Another Disturbing Yahoo

After reading Louisa's thread and comments I became curious and decided to do some checking on my own. I logged out of DG and restarted my computer. I went to yahoo and typed in carol7 gardening. I clicked on #2, Garden Watchdog, and it gives my review - no problem with that because it was submitted in good faith. I hit the back button and clicked on the bottom part - More Results From: gardenwatchdog.com and I found two more additional items and clicked on #2. I found that "Send Carol7 an email" is posted ON THAT PAGE!!! It also said you could view my full profile on dg at this page.
I followed the same steps again and received the same results. On top of that I went back to favorites clicked on dg and it said "Welcome Back Carol7".
I have also logged out at dg and am still logged in at plantsdatabase.com.
I believe everyone contributed to assist their fellow gardeners thinking that there wouldn't be all of these other .coms involved with dg under a search, or maybe I just missed a thread when this was mentioned to find out how many sites I need to log off of.
I've also found that other members do not have the same situation regarding a search. I would greatly appreciate it if someone would provide the 411 for us who don't know what is going on here.

Okay, this is a complicated issue, because DG is a complicated website with a lot of powerful features. It's difficult to explain, and even more difficult for folks to understand, exactly how it works.

Let me make one thing most absolutely clear: No personal information is revealed to anybody, under any circumstances, period. Even if you are logged in, you are still restricted from viewing information on another member, period.

You may read the forums (which are public), you may browse anybody's journal (if they have made them public), you may read comments on the watchdog, browse the plants database, and you may view members' public profiles.

You can do all this without logging in.

Additionally, search engines come through, sweep DG, and index all the public pages.

This is harmless and I won't stop it, because the pages are public and, by the very nature of the web, SHOULD be available via any search engine.

Now, the issue complicates when you do a search without having fully logged off of DG. Carol: That is the case in this instance. You were not logged off, although you thought that you were.

When you are logged into DG, you computer stays logged in permanently, unless you properly log off of all the sites, including the plants database, garden watchdog, and DG.

The way to be absolutely sure you are logged off is to delete all the cookies on your computer. Then, access the DG homepage, and it should not recognize you as a member, but rather will give you a big speil intended for visitors.

Once you have done that, re-do your search on Yahoo/Google/AltaVista/Big_Dog_Search_engine/etc and you'll see exactly what you are supposed to see.

The privacy of our members is my primary concern as I develop DG. You will not find anywhere on DG where I reveal anything about you as a member, that was not previously known to be public data. If you do see it, it's because you are logged in and are viewing your own profile.

What are examples of public data?

1. All posts to the forums.

2. Your journal, if you marked it as public.

3. Your trade list.

4. The entire contents of the plants database, including plants, images, and descriptions.

5. The information you put on your member page, including a picture of yourself, your favorite website links, and the paragraph description.

What are some example of private information, that will never be revealed to anyone else?

1. Your E-mail address.

2. Your full name.

3. Your street address and phone number.

4. Your password.

Also note: Nobody can contact you via DG unless they are also logged in. This is a security measure to ensure that I verify that someone is who they say they are, before they are allowed to send mail on my system.

Oofta! That was a long post! :-) I hope it answers some questions, rather than create new ones. :)

Dave

I have no problem with anything I post Dave...whether it be my profile, etc. I plan on ANYTHING I put out on the web to be public info, whether I think it can be accessed or not. Trust nobody. That's my philosophy when it comes to the internet....therefore, I only allow info that I don't care about to be placed on the net anywhere.
With all the hackers/crackers/losers out there, I never put out too much info.

I don't blame people for being upset about their personal info showing up on a search engine, but it goes to show, you need to be careful with what you put out. I don't mean personal info as in your private email address and street address (because people won't get that unless you decide to post that in a forum, which should be a definite no-no that anyone would know not to do), but rather anything you "thought" would remain only viewable to members, etc.

Just my thoughts on the subject :)

Let me just add something. You'll be surprized at what you can find on the net using a simple search engine like Yahoo, Google or Alta Vista. I had a problem with toll fraud at our company (I take care of the phone system)...and I knew the number being dialed from our office was going to Nigeria. We have offices all over the world, but I knew we didn't have anything going on in Nigeria...and not for the volume of calls going there. I tracked down the extension number of the phones in the office making the calls (the calls were made from about 20 different phones over a period of 2 years or more...this is a big office). After I looked at the names associated with the ext numbers, I searched the net for the name of one of the people suspected of making the calls. I found a post (in a forum) on some website that's dedicated to improving the Nigerian consulates here in the US...and guess what. The name of the person making the calls showed up in the forum. She had put her work email address in the post. The search engine found it, and so I found her :)...sorta. I suspected her anyway, but this made it all come together. I was only trying to find the origin of her last name (I thought it may have been African, and it was) Anyway, to make a long story shorter, there are all kinds of things that show up on search engines. Just be careful what you say in a COMPLETELY public forum. It's not anyone's fault but your own if you let out something you don't what the whole world to know. I'm not being fussy here or difficult, but I'm just warning you from my own personal experience and what I've been able to find just being using Google.

