Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2014 11:31:43 GMT -5
Privacy and Personal Safety on the TAP Forum
If you are considering joining and participating on the TAP forum, there are a few things you should be aware of.
Administrators will always be able to see your email address, but your email address will never be shared with anyone unless required by law.
You can set up your profile to protect you identity as much as possible — explained in “Set Up” below.
Most of the board and sub-boards can be read by non-members who stumble across our website. We have a board that will be visible to members only. See instructions on "Private Forum" below.
If you are concerned about privacy, personal safety, or about someone (your abuser) reading what you post on the publicly viewable boards read the following guidelines.
Posting Guidelines for Privacy and Personal Safety
Since most of the boards and sub-boards can be viewed by anyone who stumbles across this forum, use discretion in what you post.
Do not use your real name or the name of your abuser, or refer to any other member by their real name even if you know them personally.
Do not reveal where you live or where your abuser lives. Make up a factious name if you have to when posting your story. Remember that the Internet is global, and you need to take the proper steps to secure your own safety.
Do not share any personal details in your posts that would identify you. If your favorite musician is Adele and your abuser knows that, and if you have to mention something about songs, say you love Barbra Streisand or something else obscure.
Once the forum gets started, there will be a lot of posts. Unless you’ve mentioned something that specifically identifies you, no reasonable person will have time to sift through all the posts looking for you. In the meantime, just use caution in what you post. Don’t say, “We met at the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue on December 31, 2013.” Instead, say something like, “We met at a relatively famous landmark on a cold night last year.” If there is some specific detail that is critical to your story or what you want to post, and you are concerned about privacy and personal safety, use your discretion in how you word it and remember you can use the non-visible forums for more explicit details once they are created.
Set-Up
To set up your profile on the TAP forum, click the link that says “Profile” beneath the banner. From there, you can edit your profile any way you wish. The tabs are:
- Avatar
- Personal
- Social
- Settings
- Privacy
- Notifications
- Staff Options
- Badges
Avatar
Your Avatar is the picture that will show when you post something. You can use a default Avatar, no Avatar at all, or you can upload a photo of your choosing. DO NOT USE A REAL PHOTO OF YOURSELF IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PRIVACY AND PERSONAL SAFETY. Do not use a picture that is vulgar or nude or otherwise violates the rules of the forum.
Personal
This tab allow you to set your display name. This is the name you will be known by on the forum. DO NOT USE YOUR REAL NAME. If you are concerned about your personal safety, do not use a nickname or anything else that would identify who you are. Do not use vulgar, obscene, or disrespectful display names.
You email address can be seen on the Personal tab in your profile, but you can change whether or not another forum member can see you email address in the Privacy tab. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SAFETY, make sure that you set up your settings accordingly.
In the Personal tab, your password will be obscured by asterisks. You can click “Edit” to change your password.
Additional info includes:
Gender (sorry, only two choices provided by forum software — I do not think the software forces a member to choose one or the other)
Website Name
Website URL
Most Recent Status
Signature
Personal Notes
If you are concerned about your personal safety, you can leave all of these blank. On the other hand, you can add any information you would like to share with members who look at your profile. Do NOT provide any information or links that are obscene, disrespectful, or that violates forum rules.
Social
There are options for Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and various Instant Messengers. Leave all of these fields blank IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY. On the other hand, if you would like other members to be able to find you on your favorite social networks, then provide your information.
Settings
These are self-explanatory.
Privacy
Who Can View My Profile
Set this to “Members Only” for maximum privacy.
Invisible
Set this to “Yes” for maximum privacy.
Email Visibility
For maximum privacy, set this to “Share with staff only.” This is the important one! Forum admins will always be able to see your email address. This is so that we can moderate the forum, but your privacy is assured and your email address will never be shared with anyone unless it is required by law. If you are not concerned about your privacy and safety, you can make your email address viewable by members or by everyone who visits the site, even if they are not members.
If you are having a problem with a forum member or are simply annoyed by someone, you can block them here. However, if you are having difficulties with someone, please notify an admin via private message.
The other options are self-explanatory. Use your discretion in the settings to assure your own privacy and safety.
Other Tabs
Ordinary members will probably not be able to see the “Staff Options” tab. This is for forum admins. The other tabs are largely irrelevant to privacy and personal safety. Members can tinker with them to see how they work.
Private Forum
The Private Forum is not visible to non-members, It is visible to members only. To gain access to the Private Forum, you must contact an administrator to be given the URL. Once a member is given the URL, access it via your browser. Only trusted members who have demonstrated a record of good conduct (or who have special need or circumstances) will be given the URL. Access can be denied at any time. In the Private Forum, you can be assured that anything you post will only be seen by other members who have been given the URL. If you encounter any problems, please let one of the administrators know.
