, Skype, and so on. It's pretty clear the system wasn't designed to have users display an email address directly in their profiles since those options don't exist. So, there’s really no point in putting it in your posts. That's the logic behind why the email was deleted—it's not necessarily a direct ban in the rulebook, but rather a byproduct of how things are set up.

Thanks. It's truly refreshing to see such a well-meaning and polite response.

However, the conclusion you're drawing feels a bit ambiguous to me, to say the least.

Think of it this way: the profile settings don't ask for or show details like your marital status or how many children you have. Following that exact same line of reasoning, one could argue that none of that personal information should ever be mentioned anywhere in a discussion thread.🤷

So, let me get this straight: if I leave an email address that’s literally just my username, the post gets nuked because they suspect I'm leaking someone else's private info? 🤣 I am honestly speechless.

Joshua Jones13 I don't own forum.org, so I’m not the one calling the shots on the rules here. If things go south and someone decides to file a lawsuit over some bullshit, that’s on the owner, not me.

Look, I can agree or disagree with a rule all I want, but at the end of the day, it's my job to enforce it.

Paul Green31 said:Here we go again...

They find some supposed "illogicality" and suddenly everyone wants to start a revolution.

Look, I’m on about 50 different international forums. I’m active on 20 of them, and at least two are way bigger and more professional than this place.

On every single one of those forums, posting email addresses is strictly forbidden. On most of them, you can't even type one in if you tried.

It’s the same story everywhere you go online—chat services, web platforms, you name it. They don't let you drop an email address.

Maybe the younger crowd doesn't see the point, but site admins and system devs know exactly why they do it. And the older generation? We're used to these rules. We lived on the internet long before Facebook opened up your living rooms to the entire world—back before webcams could be linked to some interface just so someone can watch you peel a potato for lunch.

So, quit the rebellion. Email addresses are banned on forums. Period. Stop trying to make it a whole thing. If you actually want to understand why, go educate yourselves.

I have nothing further to add here. 🙂

An email address constitutes personal information. Since we lack a robust user identification system—unlike the rudimentary methods used back in the BBS era, where a sysop would at least know a user's handle for authorization purposes—we have no way of verifying that person XY is actually the individual who chose to make their email public. Therefore, email addresses are not posted. Websites, blogs, and similar platforms are inherently public. Similarly, handles for Skype, ICQ, and other services are public; they can be easily retrieved through service searches.

The only exception might be business addresses such as: "Contact that firm at reklamacije@example.com", but even then, personal addresses like ante.antic@example.com are off-limits.

If anyone finds this unacceptable, they are under no obligation to post on this Forum. Most other communities operate under the exact same rules.

Here we go again...

They find some supposed "illogicality" and suddenly everyone wants to start a revolution.

Look, I’m on about 50 different international forums. I’m active on 20 of them, and at least two are way bigger and more professional than this place.

On every single one of those forums, posting email addresses is strictly forbidden. On most of them, you can't even type one in if you tried.

It’s the same story everywhere you go online—chat services, web platforms, you name it. They don't let you drop an email address.

Maybe the younger crowd doesn't see the point, but site admins and system devs know exactly why they do it. And the older generation? We're used to these rules. We lived on the internet long before Facebook opened up your living rooms to the entire world—back before webcams could be linked to some interface just so someone can watch you peel a potato for lunch.

So, quit the rebellion. Email addresses are banned on forums. Period. Stop trying to make it a whole thing. If you actually want to understand why, go educate yourselves.

What’s actually the difference between just dropping an email address versus posting a link to your Skype?

feralpilot6 said:What’s actually the difference between just dropping an email address versus posting a link to your Skype?

It’s right there in plain English. Maybe take a second to actually read the links to the regulation laws governing this stuff...

Skype isn't legally considered personal data, but an email address definitely is. That's the bottom line.
If a forum allows people to post email addresses, they're breaking the law. Every single website out there has legal obligations regarding personal data, just like anyone else.

That's why any site collecting private info has to have a "Privacy Act" statement and actually follow it. If they don't, handing over user data to third parties is a total violation of the law—and they'd get sued for it, quite successfully too.

