Raising Awareness: Members Security

2 minute read time.

FormerMember

10 Sep 2010

Hi there, this is my first blog and I felt I had to write it to address a few things that I have found out:

a) When I first joined, I would sign in to read blogs, forums chat etc. Now I find that I only have to sign in to have a chat or write a blog.

By accident:I found out that I don't need to sign in or even be a member to read any of the forums or blogs or look at photos or videos.

b) I also found out that I could see the names of all members without signing in.

c) I could further match screen names to pictures by browsing through the picture/videos and felt betrayed, vulnerable and shocked.

I have spoken to a few members in private about this and therefore feel the need to find some way to protect members.

Therefore: I feel that our names should not be added to blogs, forums. Pictures and videos should not be available for full world to see, but members should be more protected otherwise why do we become members?

I have no problem with the site sharing their general information etc, but sharing what we may think is shared between us; to find out that that it is shared by the whole world is in my view a breach of trust and confidentiality.

No wonder the site is now being hacked by fakes and some of us get unwanted emails.

I have closed down emails in this blog settings and configuration of blog as I do not want to be hacked or receive any of these malicious emails as dealing with Cancer is hard enough on a daily basis,without having to deal with people who think it's a laugh for them and get their kicks.

The people I have spoken to in the chat room about this, know who I am.

Therefore it is not in fear of not showing my name to members that I write this blog, but instead raise your awareness and help get our members better protected.

I further hope that admin read this and are able to do something more to keep us better protected or is the fact, for us to just be careful who we comment on, what pictures we upload and further watch what we write in any blog? This should not be the case as genuine members are honest with each other, reply to each others blogs etc. But I do feel betrayed as I want to remove some of my photos and cannot do so.

FormerMember over 14 years ago

Hello Carrot Tops.

Further to your post, I would like to reiterate what is stated in our Community Guidelines concerning member's privacy:

"Please remember that all the information that you post here is in the public domain. We do not recommend that you post your own or other people's personal information such as home addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. There are many protected ways to communicate through the site."

The only part of the site which is not in the public domain is your biography, everything else is searchable and can be viewed by non-members. This is why we suggest using a username rather than your own name.

Please be assured that your email address is never publically viewable.

I shall pass on your concerns to the rest of the team Carrot Tops. In the meantime, thank you for reminding members of the importance of internet security.

Rebecca.
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FormerMember over 14 years ago

Once again I find myself disagreeing with the operators of this site. If these fora are to become a useful tool for those affected by cancer, then things we share, about our feelings and our relationships, need to be kept private to those who are going through the same, not be a public spectacle. I thought that notion went out with the closure of Bethlehem Hospital ("Bedlam") where the inmate were exposed to public view for amusement and entertainment?

There are bigger issues here, Macmillan has moved from being a cancer support operation into a marketing operation. They have a product that they are trying to sell in an increasingly competitive market, and the people they are bringing in as "consultants" are from the world of business, not the world of hospitals, clinics, tears and snot that most of here have to deal with on a daily basis.
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FormerMember over 14 years ago

Hi Carrot tops - Thanks for writing the blog and I agree with every thing you have said.

Rebecca is also right - we were all aware that the blogs were in the Public Domain - but I think all of us loose sight of this after a while and feel what we are saying is just to our friends in the Mac Family, I know I do.

Maybe the answer is make the point more prominent when we start to write a Blog as a regular reminder.

What does concern me the most is that despite the original warning about Public Domain it never occured to me that this also included pictures and video - my fault and not anyone elses - always been a bit slow !.

With the way the world is today I think some members will now be very reluctant to post pictures of their children or even their own if posts can be linked back to the blogs they have writen.

Thanks for highlighting the point Carrot Tops

John x
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FormerMember over 14 years ago

Hi Rebecca,

I can see Carrot Tops point. But your right a bit of common sense and if people follow your recommended List there should be no problem.

Take care and be safe Big Hugs Love Sarsfield.xxx
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FormerMember over 14 years ago

I agree with most of what's been said, but having used the net for a number of years i've always been aware of the people out there who will take advantage of what we write.

I have been inundated with emails asking to contact these people who seem to enjoy trawling forums "looking to exploit us".

Also on other health forums over the years i've encountered people who seem to enjoy "making up their illness" for some attention.

We just need to use a little common sense, i've never posted pics of my daughter & always told her (now she's a teen) to be very careful who she communicates with on the net.

Dave
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