Author Topic: Privacy  (Read 63579 times)

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Offline Psi

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #50 on: October 26, 2015, 12:35:26 am »
Yeah, it's pretty scary. Especially when it's on the front page of the forum and even guests can see it.

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about?  :-//
What can guests see?

I think he means they can see the list of users who are currently browsing the forum.
It's at the very bottom of the forum home page under "Users Online"

Personally i don't see what the fuss is about.
Greek letter 'Psi' (not Pounds per Square Inch)
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #51 on: October 26, 2015, 12:37:29 am »
Here, everybody just take a piece, and everything will be alright.



Don't be greedy now, one square sheet per person.
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Offline crispy_tofu

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #52 on: October 26, 2015, 01:06:47 am »
Premium quality!!  :-+ :-+
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #53 on: October 26, 2015, 01:10:13 am »
I think he means they can see the list of users who are currently browsing the forum.
It's at the very bottom of the forum home page under "Users Online"
Personally i don't see what the fuss is about.

That's been there since day one.
And what's it got to do with Tapatalk?
 

Offline ovnr

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #54 on: October 26, 2015, 01:13:16 am »
I do believe some of the confusion earlier regarding Tapatalk boils down to this:

The forum includes /forum/mobiquo/tapatalkdetect.js, because Dave/an admin has installed the Tapatalk plugin. However, this JS file pops a dialog on phones going "This forum is Android [or iPhone, or whatever] Native! Click OK to learn more about Tapatalk for Android.". It's really fucking stupid, but then it's tapatalk.

It (attempts to) set a cookie lasting 1k days, but if it gets deleted or fails, it'll ask again. And again. If you're in incognito mode it'll ask all day long.


I'd strongly suggest either editing the theme to remove the reference, or more easily, replacing /forum/mobiquo/tapatalkdetect.js with an empty file. It is not required for tapatalk operation, and is just a glorified advertisement for that piece of shit software.
 

Offline Monkeh

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #55 on: October 26, 2015, 01:50:40 am »
And what's it got to do with Tapatalk?

Absolutely nothing.
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #56 on: October 26, 2015, 06:23:48 am »
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Ok, it's now enabled. We'll see how it goes.

Thank you.

Bear in mind that the IDs of who are browsing should be meaningless - you could have a milllion browsers and a dead board. What counts is the number posting, and for that surely you want a list of what topics are active and when.
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #57 on: October 26, 2015, 06:29:26 am »
Yeah, it's pretty scary. Especially when it's on the front page of the forum and even guests can see it.

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about?  :-//
What can guests see?

The screencap below shows this. It is constantly updated in real time, and something I would have expected to be available to admins but not users.
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #58 on: October 26, 2015, 06:33:19 am »
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userbase is "hidden". I don't like that at all, very impersonal

Shouldn't be hard to change that to 'other' or whatever word/phrase you prefer. I would bet that no-one notices this stuff except for those that are interested in specific people, or are just nosey buggers who should have better things to be doing.

It is one thing to be inviting, another for your users to feel like bait.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 06:35:53 am by dunkemhigh »
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #59 on: October 26, 2015, 07:11:39 am »
Bear in mind that the IDs of who are browsing should be meaningless - you could have a milllion browsers and a dead board. What counts is the number posting

No, I like the names, I think it's important for a sense of community.
For the record I don't like "hidden" showing up, I can see it now if I log out (Admin always shows me who's who).
Don't be surprised if I disable this again.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #60 on: October 26, 2015, 07:12:19 am »
Doesn't Tapatalk have privacy concerns. Isn't that the subject of this thread? It seems to me to be a far bigger concern than having a username publicly visible.

No, this topic has nothing to do with Tapatalk.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #61 on: October 26, 2015, 07:13:46 am »
It is one thing to be inviting, another for your users to feel like bait.

In the 5+ years running this forum, IIRC you are the only one who has complained about this.
In fact someone pointed to thread some people who wanted to know what the "hidden" meant. It sounds dodgy.
 