And that's just one reason. There are plenty more where that came from...

For instance, how is an admin or a mod even supposed to verify that a user actually owns the address they provided?

Paul Green31 said:It’s right there in plain English. Maybe take a second to actually read the links to the regulation laws governing this stuff...

Skype isn't legally considered personal data, but an email address definitely is. That's the bottom line.
If a forum allows people to post email addresses, they're breaking the law. Every single website out there has legal obligations regarding personal data, just like anyone else.

That's why any site collecting private info has to have a "Privacy Act" statement and actually follow it. If they don't, handing over user data to third parties is a total violation of the law—and they'd get sued for it, quite successfully too.

And that's just one reason. There are plenty more where that came from...

For instance, how is an admin or a mod even supposed to verify that a user actually owns the address they provided?

Am I allowed to list it in my profile?

Or am I not?

If all the moderators can see my (unlisted) email address, what kind of protection does that actually provide?

What is truly more private than my forum handle, if my actual email is hrilium@something.com?

Are you suggesting this is yet another instance where the regulation law is being ignored on this forum?

Anthony Collins4 said:Am I allowed to list it in my profile?

Or am I not?

If all the moderators can see my (unlisted) email address, what kind of protection does that actually provide?

What is truly more private than my forum handle, if my actual email is hrilium@something.com?

Are you suggesting this is yet another instance where the regulation law is being ignored on this forum?

Everything you need to know is right there in the link I sent you. Just go find a decent lawyer and let them break it all down for you... 🙂

Paul Green31 said:It’s right there in plain English. Maybe take a second to actually read the links to the regulation laws governing this stuff...

Skype isn't legally considered personal data, but an email address definitely is. That's the bottom line.
If a forum allows people to post email addresses, they're breaking the law. Every single website out there has legal obligations regarding personal data, just like anyone else.

That's why any site collecting private info has to have a "Privacy Act" statement and actually follow it. If they don't, handing over user data to third parties is a total violation of the law—and they'd get sued for it, quite successfully too.

And that's just one reason. There are plenty more where that came from...

For instance, how is an admin or a mod even supposed to verify that a user actually owns the address they provided?

But why would they even need to check that?

They’ll handle the verification the exact same way they check if someone posted a picture of themselves.

Unless you're trying to argue that posting an email address like ljubicica@neki.com is somehow more sensitive information than uploading a personal photo.

Paul Green31 As specified by:
Everything you need to know is right there in the link I sent you. Honestly, I think your best bet would be to find a decent lawyer who can sit down and actually walk you through the legalities of it all. Maybe they can make sense of it for you. 🙂

I’m more interested in the current vibe here on the forum, rather than any legalistic nonsense. 😉
What exactly have you gotten yourself worked up about?

Anthony Collins4 said:

Paul Green31 As specified by:
Everything you need to know is right there in the link I sent you. Honestly, I think your best bet would be to find a decent lawyer who can sit down and actually walk you through the legalities of it all. Maybe they can make sense of it for you. 🙂

I’m more interested in the current vibe here on the forum, rather than any legalistic nonsense. 😉
What exactly have you gotten yourself worked up about?

Let’s say the topic was "why isn't it allowed to post recipes for making bombs out of kitchen supplies."

So you care about the vibe of the forum rather than the legalities, right? Well, guess what? You're still stuck with the law. 🙂

The forum has to "operate" according to the law, and that law says it's a bad idea to go around sharing private data. So yeah, you're technically right, but if you want exact definitions, you're going to have to dig through links and hire a lawyer.

By the way, if a moderator hands your email address over to a third party, that’s a violation of the Privacy Act and you could sue over it. If it were proven, the forum would be legally liable.

Paul Green31 said:Let’s say the topic was "why isn't it allowed to post recipes for making bombs out of kitchen supplies."

So you care about the vibe of the forum rather than the legalities, right? Well, guess what? You're still stuck with the law. 🙂

The forum has to "operate" according to the law, and that law says it's a bad idea to go around sharing private data. So yeah, you're technically right, but if you want exact definitions, you're going to have to dig through links and hire a lawyer.