Be careful out there folks :) The net isn't "full of dangers" but there are a handfull of idiots on the net, just like in real life and you never know what someone will do with your info. I always try to keep the idiots guessing :D

This message was edited Thursday, Mar 28th 6:35 PM

hczone6: You da (WO)MAN! Love the research. :)

Thanks. Since the phone thing is my domain, I wasn't about to let it go...lol I just had to find out who it was. It cost the company a few thousand dollars in calls. They didn't really do anything to the offender though. She made up an excuse about having a family emergency, but what her manager didn't realize was how extensive the abuse was. My manager failed to pass on just how many calls were made and over what period of time. Oh well, I figured it out anyway. There wasn't anymore of those calls made after I caught it :)

And for the net thing and info on the net, all you have to do is just spend a little time and get creative and you'll find all sorts of info if people put it out there somewhere. It's all a matter of what you are willing to put out in public for people to see.

As a tangent of this thread, you will not always be able to control what gets out, as there are people you trust, and should be able to trust, who are careless with the information entrusted to them. So your address, phone number, social security number and anything that is in a database anywhere could possibly end up on the web. Be sure you exercise caution and never give more information than is essential. Very few people actually need your SS#. In Texas, several years ago the driver's license office decided to use that number as the number on newly issued DLs. I don't know if it still does, but I think that is grossly irresponsible of them. Likewise, your DOB can open many private areas to a creative probe. While we can't always prevail, we all need to think before we respond to any request for our personal data. Our privacy is eroding rapidly enough, without us handing over the key to the henhouse.

Amen, Aimee...like you said if you put your DOB or any personal info out there or anywhere any hacker could break you...even info with your birthdate or where you live...That is why I haven't offered any info about my DOB or really where I live...

I really believe Dave should put a block on the search engines (and he could if he wanted to) to any personal info we put on his site!

I can see if we put info on the plants database as a go ahead or maybe some post about flowers and gardening and such but a line should be drawn about personal info that any and all could aquire!


Just my 2 cents worth!

Cheers!
Rebecca

When I joined DG I knew that hundreds of DG members were able to read everything I posted, my member page and any pictures I posted.Now it's thousands of DG members that can read my posts and see my pictures.LOL.This is a large part of what DG is all about. Anyone can join DG and see this information.The only way to protect yourself from strangers getting your personal information whether it be from Yahoo, Google or DG is to not put it anywhere on the internet.Only put information or pictures that you feel comfortable sharing with the public.

This message was edited Friday, Mar 29th 11:38 PM

I honestly believe that it's the little bits of personal information and insight into different personalities that have made DG what it is. It's the warmth and friendliness that I loved so much about this place, which drew me here and which continues to hold me here. That's how we have come to know and learn about each other and to grow with one another, here and abroad. I have made some wonderful friends at DG through my glimpses of who they were, not just because of trading and gardening but by their very humaness!! Now I feel restricted, am going to be doubly careful about my postings and so the joy has gone out of it a little for me. Yes, this is first and foremost a gardening site and how many times have we had discussions on similar issues and the object of DG!! That is why we came here in the first place!! But I fear that tides are changing and we are becoming an enormous institution where personalities will be lost in the crowd. Rebecca I wish there was a way around this, blocking certain forums to the outsiders but don't think it's feasible!!

Just so you know, the very forum you are in (The DG forum) _is_ blocked from outsiders, including search engines.

Would you like a second forum that is strictly for DG members-only and search engines and other non-subscribers do not have access to it?

It can be a catch-all subscriber-eyes-only forum. Would that help, Louisa?

Dave

Dave thank you!! I know this must be such a difficult call and no I did not know that this forum was blocked. Your suggestion of a second blocked forum is appealing of course but who am I to say!! How would other members feel about it?? Maybe I'm only one of the few who is being sensitive about all this - others are or might be quite happy to leave things as they are!!

I'll raise the question in a new thread and see what other members think.

dave

Thank you and good luck :-)

I also did not realize non members had no access to this forum. But it is my understanding that non memners see only the first posting and a thumbnail of any photo and that they do not see any of the responses. So in effect all our posts beyond the initial comment are already for members only. If I want to post something for non members to see I have to initiate a new thread and then they can see it but not any responses made after that and the non member cannot respond to it.

Zany I knew about non-members only seeing the first post or a thumbnail picture. What got to me was seeing my DG homepage on Yahoo!! Regardless of what I had put on there, whether it was personal or not, I really thought that it could only be viewed by members!!

While I agree with the posts that you shouldn't post anything anywhere that you don't want to be found - I feel that if we were supposed to log off of all three sites in order to be logged off we should have been informed. If there was ever information indicating this and I missed it please excuse my ignorance.
I work out of town frequently and use different computers. I thought I was completely logged off when I logged off of dg. I wonder how many computers you can be logged into at one time? I guess there's alot of folks having free access to this site because I wasn't informed.

Carol: You raise a valid point. When one logs out of one of the 3 sites, they should probably be logged off the entire DG network, all at once.

Would you prefer it that way? I can modify the Logout button on all three sites, so that if you log out, it logs you out of ALL dg sites. Would that work?

Dave

Sounds perfect Dave'

I think that is a great idea! Although I can't speak for anyone else, it definitely would make things alot easier for me. Thanks, Dave! :o)

Carol: It's finished. When you logout now (from any DG site) it will log you off all sites.

dave

Thank you Dave' Sis'