Should you be able to read your members PM's ?

[Cedric]

Possibly a controversial topic - should you be able to read your members' private messages on your community? On one hand, having the ability to monitor PMs can help ensure the safety and security of your community. On the other hand, it raises privacy concerns and can erode trust between admins and users.

So, what do you all think about this? Do you believe that admins should have the ability to read PMs, or do you believe that this is a violation of user privacy?

Here are a few things to consider:

• Be transparent with your users about your policies and practices regarding PM monitoring. Make sure they know what to expect and that their privacy is respected.
• Only use PM monitoring as a last resort, when there is a clear and pressing safety concern or issue.
• Have clear guidelines in place for how PMs will be monitored and by whom. Make sure your moderators are trained on these guidelines and understand the importance of respecting user privacy.
• Encourage users to report any concerns or issues they may have, so that they can be addressed without having to resort to PM monitoring.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this matter. How do you approach PM monitoring in your own communities? Do you have any specific policies or best practices that you've found effective? Let's start a discussion!

 

[Cory]

I generally don't read users' PMs and trust that members will report violations directly to me. It can indeed be somewhat invasive to do so, but I could understand specific communities needing to do so under certain conditions. If there was the option of having an individual group where you can read their PMs, this seems ideal to me since you can put members in this group that has abused the PM system in the past.

 

[Shortie]

I myself wouldn't choose to read members PM's unless really necessary for safety reasons but I can understand why some forum owners would feel the need to, that is something I feel they can do but they need to be transparent with their members so that they know that their PMs can be read but they would only be read under certain circumstances. That shows trust and shows you don't have anything to hide.

 

[ten thousand]

I'm of the opinion that forum software should not include a feature to view member's private messages, but should include functionality that will allow members to report PMs to staff which would then include the content of the message. That way you can continue to protect the safety of your community but are unable to violate that trust.

Of course a technical admin with any level of server or code access can trivially do this anyway. Still, more barriers are better.

 

[Arantor]

Well, as a site owner you are generally legally responsible for what people do on your site.

That means should you *need* to, you may have to look at members' PMs beyond just reports - because you won't always get reports of illegal content. That doesn't mean you should just wantonly look at PMs but you should put something in your T&Cs that you have the ability. (After all, you have the ability to look at the database.)

 

[Strawberry]

I suppose I would say it's a bit similar to CCTV. I'm unsure of laws in other countries regarding it, but in the UK it should only be used for the purpose it was intended for. Meaning it should only be used for investigation purposes, it shouldn't be used to monitor what people are up to.

 

[Kale]

I'd only ever do so for safety reasons, and if the user reported it properly. I don't go snooping through PMs or even would do so unless there's a safety issue or so.

Well, as a site owner you are generally legally responsible for what people do on your site.

I noticed a lot of sites/forums tend to do the "we're not responsible for what is posted on this site" type things.

 

[Bluezone777]

I am personally against the reading of other people's PMs. To me, installing a PM reader on a forum is not much different then a store installing surveillance cameras in their public bathrooms. IF there is a certain level of privacy expected then you should deliver on that expectation and not use the excuse of public safety as a reason to violate that expectation of privacy.

 

[Arantor]

I noticed a lot of sites/forums tend to do the "we're not responsible for what is posted on this site" type things.

Unfortunately such disclaimers don't *really* hold a lot of water and if content was reported to you, you would almost certainly be duty bound to investigate if the report suggested that you had a more serious breach of legality going on.

 

[Mamberroi Jr]

Reading the MP of the Users brings as a violation of the privacy of the Members whose action may be a crime. In any case, there is the option of Reports when a member offends / assaults / threatens another.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I would only do so for legal and safety reasons but other than that I would feel that it would be stepping over too many boundaries. They're private messages for a reason after all... If another member doesn't feel safe and are receiving threatening messages from another member I would definitely need to get involved.

 

[Naiwen]

Yes I think so.