By the way, if a moderator hands your email address over to a third party, that’s a violation of the Privacy Act and you could sue over it. If it were proven, the forum would be legally liable.

Wait a second, let me wrap my head around this. So, according to you, I can post a recipe for a bomb in my profile, but in some random thread, I cannot. 😁
Okay, I think I see what's happening here.

Regarding the moderators—on a forum where there are 100 moderators who aren't bound by any formal contract to protect my privacy, you're claiming that their access to my email address isn't actually a violation of the law (though you haven't cited the specific statute, which you really should if you're going to lean on it).

I wonder if you truly grasp the essence of my question? 🤷

Just so you're aware, a significant amount of users' private data sits on the moderator panel. It’s visible not just to active moderators, but also to former ones, and even to anyone who happens to know the passwords of past or present staff.

total bullshit from Anthony Collins4
I mean, seriously, the mods have access to everything—your photos, your home addresses, even the names of your pets—and on top of all that, they’re sitting there reading through your private messages, your emails, and your freaking bills

hollowtrucker77 said:total bullshit from Anthony Collins4
I mean, seriously, the mods have access to everything—your photos, your home addresses, even the names of your pets—and on top of all that, they’re sitting there reading through your private messages, your emails, and your freaking bills

Yeah, it's bullshit, though really it's just having access to full names and being able to comment on the private data of various forum users and such.
But I suppose that isn't my concern; I'm not really trying to make a point about the illegality of it all, rather I'm thinking of Paul Green31. 😉

And where on earth would they even get a hold of those names and surnames?
Paranoia is actually something you can get treatment for, you know?

Anthony Collins4 said:Wait a second, let me wrap my head around this. So, according to you, I can post a recipe for a bomb in my profile, but in some random thread, I cannot. 😁
Okay, I think I see what's happening here.

Regarding the moderators—on a forum where there are 100 moderators who aren't bound by any formal contract to protect my privacy, you're claiming that their access to my email address isn't actually a violation of the law (though you haven't cited the specific statute, which you really should if you're going to lean on it).

I wonder if you truly grasp the essence of my question? 🤷

Just so you're aware, a significant amount of users' private data sits on the moderator panel. It’s visible not just to active moderators, but also to former ones, and even to anyone who happens to know the passwords of past or present staff.

If you actually caught onto all that, I guess I have to give you some credit for paying attention. But honestly? You’re still missing the bigger picture. You've got the gist, sure, but you need to dig a little deeper if you want to truly get it. Do your homework.

Look, when it comes to the moderators—we're talking about a forum with a hundred of them who aren't even bound by any contract to protect my privacy—you're seriously claiming that them snooping at my email address isn't a violation of the Privacy Act? You didn't even bother to cite the actual law, which you really should be doing if you're going to throw it around like that.

Are you actually kidding me right now? Do you seriously not get what I'm asking? 🤷

Of course they aren't. Moderators fall right under the category of administrative staff, and because of that, they’re legally bound to follow the exact same procedures as anyone else working those types of roles. Isn't that just how it works?
And they can absolutely be held responsible for any screw-ups in that department, though I bet most people don't even realize it.

Just so you know, a ton of users' private info is sitting right there on the moderator side. It’s not just the current mods who can see it, either—it's former mods too, plus anyone who happens to know the passwords for the current or past moderation staff. Pretty wild, right?

Well, good luck finding a lawyer who can actually make sense of those regulations for you. Why don't you just sue the forum for handing over your private info to third parties? Once you land that massive settlement, give me a call and we'll grab a drink. We could even bring hollowtrucker77 along. 🙂

hollowtrucker77 said:And where on earth would they even get a hold of those names and surnames?
Paranoia is actually something you can get treatment for, you know?

Are you aware that handing out diagnoses is considered an insult to forum members? 🙂

In most cases, you have those specific names because the users provided them to you themselves.
Please don't try to attribute things to me that I never actually said.