Illegal for admin to check PMs?

[TheNiceGuy]

A site administrator I know told me that it is illegal for him to check the content of private messages between members on that site. I find this hard to believe, especialy if there are security concerns about what's in those PMs. I thought an admin or site owner had total control over all the data in their site.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: TheNiceGuy
A site administrator I know told me that it is illegal for him to check the content of private messages between members on that site. I find this hard to believe, especialy if there are security concerns about what's in those PMs. I thought an admin or site owner had total control over all the data in their site.

It depends on many factors including the TOS of the site. In most areas its not illegal (as in criminal) but may open him/her to liability if they become aware of something and don't report it (for example, a user tells another they are going to kill someone, they could be liable for not reporting, etc)....

 

[TheNiceGuy]

OK, I think I see now. BTW, what's a TOS?

 

[evident]

terms of service

 

[VirtualLarry]

I remember logging into bbses back in the day, and oftentimes they had a disclaimer screen,describing what was and was not considered "private', in relationship to the electronic communications privacy act. I would look up that law and it probably will tell you if PMs are considered "private" and therefore protected or not.

 

[n0cmonkey]

A lot of this might depend on country/jurisdiction/function (.edu/.gov/.mil/etc.) also.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If it's a public site, which a forum is, I can't really see why it would be illegal, just because it's a "private message" it's still on a public accessible server.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
If it's a public site, which a forum is, I can't really see why it would be illegal, just because it's a "private message" it's still on a public accessible server.

"Reasonable expectation of privacy." Proving a reasonable expectation of privacy can be difficult though.

 

[Blain]

I just assume that anything I PM can be read by an admin.