Private Profile option

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119904844#Comment_119904844

Which, again, is not in itself a GDPR violation.

Also, the above has been true since Boards has been in existence, long before the migration to Vanilla.

Caranica

Any chance the admin data/gdpr talk can be split to a separate thread @Boards.ie: Niamh ? It's really clogging up this one and not the same issue at all.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905023#Comment_119905023

Neither was the PI RI so could that be split too

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119905805#Comment_119905805

Historical PI/RI forum posts being linked to your profile is directly part of the private profile issue being discussed in this thread, definitely should not be split off.

Neyite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119902989#Comment_119902989

I remember back in the mists of time when Dav removed the PI posts from the main home page (before they were public and often high up on the home page), then it was subsequently further restricted so for example, registered and unregistered users couldn't search all your Deja Boo posts in PI, however PI mods could - they needed that functionality for modding (and their Cmods and all admins).

Having said that, if you googled "Deja Boo", often it would bring up your posts that way and that was outside of the control of Boards AFAIK.

I started off as a poster in PI then a mod, Cmod and now admin. PI always was public to view, public to post on and public to post anon on. It just never showed on the Home page or Trending page, but if you googled it, it would often bring you to the forum or a thread in the forum.

Under the old system, modutils allowed only mods, cmods and admins to check anon posts against posters. This way, we could check for stirrers, sockpuppets and trolls. However, it was limited to posters with an Irish IP so that meant overseas posters couldn't post anon due to Cloudflare restrictions. So mods were fine for posters who for legitimate reasons, wanted to create a throwaway account for the purposes of a thread they wanted to start. Just give them the heads up.

Now we don't have the anon function, would that be a solution?

So for example, if you want to start a PI thread, and not have it linked back publicly to Deja Boo. So you can let mods know you are Throwaway1 on [thread link]. That would only show on your throwaway profile, not your Deja Boo one, however from a modding pov we then know that a match on the account /IP isn't breaking the one-account-per-person rule, so you'd not be at risk of getting your main account banned IYKWIM? We would know, and if you used Throwaway1 to go troll elsewhere, well then the hammer would come out.

As long as I've been a mod there we have always guarded posters privacy fiercely. Granted it's the internet, and some cop on needs to come from the poster themselves, but if someone posted something and subsequently wanted it deleted, it was never a problem if you asked the mods. As well as that, we often snipped stuff out to save people from themselves at times. And when there's genuine reasons they are happy to delete whole threads for OPs as well.

There's another long standing Boards etiquette that bringing what someone posted in PI or RI into other forums or threads elsewhere is worthy of a mod action. So even alluding to something someone posted in PI would result in a warning or a ban in another forum depending on the offenders track record and their post removed as soon as a mod could. Same with posts elsewhere on the internet where we could establish a link via posting history to a boards account. Won't stop people getting a ban here. That that still stands.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119906481#Comment_119906481

That's a good idea for future posts, but again, the thing that's bothering folks is historical PI posts.

Historical PI posts are now to be linked to your profile.

People should be given the option of having these posts mass deleted rather than having them linked to their account as they were created under the pretense of them not being linked to your account.

You can't say 'hey, create posts and generate content in this forum, they'll never be linked to your account' in X year and then X years later decide to link them to everyone's accounts. Well, you can, but it's a dick move.

I don't want posts I made 5, 10, 15, 20 or whatever years ago in PI linked to my profile. They weren't meant to be then when they were created and shouldn't be now. Honestly I haven't even a bean of the full content of what I've posted in there, it's been two decades.

I've asked for my posts in PI to be mass deleted if possible. I've zero problem with that as a solution. Whether it can easily be done is another thing.

Cup

If you made those posts under your username, they are already linked to your profile. You can see them yourself under your comments on your profile. The only thing is that, once all profiles are public, anybody else can click on your profile and scroll away through your posts. I guess that wasn’t the case for old boards though?

That’s also discounting the other ways of finding posts by users, already mentioned in this thread.

As I mentioned before, if anyone has a genuine concern about personal data being leaked, eg inadvertently by an admin using public Wi-Fi, there is the possibility of using Tails, a portable personal operating system. I keep a Tails USB stick handy in case I need it.

https://tails.boum.org/

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119898207#Comment_119898207

Got an answer on this for you, the Visits shown on your profile are an approximation/guesstimate of how often you have been logged in or active on your account.

Visits are a "fuzzy statistic" that can't ever be 100% accurate because we have no way of knowing whether a person is actively using their device. With that said, a visit is calculated when a user is "away from the site" for at least 20 minutes, meaning:

-If the user closes the site, they will be considered away so the next time they browse to the site a new visit may be incremented.

-If the user leaves the site open in their browser, they will be considered away if the site isn't their active tab. This is to account for users who may have a long discussion open for more than 20 minutes. If you leave your browser open over night, you likely won't trigger a new visit.