If you are considering joining and participating on the TAP forum, there are a few things you should be aware of.
Administrators will always be able to see your email address, but your email address will never be shared with anyone unless required by law.
You can set up your profile to protect you identity as much as possible — explained in “Set Up” below.
Most of the board and sub-boards can be read by non-members who stumble across our website. We have a board that will be visible to members only. See instructions on "Private Forum" below.
If you are concerned about privacy, personal safety, or about someone (your abuser) reading what you post on the publicly viewable boards read the following guidelines.
Posting Guidelines for Privacy and Personal Safety
Since most of the boards and sub-boards can be viewed by anyone who stumbles across this forum, use discretion in what you post.
Do not use your real name or the name of your abuser, or refer to any other member by their real name even if you know them personally.
Do not reveal where you live or where your abuser lives. Make up a factious name if you have to when posting your story. Remember that the Internet is global, and you need to take the proper steps to secure your own safety.
Do not share any personal details in your posts that would identify you. If your favorite musician is Adele and your abuser knows that, and if you have to mention something about songs, say you love Barbra Streisand or something else obscure.
Once the forum gets started, there will be a lot of posts. Unless you’ve mentioned something that specifically identifies you, no reasonable person will have time to sift through all the posts looking for you. In the meantime, just use caution in what you post. Don’t say, “We met at the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue on December 31, 2013.” Instead, say something like, “We met at a relatively famous landmark on a cold night last year.” If there is some specific detail that is critical to your story or what you want to post, and you are concerned about privacy and personal safety, use your discretion in how you word it and remember you can use the non-visible forums for more explicit details once they are created.
Set-Up
To set up your profile on the TAP forum, click the link that says “Profile” beneath the banner. From there, you can edit your profile any way you wish. The tabs are:
- Avatar
- Personal
- Social
- Settings
- Privacy
- Notifications
- Staff Options
- Badges
Avatar
Your Avatar is the picture that will show when you post something. You can use a default Avatar, no Avatar at all, or you can upload a photo of your choosing. DO NOT USE A REAL PHOTO OF YOURSELF IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PRIVACY AND PERSONAL SAFETY. Do not use a picture that is vulgar or nude or otherwise violates the rules of the forum.
Personal
This tab allow you to set your display name. This is the name you will be known by on the forum. DO NOT USE YOUR REAL NAME. If you are concerned about your personal safety, do not use a nickname or anything else that would identify who you are. Do not use vulgar, obscene, or disrespectful display names.
You email address can be seen on the Personal tab in your profile, but you can change whether or not another forum member can see you email address in the Privacy tab. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SAFETY, make sure that you set up your settings accordingly.
In the Personal tab, your password will be obscured by asterisks. You can click “Edit” to change your password.
Additional info includes:
Gender (sorry, only two choices provided by forum software — I do not think the software forces a member to choose one or the other)
Website Name
Website URL
Most Recent Status
Signature
Personal Notes
If you are concerned about your personal safety, you can leave all of these blank. On the other hand, you can add any information you would like to share with members who look at your profile. Do NOT provide any information or links that are obscene, disrespectful, or that violates forum rules.
Social
There are options for Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and various Instant Messengers. Leave all of these fields blank IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY. On the other hand, if you would like other members to be able to find you on your favorite social networks, then provide your information.
Settings
These are self-explanatory.
Privacy
Who Can View My Profile
Set this to “Members Only” for maximum privacy.
Invisible
Set this to “Yes” for maximum privacy.
Email Visibility
For maximum privacy, set this to “Share with staff only.” This is the important one! Forum admins will always be able to see your email address. This is so that we can moderate the forum, but your privacy is assured and your email address will never be shared with anyone unless it is required by law. If you are not concerned about your privacy and safety, you can make your email address viewable by members or by everyone who visits the site, even if they are not members.
If you are having a problem with a forum member or are simply annoyed by someone, you can block them here. However, if you are having difficulties with someone, please notify an admin via private message.
The other options are self-explanatory. Use your discretion in the settings to assure your own privacy and safety.
Other Tabs
Ordinary members will probably not be able to see the “Staff Options” tab. This is for forum admins. The other tabs are largely irrelevant to privacy and personal safety. Members can tinker with them to see how they work.
Private Forum
The Private Forum is not visible to non-members, It is visible to members only. To gain access to the Private Forum, you must contact an administrator to be given the URL. Once a member is given the URL, access it via your browser. Only trusted members who have demonstrated a record of good conduct (or who have special need or circumstances) will be given the URL. Access can be denied at any time. In the Private Forum, you can be assured that anything you post will only be seen by other members who have been given the URL. If you encounter any problems, please let one of the administrators know.