Private Messages

[RobJohnson]

I asked someone who is a long term member for their opinion on a post that I had read on here, I sent a private message. Their answer was they did not trust private message and they would not answer, they said that it was too easy to pass a message round, messages were not private.

This cannot be right surely, it does not say very much for people.

[jar]

Of course anything anyone can read on the internet can be passed on to others.

[RobJohnson]

Of course anything anyone can read on the internet can be passed on to others.

Thanks for the reply.

I think you are saying that the confidentiality of private messages is not certain. Think twice for PMing

[Pterodactylus]

At least for me PMˋs are ok.
And nobody want to share top secret infos with PM‘s

[RobJohnson]

At least for me PMˋs are ok.
And nobody want to share top secret infos with PM‘s

I think that is a good motto.

[Chrissy]

When you send Private Messages they are certainly private, and can't be viewed by anyone else, when you send them to a member or members on FPGeeks.

It's possible that the member you made contact with believes that their previous recipients of private messages can quote, or send contents of, private messages they have received to others which I assume they can. That's probably the case with Private Messages on all fora and it always has been so.

People could always quote extracts of written personal messages they received too. It's surely always been like that. After all, when you tell someone something, regardless of how you tell them, there is nothing to prevent them from telling it to someone else.

[RobJohnson]

When you send Private Messages they are certainly private, and can't be viewed by anyone else, when you send them to a member or members on FPGeeks.

It's possible that the member you made contact with believes that their previous recipients of private messages can quote, or send contents of, private messages they have received to others which I assume they can. That's probably the case with Private Messages on all fora and it always has been so.

People could always quote extracts of written personal messages they received too. It's surely always been like that. After all, when you tell someone something, regardless of how you tell them, there is nothing to prevent them from telling it to someone else.

Therefore whilst they are Private, they cannot be thought of as confidential amd the recipient can pass around exactly what you may have said privately and you would be a fool for thinking that it was for their eyes only.

The golden rule would seem to be do not trust a private message and people must feel a little bit disappointed if they found out that the message that they thought was private was being shared.

[silverlifter]

The golden rule would seem to be do not trust a private message.

Well, the golden rule is to actually choose carefully whom you place your trust in. Technology, even end-to-end encryption, won't protect you from a bad faith actor.

[RobJohnson]

The golden rule would seem to be do not trust a private message.

Well, the golden rule is to actually choose carefully whom you place your trust in. Technology, even end-to-end encryption, won't protect you from a bad faith actor.

Good point. Trust nobody and you will never be disappointed.

[Chrissy]

Therefore whilst they are Private, they cannot be thought of as confidential amd the recipient can pass around exactly what you may have said privately and you would be a fool for thinking that it was for their eyes only.

The golden rule would seem to be do not trust a private message and people must feel a little bit disappointed if they found out that the message that they thought was private was being shared.

They are only called Private Messages because they aren't public messages that everyone can read. It's up to the people concerned whether they are, or remain, confidential or not.

On FPGeeks it's not easy to delete Inbox messages. You can delete them individually if you use Tapatalk, but on here you can only delete all of the messages in your Inbox. Even if you do that, they don't disappear unless the sender also deletes them. Therefore at least two different people have to be relied upon to ensure a message is deleted. As a system, it's a bit clunky.

[TSherbs]

Private messages are not confidential. Initially, they can be seen only by one account. After that, anything can happen.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

[Pterodactylus]

Isnˋt this a bit weird discussion?

This is a pen forum?
Anything you send to somebody else, digitally or analog can be copied, forwarded, published, quoted, ......

If you want avoid this just don’t communicate with somebody else.

So what?

[Chrissy]

Private messages are not confidential. Initially, they can be seen only by one account. After that, anything can happen.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

You can send Private Messages to several members at the same time, then all of the replies from each member go to all of those original members. That can become a bit clunky too.

[jar]

Of course anything anyone can read on the internet can be passed on to others.

Thanks for the reply.

I think you are saying that the confidentiality of private messages is not certain. Think twice for PMing

Nothing on the Internet is confidential. Think twice before PMing or texting or phoning or mailing of saying or ...

[Pterodactylus]

Of course anything anyone can read on the internet can be passed on to others.

Thanks for the reply.

I think you are saying that the confidentiality of private messages is not certain. Think twice for PMing

Nothing on the Internet is confidential. Think twice before PMing or texting or phoning or mailing of saying or ...

True 😎

Or to say it with Benjamin Franklin‘s words:

„Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead“

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Confidentiality of private correspondence is an ethical choice (beyond one's correspondence getting hacked that is). There are situations where that confidentiality must be set aside and information disclosed. Mostly these are legal or health related situations, so shouldn't affect a pen forum!

Having said that, we are all absorbing a lot of data, and that data can influence what we say to others. There is no doubt that information in a confidential correspondence may at some point be rephrased and anonymised for the consumption of others. We all do it, often subconsciously. However, that is quite different from deliberately outing what a correspondent has said.

One of my pet peeves with the messaging system here is that some members will openly attack someone on a forum thread and then block the messaging pathway for that person to respond privately. It's a low class behaviour that's happened to me on several occasions and also, to my knowledge, to a few others.

Also, people who don't acknowledge receipt of a message. It's discourteous.

This is a pen forum and by extension we should be proud to say that we are enthusiastic communicators...

[TSherbs]

Private messages are not confidential. Initially, they can be seen only by one account. After that, anything can happen.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

You can send Private Messages to several members at the same time, then all of the replies from each member go to all of those original members. That can become a bit clunky too.

I didn't know this. Now, if I only had more than one friend....

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

[An old bloke]

I asked someone who is a long term member for their opinion on a post that I had read on here, I sent a private message. Their answer was they did not trust private message and they would not answer, they said that it was too easy to pass a message round, messages were not private.

This cannot be right surely, it does not say very much for people.

Has the irony struck you that in their refusal to answer the question, they replied to you PM, answering a message that is now being passed around, and thusly not 'private'? Bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy that.

[FredRydr]

I asked someone who is a long term member for their opinion on a post that I had read on here, I sent a private message. Their answer was they did not trust private message and they would not answer, they said that it was too easy to pass a message round, messages were not private.

This cannot be right surely, it does not say very much for people.

Has the irony struck you that in their refusal to answer the question, they replied to you PM, answering a message that is now being passed around, and thusly not 'private'? Bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy that.

LOL

[An old bloke]

... One of my pet peeves with the messaging system here is that some members will openly attack someone on a forum thread and then block the messaging pathway for that person to respond privately. It's a low class behaviour that's happened to me on several occasions and also, to my knowledge, to a few others. ...

I would offer that is internet troll behaviour. It leave the offended no other option, but to respond on the forum, which results in even more 'trolling'.