Offline pickle9000

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #62 on: October 26, 2015, 07:19:16 am »
I prefer to see who's lurking.
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #63 on: October 26, 2015, 07:44:33 am »
I've just returned from being incognito (hidden) on the forum, It was an experiment to see what it's all about, for me it was no different than being signed out except that I could still post, someone hidden here is basically a signed in guest the only difference being that they can post and do other stuff as regular members do, the less the better I think.

Also I have a super fantastic forum name and an exceptional quality avatar to go with it so hiding it would be well....unsightly.

Personally I tend to read the forum more often signed out and generally at night on the TV which bumps me off regularly anyway and only sign in if I am contributing  :palm:  well adding stuff then, others have different needs to mine and overall I think it works well for my needs as is, if others have a requirement to become incognito then they have the option of becoming a supporter of the forum.

Like most things in life it's a paid subscription or an earned privilege as far as I am aware.



In regards to privacy on the forum I don' really have any concerns but I do keep regular tabs on the who's online list for no other reason than to see what the current popular topics are and then proceed, what I don't particularly like are zero post members running around with nothing better to do than look at and I presume read everyone else's profiles, I wont name names and have pointed this out to a moderator in the past, don't believe me then keep tabs on the list yourselves.

Members that have absolutely nothing to contribute should be purged on a regular basis, I don't even know why they are here.






« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 10:27:44 am by Muttley Snickers »
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #64 on: October 26, 2015, 08:08:58 am »
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It sounds dodgy.

Why should it? It says "Show others my online status". That's not "Hide me from an admin", it's the same class as "Allow users to email me" - something that one may not want to enable.

It is only dodgy if you want to know what Bill Bloggs specifically is doing right at this moment, because it won't let you snoop. That's basically what this boils down to: you prefer to allow "guests" to snoop on registered users, but don't let those users (who to the effort to actively participate in your forum) decline to be snooped upon. A great benefit of being registered, eh? Why not turn the tables and show the IP addresses of all those guests as a nice friendly gesture to the rest of us? Strictly speaking, there is no law to say you mustn't - an IP address is public anyway. But watch your userbase shrink if you try pulling that one...
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #65 on: October 26, 2015, 08:35:49 am »
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It sounds dodgy.
Why should it?

Because someone who comes across this website sees "XX Hidden users" instead of potentially more friendly usernames.

Also ask others who have mentioned it before, and wondered WTF is this "hidden" thing.

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It says "Show others my online status".

No, i says this forum looks dodgy because it has a mix of "hidden" users and identifiable users.

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it's the same class as "Allow users to email me" - something that one may not want to enable.

No, it's not the same. Because people understand if someone doesn't want to put their email address.

Quote
It is only dodgy if you want to know what Bill Bloggs specifically is doing right at this moment, because it won't let you snoop. That's basically what this boils down to: you prefer to allow "guests" to snoop on registered users, but don't let those users (who to the effort to actively participate in your forum) decline to be snooped upon.

As others have asked, why do you care.
Again, in 5+ years of running this forum with 10,000+ active users, IIRC you are the only one who has complained about this "privacy" issue. The only one. That says something.

Quote
Why not turn the tables and show the IP addresses of all those guests as a nice friendly gesture to the rest of us?

What a ridiculous suggestion and comparison, and you know it. You are the one complaining about privacy.
IP addresses are serious business, displaying were you are potentially looking in the forum using your anonymous (if you want it to be) account are like chalk and cheese in the privacy world.
 

Offline crispy_tofu

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #66 on: October 26, 2015, 09:30:28 am »
It is one thing to be inviting, another for your users to feel like bait.

In the 5+ years running this forum, IIRC you are the only one who has complained about this.
In fact someone pointed to thread some people who wanted to know what the "hidden" meant. It sounds dodgy.


Not trying to piss anyone off, but if no-one cares about it, then no-one will use it.  ;)

But seriously, I don't get why someone would need to use this 'hidden' function. It does sound a little dodgy...
(and I really don't like the IP suggestion, sorry dunkemhigh)
« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 09:46:47 am by crispy_tofu »
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #67 on: October 26, 2015, 09:39:24 am »
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As others have asked, why do you care.

