New conspiracy theory!! P.M.'s are being moderated now??

I Sperg said:

Did you consent to having your PM's overseen routinely?

I had a quick look at the rules:
https://community.autism.org.uk/p/rules

User agreement
By joining the Online Community, you agree that the moderation team has the authority to edit or delete content and to suspend or delete accounts that violate the rules.

It doesn't specify that the content is on the forum or private messages so it can be assumed that everything is covered by this rule.

I don't see any "right to privacy" clauses so it is therefore logical that there is none.

My interpritation of what a "private message" is in these circumstances is that is it not published publically.

I think we are assuming a lot about what private should mean here, but given the potentially vulnerable people here, there is no doubt a case that "snooping" by moderators is permissable to identify exploitation, abuse etc.

This is a free service after all and these rarely have any "rights" with them, just as with any other free platform.

Most will mine your email, search history, browser history etc and use this for advertising leads (ie they make money selling the info). I don't see this site exploiting us this way but from the safeuarding aspect I think it is entirely appropriate.

I Sperg said:

Did you consent to having your PM's overseen routinely?

I had a quick look at the rules:
https://community.autism.org.uk/p/rules

User agreement
By joining the Online Community, you agree that the moderation team has the authority to edit or delete content and to suspend or delete accounts that violate the rules.

It doesn't specify that the content is on the forum or private messages so it can be assumed that everything is covered by this rule.

I don't see any "right to privacy" clauses so it is therefore logical that there is none.

My interpritation of what a "private message" is in these circumstances is that is it not published publically.

I think we are assuming a lot about what private should mean here, but given the potentially vulnerable people here, there is no doubt a case that "snooping" by moderators is permissable to identify exploitation, abuse etc.

This is a free service after all and these rarely have any "rights" with them, just as with any other free platform.

Most will mine your email, search history, browser history etc and use this for advertising leads (ie they make money selling the info). I don't see this site exploiting us this way but from the safeuarding aspect I think it is entirely appropriate.

I respectfully disagree, Iain. We are all adults with a right to privacy, we can choose whether to accept PMs or not, and there is the option to report people who send anything abusive - whether in the main forum or in a personal message.

looking at the safety and security section it does say that private messages are “fully private”…

but this obviously isn’t the case if private messages are being moderated. 

Ultimately we have the right to know if our private messages can be read by moderators, I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. User can then make informed decision about how they communicate through a private message. 

Custom and practice.

They call them "private messages".

THE VERY MOMENT I got to be admin on a forum a few years ago I immediately investigated whether I could examine peoples P.M's.just to check whether "Private" really did mean private. I was reassured to see that It did. 

The name private messages implies "privacy".

Why is this important? 

There are some views I hold legitimately, that are not hate based, but nevertheless if expressed publically can cause uproar with what appear from my perspective to be people with an axe to grind.

I don't want to upset ANYONE really, at least that's my default setting, "Do no harm" so some things I do not discuss on the public forum. Should I meet a like minded person, I perhaps DO want to talk privately about such matters, with another consenting adult, and compare notes, so I do in private secure in the knowledge that no one will get their knickers in a twist about why I voted the way I did.. Some poor moderator (who like many people here)  happens to hold very strong political views that conflict with ours reads our exchanges will end up feeling strong enmity towards me, and I will have no idea why suddenly the ban hammer keeps hitting me every five minutes. 

Private is private, public is public. IF private is monitored, then SURELY that should have been made EXPLICIT, especially on a forum made for Autists! 

I agree with what you say and doubt admin will be constantly snooping however it is the principle of the matter. 

The majority of users here will be autistic which means we have a difference in communication to the majority. This can put us into vulnerable situations depending on how vagueness is interpreted. It's another example of the world not being set up for us (especially as it seems the places which are supposedly here to help us). However I don't expect special accommodations and am aware language is used in specific ways sp backs are covered. However one would think clear communication would be used by a site which is predominantly used by individuals who are known to have difficulty with communication. I have wondered if the orange banner is a technical issue as commented by another user. 

So while it doesn't specify which content,  the very fact of something being labelled "private" should indicate just that. 

I was made aware probably last year of phantom accounts sending abusive PM's. Whether or not these were moderated I don't know. 

Clarification is very much needed on the matter.