by tcope » Sat Mar 31, 2007 01:22 am
Let me start by saying that this is a great site, that the owners and administrators do a FANTASTIC job, and that I _know_ first had how difficult and expensive it can be to host a site such as this.
This is statement from the site:
Privacy Policy :
We take all the measures and precautions to ensure that your privacy is maintained at each and every phase of our services. We do not distribute names or addresses of our registered members. This information is collected solely for site administration purposes. We have security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access or alteration, disclosure or destruction of member's data.
With that being said, I have to ask why I'm getting spam email from simple<remove>note.com located in Jacksonville FL. According to the website my email address is hidden. When I join a site such as this, I use a unique email address (off my own domain name) that is easy to trace back to the site where I used it. So it's not random spam and the email address _was_ obtained from this site.
Would I have anything against a site such as this trying to recover what is probably just a fraction of it's operating cost? Nope. But if email addresses are being _sold_ the privacy policy should be changed.
This is statement from the site:
Privacy Policy :
We take all the measures and precautions to ensure that your privacy is maintained at each and every phase of our services. We do not distribute names or addresses of our registered members. This information is collected solely for site administration purposes. We have security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access or alteration, disclosure or destruction of member's data.
With that being said, I have to ask why I'm getting spam email from simple<remove>note.com located in Jacksonville FL. According to the website my email address is hidden. When I join a site such as this, I use a unique email address (off my own domain name) that is easy to trace back to the site where I used it. So it's not random spam and the email address _was_ obtained from this site.
Would I have anything against a site such as this trying to recover what is probably just a fraction of it's operating cost? Nope. But if email addresses are being _sold_ the privacy policy should be changed.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 05:58 am Post Subject:
Hi tcope,
Thanks for appreciating us and recognizing our efforts towards this community!
Let me tell you that once you select the “Hide Email Address” option in the Edit Profile section, your email address becomes invisible which otherwise gets displayed below all your posts just beside the PM button. We have tested it after receiving your complaint and the hiding option is working fine.
However, while doing further investigation we noticed that your email address is displayed on your Home Page, and that is visible to all. Now, this can be a source from where spammers collect your email address.
Do you think that email addresses should be removed from the Home Page? We kept it live so that Guests can get in touch with experts like you easily without registering here. If you think that displaying email address on the Home Page is not right, then we will surely take it off.
We are here just to help people get true information about Insurance; there is just no question of selling members' personal information to spammers. I feel very bad to get spam emails in my inbox even. So do not worry about your privacy, it is in good hand.
Please send me your suggestions and feedback about the improvement of the site; I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
Lakemen
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 08:28 am Post Subject:
LakeMan please remove email address from everywhere. There is no need to ask this to people. I love the forums and keep visiting it.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 09:37 am Post Subject:
Hi,
We had decided to remove email id from everywhere because one problem of a single individual should be addressed, otherwise we cannot survive as a helpful community.
BTW, I wanted to ask, are you getting mails from our forum email id? If yes, then it's because you are getting subscribed emails for every post. To control it please uncheck the option "Notify me when a reply is posted" below the "Post Reply" form of the forums.
We are open to your suggestions and feedbacks. Feel free to come up with new ideas and suggestions to improve this community.
Regards
Lakemen
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 02:07 pm Post Subject:
Thanks!!! I don't know of any sites where the owners/operators put as much work into the site as you all do, that would give out email addresses. I appreciate you'all looking into this and I think it would be good to remove the addresses from the homepage as those address _will_ be found by spammers (they are nasty critters) and used.
I also think you'all may want to consider a little more advertising of sorts (perhaps in the near future). I think your site (especially the Community Discussions) is getting large enough to where it will support, well... a little support. Allowing people to pay for advertising should not change the board too much. Small banner ads and what not would not be too bad. As I mentioned, once people see how active or "large" a site is, they understand the need for some smaller ads as such (especially when they are related to the sites theme).
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 05:30 pm Post Subject:
As mentioned earlier the email addresses have been removed from the home page too.
Thanks for all your suggestions tcope. Recently, quite a few of the members have suggested that we need to have some sort of advertisements on the site. I would just like to say, we are thinking about it guys. :)
Regards,
Lakemen
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 04:19 am Post Subject:
HUm I am not so sure about the advertisements...I think that is one of the things that I like about this site, that there are no advertisements all over the place such as other sites. I like that this does not have all that confusing stuff everywhere.
As for the e-mail thing, I think it is a good idea to remove the e-mail, if people want to have their e-mail available they can include it in their signatures. Also if people want to get in touch with the "experts" they can do so by sending a PM and registering. This will also control the spammers to an extent. I think everyone is doing a great job and the suggestions are great also. From the time that I found this site to now I have noticed a lot of new members coming in and out. I think that this is a great site and I also think that a lot of time and energy has been put into this and I appreciate all the hard work guys!!! Keep it up.
PS some food for thought. There is an advertising place on this site...maybe just have the ads there or on those pages....?? Just a thought.
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 06:38 am Post Subject:
PS some food for thought. There is an advertising place on this site...maybe just have the ads there or on those pages....?? Just a thought.
Hey Nique where is that space? I never knew that. Do let me know. :)
Thanks,
Evan
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:24 pm Post Subject:
Well I really believe not to put up advertisement and pop ups in this site... You see,, this way one day the main purpose of this web site would be completely lost....Advertisements are really good but you cant overflow your site with them just for the sake of some money generation..Well,, what i feel about the major factor in the success of this web site would be a large participation from participants in this forum..A large collections of E books coming out--ready to be sold....Some nice ads (few one) in the site so that there is no hotch potch..A customized home page of each and individual member.. ZI know a customized home page is a bit difficult task..But i was wondering why not give every one a freedom to choose the options they want in their login home page including templates of their own and including background scheme etc....This way no trouble like this would be there and the customer care would be in lesser trouble too.
Plus i think that email address was just a small thing//
Personally i never received such emails.. Although, you can hide ur email address urself too ...However no issues in blocking as there is an option of PM in this web site.
Would keep on posting my comments more. Tell me howss d idea of customized Home page... u can also check out this concept used in sites such as multiply.com and hi5.com etc....
Regards
Anand Arora
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:35 pm Post Subject:
Thanks for the idea but I think for customized user home page I need to plan and then work. I will try to develop it as soon as possible. :D
Regards,
Mac
Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:14 am Post Subject:
And what shall I do if I don't want to get e-mails that tell me about new answers in discussions I'm reading? I preffer to view hem myself, when I login.
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