When you joined DS, you selected a DS NAME and a PASSWORD. For convenience, you can automatically log into DS with those by simply going to the website (you do not have to enter your DS name and p/w every time). This is either convenient or dangerous.
An example of it being dangerous is the abused wife planning to leave the husband and file for a divorce. He gets on the family computer, goes to the DS website and is instantly logged in as his wife, .. only to discover her discussions, private messages, etc etc, and she gets another beating (or worse). If there is that or any similar possibility, I urge you to sign into DS and out of DS every time you come to the site and keep your password PRIVATE.
DS has a feature where you are notified of activity, by email to the email address you provided when you signed up. If he can't get into DS on your account, he may be able to with your EMAIL account because many people auto log on to their email as well. I suggest you change your EMAIL password, set your EMAIL to log in and out, and keep your EMAIL password private as well.
This goes for anyone (wives, husbands, teens, ....) who risks the possibility of anyone else using their computer at any time.
Discussion Topic
PRIVACY
Posted on 12/26/08, 06:04 pm
DS is probably not as private as you may assume. To see what I mean, make a note of some DS names, .. yours and a few others. Sign OUT of DS. Go to www.google.com and do a search on any one of the name you noted. You will PROBABLY see that the entire world can view information posted by DS members at the DS website. This is the case for the majority of DS members.
If what you post is public on DS, it is public to the WORLD. Things that are NOT public on DS are PRIVATE MESSAGES to and from other DS Members and other things that fall under the conditions of privacy WHICH YOU SET IN YOUR PROFILE. If it is not private on DS, it is public on DS and thereby the WORLD. Your hugbook, FOR EXAMPLE, may or may not be private. You set it to your preference. If not private, then it is public to DS and the World.
There are public posts, hugs, private messages, goals, journals, private groups, public groups and things I have never used on DS. I have not tested every conceivable communication on DS and cannot state here EXACTLY how to be private/public in every situation. You must see/discover/research for yourself.
Remember also, your hugs may be private, but hugs you send to others may be public.
The advice is to be VERY diligent about giving out personal information and know how safe it can be or not be. This would include but not be limited to your home street name, real name(s), place of employment, first names of children, places of work, .... I cannot begin to guess what is too personal and what is not. YOU must make that evaluation. Just know that the entire Internet World MAY be able to find such information with a simple Web search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc).
If what you post is public on DS, it is public to the WORLD. Things that are NOT public on DS are PRIVATE MESSAGES to and from other DS Members and other things that fall under the conditions of privacy WHICH YOU SET IN YOUR PROFILE. If it is not private on DS, it is public on DS and thereby the WORLD. Your hugbook, FOR EXAMPLE, may or may not be private. You set it to your preference. If not private, then it is public to DS and the World.
There are public posts, hugs, private messages, goals, journals, private groups, public groups and things I have never used on DS. I have not tested every conceivable communication on DS and cannot state here EXACTLY how to be private/public in every situation. You must see/discover/research for yourself.
Remember also, your hugs may be private, but hugs you send to others may be public.
The advice is to be VERY diligent about giving out personal information and know how safe it can be or not be. This would include but not be limited to your home street name, real name(s), place of employment, first names of children, places of work, .... I cannot begin to guess what is too personal and what is not. YOU must make that evaluation. Just know that the entire Internet World MAY be able to find such information with a simple Web search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc).
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Reply #1 12/26/08 6:04pm
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Reply #2 12/30/08 3:34pm
There is another "trap" you need to know. Your journal entries can be either public or private. Consider this. You post something in your PRIVATE journal .. it is viewable by ONLY your friends. A friend reads it, .. and, for whatever reason, opens a PUBLIC topic. The TOPIC may start with "Please, everyone, send a hug to Suzy. She is having divorce issues and needs our support". What has just happened is Suzy's first name has been publicized and her personal affairs (which is private to her and her friends only) have just become public ... TO THE WORLD. The original poster (OP) meant no harm, .. just wuzn't thinkin. Must keep other's privacy in mind. I would say, if journal is PUBLIC, .. it is public and what is in it can be 'publicized" but not beyond what is in the journal. If it, or anything else is private, it MUST be kept private. It is not obvious whether a journal ETC is private or not. Always determine what is private and what is not, and respect that privacy. We must all do this, .. as there are no safeguards and it can happen to you. -
Reply #3 02/09/09 2:52pm
AND SOME MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
This is a PM I received from a newcomer and my reply to it (both edited for privacy):
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WOW! I needed this a month ago, so badly. I am very appreciative that you took the time to do this and educate us new members. But, someone should have done it before you! I am trying to fight off a panic attack right now, because my chief concern was confidentiality when I joined. And, DS staff & other members assured me that I had nothing to worry about, even though I know what can be traced from computers. They said, it was anonymous, confidential, and there was no one policing the site for the police. But now, to realize that my guts can be accessed by "Googling" ... I thought I was doing a healthy thing by privately-publicly admitting my situation. I was trying to seek support for the first time EVER, and take tiny-little-baby steps towards healing. I feel betrayed & outed now, like it's all posted on a worldwide-viewable billboard. I don't know how I am going to deal with this. What a set-back. I can't google it to see what I journaled; I just can't. This is really devastating news. & I'm scared.