A user cannot hide the 'Last Active' field on their profile either.

Leg End Reject

Am I the only one who can only read a few posts on a profile, including my own? There isn't an option to scroll onto further posts.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907451#Comment_119907451

Bottom right of the list there's a button "More Discussions" (desktop)

Dial Hard

@Neyite The PI/RI mods have already said throwaway accounts are fine for posting in the forum and did so as soon as it was copped that anonymous posting wasn't supported on Vanilla

@o1s1n this is a genuine question, had you posted your own PIs in the forum, or is it just replies you're concerned about? Cause I don't really understand the issue if it's the latter. And, actually, even if it was the former they were always searchable via Google anyway, no?

Fwiw, I had to scrap my previous account because I was doxxed and it nearly cost me my job. But I have absolutely zero issue with anyone being able to find and read my replies in PI. Why anyone would even want to is beyond me, though.

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907451#Comment_119907451

On both mobile and desktop you will land on the page that show's a user's Discussions (threads they have started). If you scroll to the bottom of the page on mobile you will see the option to select Comments which shows all of their other posts. ON Desktop, you select the silhouette icon on the top right of the profile page and the option to see Comments is there.

Leg End Reject

Thanks @HeidiHeidi and @Boards.ie: Niamh, I'm an idiot! 🤣

Cup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907394#Comment_119907394

Thanks very much Niamh for all the detail! And best of luck with the new job!!

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907494#Comment_119907494

It still only goes a few pages in, though. For me, anyway.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907473#Comment_119907473

To the best of my hazy memory, no I haven't - however it's hard to 100% know as it's been such a long period of time. For a bit of perspective, I created this account the month after the Twin Towers were hit by planes - I'd be doing well if I could remember a fraction of what I'd posted over the years.

I suppose my reasons for such are mine really, I'm not comfortable with historical PI discussions being linked to my profile and I was always posting there with the understanding they wouldn't be.

I'm also (I think anyway!) speaking for more than just myself and I'm sure there are other folks who aren't too enamoured by the idea too. From some off the comms on this thread from boards.ie reps, they didn't even know this would be a potential issue.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907473#Comment_119907473

It would depend on replies, eg if one said “OP, I’m in same position as you, fell in love with a guy/girl I work with and my husband/wife doesn’t suspect anything”.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119907473#Comment_119907473

I scrapped my previous account when I gave up being a mod. I'd really prefer not to have to do that again.

And yes I have posted my own threads in those fora.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119908050#Comment_119908050

I had a look through my created threads on my profile and it looks like I don't have any I started - you've a couple of PI ones though which are now linked to your profile so it might be an idea to ask the PI mods to nuke them specifically.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119911704#Comment_119911704

Thanks so much.

Hey @Boards.ie: Niamh do I need to pm the mods to do this. I do not want these threads on my profile. They weren't, until you moved the goal posts!

Neyite

@Caranica I'm happy to do it today - I'm a bit pushed for time with a work deadline and will be AFK from tomorrow until after the weekend but if you link me directly to them, I'll delete for you, if we don't get it sorted today then one of the local mods would be able to do that for you.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119914850#Comment_119914850

Thank you. You can't sort by forum on mobile so it will be the weekend before I can find them

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119914969#Comment_119914969

I've sent them on to you in a PM there, three in total.

The ease and quickness in finding them via your profile now that they're linked really highlighted the problem.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119915067#Comment_119915067

Thank you so much! It's actually quite scary how easy it was for you to find them. See @Boards.ie: Niamh ??? I'd really like all my PI and RI posts deleted but the threads are a start so thank you @Neyite for your help. I've sent the links on to you by pm thanks to @o1s1n

Jequ0n

Since you made such a big deal out of it I felt compelled to have a look too, but found them rather boring. Disappointed.

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119915271#Comment_119915271

Yes I do see, however we'll do our best to look after those who are worried. We couldn't hold back allowing mods access to user's notes sitewide based on a small number of people worrying about their PI/RI posts being attached to their profile. As pointed out earlier, if someone really wanted to find them before, there was very little to stop them and I doubt this move will suddenly spur an interest. I completely understand why some users might prefer for them not to be accessible though. Thank you @Neyite for offering to take care of those threads.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119916632#Comment_119916632

Thanks Niamh, appreciate the effort and I don't mean to be a moaning sh1te - fully appreciate that moderators need the visibility.

If you can keep us posted re whether mass deletion within the forum would be possible that would be great.

smuggler.ie

This is really fukced and it might become very painful for some....

Teapot30

Its so wrong that youve done this! So many people would have shared private information about themselves in posts with the understanding that their profile is and will continue to be private so no one could see previous posts and replies that could identify them or that give away other personal info. You cant give the option of privacy to people then remove it when it suits yourselves. Very bad form.