A note about Private Messages

The rumor that moderators have the ability to read other members private messages has started to cycle around again. Ive been PMҒd by folks asking me if this is true, so I thought itd be a good idea to lay these fears to rest publicly, so everyone can relax. First, rest assured that the moderators DO NOT have the ability to read your private messages. We have never had the ability nor will we ever have the ability. Private messages are just that, private messages҅ Second, its absolutely absurd to think that the moderators, all of which are volunteers, would sit around all day and read other members private messages. Frankly, we dont care what you say in private message nor do we have the desire to read them. Finally, while the Terms of Service does apply to Private Messages, we can only deal with issues brought to our attention. If someone PMҒs you and violates the ToS, we ask you to forward it to uswhy? Because we have no way to view it otherwise. Several years ago, Sarah, the administrator, posted that she did have the ability to access the Private Messages of members, but that she had never done it because the process to do it is far to time consuming. Yes, Sarah does have the ability to access private messagesŅjust like your ISP provider or your employers IT administrator has the ability to read your emailsdoes that mean they do it? NoŅthat option is there for them in the event of an emergencyor in the event that the authorities need access and have provided the necessary legal documents to facilitate that. Every administrator of every forum on the Internet has the ability to do this Ŗ this isnt something that is unique to AdoptionForums.com. Just like every ISP and free web based mail provider has the ability to read your email҅again, that doesnt mean that Sarah, or any of the administrators of other forums or ISPҒs sit around all day and read your stuff The bottom line here is this: We (the moderators) can not read your private messages and quite frankly, even if we could, we have better things to do than to snoop around in our members private message box. If someone is telling you that we have that ability, they are doing it for one reason, to make us out as bad guys. People have been perpetuating this rumor for some time Ŗ it happens every time someone becomes upset over a moderating decision. This thread wasnt created to debate moderating decisions҅it was created to expose the people who are sending PMs to members with the accusations, as the liars they truly are.