Because it is basic courtesy.

Ask those other users, Mr FakeName and Mr NoProfile, why they aren't showing their details.

Because in an argument dickwads are perfectly capable of using "Ha ha you spent 20 mins on the XXX topic" and similar juvenile shit.

Because I am actually shocked (really) that this is considered not just acceptable but desirable:



I mean, WTF? What is the justification for that? What good is it doing anybody else?
 

Offline PlainNameTopic starter

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #68 on: October 26, 2015, 09:43:47 am »
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What a ridiculous suggestion and comparison, and you know it.

It is only ridiculous because you don't see the snooping as a breach of privacy. And, yes, that does say an awful. Do you look over peoples shoulder when they write text message on their phone? No, you wouldn't, so why do you think it is acceptable to not just allow it here but provide the mechanism to do it?
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #69 on: October 26, 2015, 09:46:27 am »
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As others have asked, why do you care.
Because it is basic courtesy.

But the option doesn't come for free, it's not without downside of how the forum appears to others as I've explained.

Quote
Because in an argument dickwads are perfectly capable of using "Ha ha you spent 20 mins on the XXX topic" and similar juvenile shit.

Can't say I've seen someone mention that on this forum.

Quote
Because I am actually shocked (really) that this is considered not just acceptable but desirable:

I mean, WTF? What is the justification for that? What good is it doing anybody else?

It's a standard part of a SMF installation, I bet hardly anyone looks at that page. Many wouldn't even know it exists.

On the other hand, to me this is very useful:

It shows me that you are (potentially) this watching this thread and that you might reply before I head to bed, so I might stick around for bit and see if you reply.
To me that totally trumps any "privacy" issues that only one person has complained about in 5+ years.
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #70 on: October 26, 2015, 10:02:45 am »
I use this list continuously and always have as it gives a better indication of whether somebody is replying to a post or sending me a message, I don't sit on a thread waiting for a reply instead I have the list open and refreshed to see if a reply is imminent.

Also see my last post above about concerns.

 
« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 10:05:27 am by Muttley Snickers »
 

Offline crispy_tofu

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #71 on: October 26, 2015, 10:17:36 am »
Because in an argument dickwads are perfectly capable of using "Ha ha you spent 20 mins on the XXX topic" and similar juvenile shit.

Well ha ha you just watched me spending 20 mins on the XXX topic.  :-DD

It's a standard part of a SMF installation, I bet hardly anyone looks at that page. Many wouldn't even know it exists.

On the other hand, to me this is very useful:

It shows me that you are (potentially) this watching this thread and that you might reply before I head to bed, so I might stick around for bit and see if you reply.
To me that totally trumps any "privacy" issues that only one person has complained about in 5+ years.

Not only SMF installations, take a look at the MacRumors forum (I know, I know, but it's not SMF), which I was at before I started harassing this one (hopefully not lol).
They also have a page that shows what people (even bots!) are doing at any one time. And, to the limited extent of my knowledge, no-one has complained about it  ;)
They also do have a hidden users option, but it looks like only about 20 members are even using it.  :-//
« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 10:20:51 am by crispy_tofu »
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #72 on: October 26, 2015, 10:18:45 am »
Members that have absolutely nothing to contribute should be purged on a regular basis, I don't even know why they are here.

I do that, but not-so-regularly.
 

Offline MikeW

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #73 on: October 26, 2015, 10:30:05 am »
Members that have absolutely nothing to contribute should be purged on a regular basis, I don't even know why they are here.

I do that, but not-so-regularly.

What's the criteria for that then?
 

Offline crispy_tofu

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Re: Privacy
« Reply #74 on: October 26, 2015, 10:31:25 am »
Members that have absolutely nothing to contribute should be purged on a regular basis, I don't even know why they are here.

I do that, but not-so-regularly.

What's the criteria for that then?

Probably just the zeroposters.

Thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/news/zero-posters-purged/
 


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