Our Policies on Privacy and YOUR VIEWS AND THOUGHTS

  • So many newbies lately! Here is a very important PSA about one of our most vital content policies! Read it even if you are an ancient member!
Hydronine

Hydronine

The Murrstress
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Now, I figured that it might be a good idea to make this thread myself for various reasons...

Ok, so let's get this ball rolling, ok? This thread is on STAFF POLICIES.

Now, when someone first joins Iwaku, right off from the start, they check out the guide where this is proclaimed:

Member Rights & Terms of Use
As a Member of Iwaku you have the right to:

- Roleplay!
- Chat!
- Share ideas and opinions!
- Enjoy yourself and the company of others!

These rights are given as long as you follow the Guide and Policies of Iwaku! All private content and conversations remain so unless bad behavior has been reported. If you harass members on Iwaku or continuously break policies, your conduct will be brought to the attention of the Staff. All members are able to report posts and private messages when they feel like someone is harassing them or breaking rules.

Staff Members discuss the situation and decide what to do about any bad behaviors. If your behavior is deemed a threat to the peace of Iwaku, you might receive a small warning or have your account suspended or banned. Issues are always taken on a case-by-case basis.

So please remember: Treat others as you wish to be treated! And your stay at Iwaku will be a happy one!
Click to expand...

It clearly stated a "Threat to the peace of Iwaku" is the only reason we might get involved within member behaviors and have your convos. This is not "wire tapping" or anything to that angle, it's so that the ENTIRE staff can make a decision together after brainstorming what is the best course of action in the BEST interest of the COMMUNITY. This is an important process. Here, lemme give an example.

Say a member..... hmmmm Let's pick "Orion" decides to do one of the following
1. Have a huge fight with Jinx, it drags on for days and Orion is ranting about it everywhere.
2. Decides that well, he's upset, for some reason RL isn't working out and he tells everyone he is DONE with life.
3. Personally goes after a staff member for any reasoning.

1. The reaction to this is in the best interest of both parties, but also for the peace of Iwaku so that no one has to get dragged into the crossfire. Usually the Staff will try to talk to both members and help resolve the issue. Chat logs MIGHT be take into account so solid judgments can be made and so that everyone is on the same page and also so that we can give good help. W

2. Suicide threats are serious matters. We have to keep a log of those at least so everyone in staff knows and tries to actively think together on a solution on how to help that person.

3. In this case, it would work much like 1. would.

This is in no way an attempt to control or take away your rights, But this is a way to actually SAFEGUARD them. It's a method to ensure that what one staff member is saying is helpful and well thought out. It's a way to check and make sure of a certain situation. And it's not often done.

We're not playing "Big Brother" and if you think that staff discussions on how to proceed are communistic, then I'm sorry, but you're clearly mistaken.

This is a way to keep things organized and updated when needed.

Do you have problems with this Privacy policy? If so, how would you change it? What would you do instead?
 
The key phrase in staff policy is All private content and conversations remain so unless bad behavior has been reported.

We don't give a flying hoot about people's private conversations. Staff Members are not waiting in a corner reading all of the PMs, tapping your MSNs and posting IM logs like it's the Cold War. They can't even DO that. In nearly all issues brought to the staff, there's rarely any reason to share a private conversation between a staff member and member. Most situations end with a "stop doing that." and a "okay, fine."

However, in that last small percentage there will be issues where it's absolutely vital that staff gets to view a whole conversation. If a member's behavior has been reported or it's worrying staff to a HUGE degree, we feel it necessary to get the opinion of the other staff members. There is maybe 3 to four people over the past 2 years we've felt it necessary to share a log about. It has to be a VERY good reason to share these private conversations.

There are so many cases where convos are misquoted, taken out of context, or remembered wrong. Posting the log lets us see what -actually- was said. This way outside perspectives can view the situation and decide exactly who had the issue and whether or not it's a real problem. When it IS a problem, we get to share those logs with the problem member as an example of why they are in trouble. This way they can't tell us "Oh well I don't remember that" or "That didn't happen".

But again, it has to be a BIG situation where someone's behavior has reached the point where were are afraid it's affecting the Iwaku community as a whole.

When people talk to ME personally... I am an admin first and friend second. Always. BUT the conversations people have with me are in confidence. I have members speaking to me -everyday-. PMs, IMs, Skype. I am told secrets, gossip, complaints, worries, etc. I don't tell other staff members these conversations. Why should I? There's no reason to. But ever so often there will be something someone says that worries me. And in those rare, rare, cases I will bring up the issue to staff first. And maybe share the log if it becomes something that we must genuinely be concerned about.



SO... if you are a good, average member of Iwaku there is no reason to worry about anything. BUT if you've been reported or have recently been a pain in the ass, staff WILL investigate by any means necessary. That should not surprise anyone.
 
Well, I don't see any problems.
I'm pretty sure there's some law (in America at least), where if someone (a minor, I think) says they are thinking about suicide and later does it, whoever knew about it and didn't report it can be arrested...
 
Just curious: can staff read forum PMs that are not reported by one of the two parties to the PM? For example, if Apple sends a PM to Banana, and Carrot says "I think Apple is threatening Banana," can admins/staff read the PM that was sent from Apple to Banana, or is it private?
 
Charbovari said:
Just curious: can staff read forum PMs that are not reported by one of the two parties to the PM? For example, if Apple sends a PM to Banana, and Carrot says "I think Apple is threatening Banana," can admins/staff read the PM that was sent from Apple to Banana, or is it private?
Click to expand...

Negative... tis private. Though if one of the two parties "copied/pasted" the PM's and sent 'em to the admin/staff, then they'd be able to see it. Otherwise, nope... everything is private unless one of the parties involved forward'd the info to a staff'er.
 
Woodie is correct! It's private unless it's reported by the "Report" buttons or shared by the Reader.

Technically there is a way that a server admin could go through the database if they really wanted to read PMs, but that's a complicated and dirty process. You'd either have to be a psycho or ordered by the cops to bother with something like that. o___o
 
I worked on Ninpocho Chronicles for a while as a moderator then an admin, and I have to say, if there are 1. threats of suicide, 2. sexual harassment (especially of a minor), or 3. death threats, the administration has an ethical duty to report those to the user's local police with as much evidence as possible. We faced all of these situations and then some, and frankly, when you become a danger to yourself or others, you forfeit your rights to privacy, such as they are. Like it or not, the owner(s) of Iwaku own at least the rights to distribute whatever you publish here, and that includes your PMs.
 
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