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odile
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[quote user="ErnieY"]My twopence worth for what it's worth:

Whilst it's probably true that outwith routine methods PM's cannot be accessed by anyone other than the involved parties the fact remains that their contents are stored somewhere and that being so it's highly likely, if not certain, that a person armed with the knowledge, the resources, and the intent, could access them.

[/quote]

The Chinese are reputed to have kracked  Skype messages;  something  that Occidental Security organisations are still struggling to accomplish.

But a word of warning be careful in replying to PMs sent to you by fanatical expatriate ladies belonging to embroidery or gardening groups; these PMs will surely be edited and used to influence the forum moderators against you.  

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Well, Dog, at least I now know why people want to be Mods.  This has always been a bit of a mystery to me as they seem to get shot at from all sides for doing nothing but their job. 

It's not for the free magazines at all - it's so they can read our thrilling private conversations.  I cannot imagine how they choose whose to read first - it must be really tough since we are all, to a person, so fascinating.

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[quote user="cooperlola"]

Well, Dog, at least I now know why people want to be Mods.  This has always been a bit of a mystery to me as they seem to get shot at from all sides for doing nothing but their job. 

It's not for the free magazines at all - it's so they can read our thrilling private conversations.  I cannot imagine how they choose whose to read first - it must be really tough since we are all, to a person, so fascinating.

[/quote]

Stick end the wrong of.

Said never read mods message private. Possible it's I said just.

Mods rude sycophants and me annoy.

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[quote user="Catalpa"]Because...


...you're all freemasons! [:P]
[/quote]

Oh bugger you beat me to it. [;-)]

Dog, ask Will he knows a lot about this forum, how it works, who has access to what and all our dark secrets, he used to be a moderator.. Even he will tell you knowbody can read PM's.

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I wouldn't totally agree with that, Quillan. The messages are stored in a database, somewhere on the Archant servers, and may or may not be encrypted; I don't know enough about how this software works. Even if they are encrypted (which is unlikely, as normally only passwords are scrambled) I am sure there must be a way that anybody with access to the database, unlimited time and sufficient geeky knowledge would be able to read the messages.

Having said that, like most others who have answered this topic, I cannot imagine why any normal person, with anything approaching a life, would have the slightest desire to do so. If anybody is worried about this then the answer is to be careful what you say in private messages - the forum code of conduct applies to private messages just as much as it does to public postings, though in the case of the former the only way that the admins would normally get to know is if the recipient of the message forwarded it to the mods (which itself makes a mockery of any idea of 'privacy').

There was a minor security issue with this forum in the past, which we need not go into, and I am confident this was fixed long ago.

If you want to get upset about privacy, then look at forums (such as a blue-coloured forum about France) that use PHP BB version 2 (not the current version 3, which I understand is secure). I found out a few days ago, when looking for a new program for the forum on our own site, that the PHP BB site was out of action while the developers repaired the effects of a security breach that had occurred when they used version 2. I don't understand the technicalities, but it concerned the way the older version stores passwords. Apparently the owners of the France forum that I mentioned (I don't use it myself) have said that theirs is secure, but the software developers are no longer supporting the previous version and recommending all users to upgrade to the current one, which is enough to make me question the security of PHP BB2 forums - particularly as I am told there was a discussion at that other France one, just before this password issue came to light, about privacy of private messages.

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The simple answer is, if you are at all worried about the privacy of PMs, use the forum email facility instead.  The downside is that you will have no record of the emails that you send (as they are not stored on the server AFAIK).  The upside is that ... they are not stored on the server [:)]

Few things are 100% secure.  Letters can be steamed open, telephone calls can be overheard or recorded, but moderators can't read other people's private messages - period.

Having said that, if I had something enormously secret to transmit, I wouldn't use email anyway. 

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[quote user="Weedon"]For what it is worth I don't believe for one minute that Russethouse, Clair or Hoddy read PMs, otherwise they would have been on to me pretty toot sweet for the things I say about them in mine.[/quote]

Arg......................h, Weedon, please don't involve me in this dispute!  I've been trying to keep well out of it! LOL.

I've never said anything remotely unpleasant about RH, or Clair, or Hoddy!

Look, you three, just check up on my PMs if you don't believe me.............[6]

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