Thank you for having the kindness to do this, really! You make such stupid mistakes when you are ignorant.
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I understand your shock and dismay over how public DS is. MANY people have assumed the same thing you have only to discover how public it is, including me.
There ARE certain things that NO person can see unless you 'allow' it. The following is from the HELP page:
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Can other people read my journal or see my video journals?
We've added three levels of privacy. You can choose to let everyone view, or just your friends, or just yourself. When you write a new journal entry, or upload a journal video, choose an option under "Who can view this journal entry?"
Can I change the privacy settings on old journal entries?
Yes. To change the setting on a journal entry, go to My Journals, select an entry, and click on Edit. At bottom of entry, choose an option under "Who can view this journal entry?"
Can everyone see my RECENT ACTIVITY?
You choose. By going to MY ACCOUNT, you can choose to show your RECENT ACTIVITY to:
Everyone
Just My Friends
Just Me.
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I do not think you can hide hugs to/from you.
This may upset you, but try not to let it too much. Go to Google and search for [DS NAME] and you will see over 4 million hits. Your DS 'stuff' is SOMEWHERE in there.
Now, search on:
"DS NAME" dailystrength.org
WITH the quotes. You will see only a FEW hits on YOU. Google tells you there are MORE, and to see them ALL click on 'repeat the search with the omitted results included.' at the bottom of the page. Click on that, and there is all the currently PUBLIC stuff of you on DS (about 520 items). These are ALL the hits on you that Google knows about at that moment.
Scary, I know. These will stay on Google to be 'found' by anyone who searches on either 'key' words, even if you mark your 'stuff' private on DS.
I do not think Google keeps these forever; ... I am not sure. I do not think they do. They SHOULD eventually drop out of Google's 'cache' and be replaced by your DS stuff which you do NOT set as PRIVATE, .. which are mainly the posts you put on the Boards, and hugs.
Soooooo, in conclusion, you can INCREASE your privacy by setting everything to JUST ME or JUST FRIENDS, .. but some things you do on DS will be PUBLIC and appear in SEARCH services to include GOOGLE.
I want to tell you that there is probably no need to panic. Unless you reveal info you would not reveal anyplace else, you are OK.
What I mean is, .. suppose DS was like you THOUGHT it was ... a private forum, . nothing is available to the public ... you would not give out your real name, phone number, address, name of children, where they go to school, name of your psychiatrist, etc etc there either. If you did, every member of the forum could see it. It is no different on DS,.. it is just that the Search Services can see it. It is not WHO can see it, but WHAT can be seen. Based on that, I do not think you have much to worry about, unless you have put something up that screams who/what/where you are.
Your options at this point are to set everything to Friends Only or Just Me and watch what you post to groups and what you say in Hugs; OR close your account.
Even if you take these options, including closing your account, search services will still have 'DS stuff' cached in THEIR caches and that stuff can be found until they drop out of the cache, ... and I do not know how long that takes. Know that there are other Search Services besides Google ... Yahoo for instance, .. and they all probably have your stuff cached.
I hope this clarifies some things. Everyone is SHOCKED to find their DS stuff on Google etc. By thinking about what you put ON DS, and setting the stuff you can to Just Me or Friends Only, it does not seem to be a problem for anyone. I don't know of anyone who has claimed 'damage' from what is public on DS (I'm sure there have been some but it does not seem to be a big problem).
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Reply #4 10/30/09 1:29pm
More on privacy:
The following addresses the fact that a LOT of your DS contribution can be "GOOGLE"d ... by the whole world:
Concern:
What is going on DS????? I was notified by another member that by googling my username, there I was, my DS profile, journals & photos on the web sites. I am NOT AT ALL HAPPY. I thought this was supposed to be a safe site, where things were shared with members, not spread all over the net for every Tom, Dick and Harry to see. I am not the only member who has had this happen and I think we all deserve some answers. How do we delete these web sites and will this happen again?? I am soooo angry and feel like giving DS the flick, if this is what happens. This is leaving us op-en to predators on the net and not keeping us safe in DS. So how about something is done pretty damned quick.
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From the DS HELP/FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS page, available before signing up:
"Can I post personal information?
We ask members not to post email addresses, telephone numbers, or any other personal identification on DailyStrength."
"Is DailyStrength anonymous?
DailyStrength is designed to be completely anonymous. The only information that is required is for you to choose a member name that will be publicly visible. Any other informatin you provide is completely vountary. Please use discretion and common sense when providing your location, name or any other information that you post in your profile, journal or discussions."
From TERMS OF SERVICE:
"You are solely responsible for any and all Content that is posted by or through your Account on the Site, including any e-mail, and for your interactions with any Member, or any user of our Site that has not set up an Account ("Visitor")."
From PRIVACY POLICY:
"Do not reveal home addresses, phone numbers or anything else that you wouldn't want a stranger to have. Please be aware that all information (including photos or videos) that you post on public sections of the community and all information (excluding your e-mail address and your password) that is contained in your DailyStrength profile can be seen by every Member and Visitor to the Site."
"You should think carefully before disclosing any Personal Information in any Public Area. What you post may be seen, disclosed to, or collected by third parties, and may be used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict, including to contact you for unauthorized purposes." -
Reply #5 11/19/09 8:34pm
Welcome
