Very Intrusive

[DonziJon]

I just tried to respond to a post and got an INTERROGATION page about stuff this forum already knows. I could go nowhere ....UNTIL I filled it out. SO: Obviously, I had to fill it out. Now I can post.

I'm thinking THIS (Donzi) SoftWare Is "VBulletin". It's becoming a very popular forum software: If thats the case, I am seeing this intrussion on other Forums that use VBulletin. Not happy...but I guess this is the way of the future. What will I do? John

[justleft]

I have hit this 3 time now. :smash:

[penbroke]

I'm thinking that in these days of identity theft the world does NOT need another database with our personal info that can be hacked, cracked or just plain misplaced. Large companies with IT security departments are being broken into regularlly. Once your info is "out there" you can't get it back. Look at the trouble Buizilla went through...

I understand that there is a problem with spammers but is there no other way to combat it?

Harbormaster and MadPoodle both have my contact info. If they have misplaced it I will be happy to provide it again, to them. Putting it in a database in a widely distributed BBS package on the 'net is a different matter. A misplaced bit in the next rev. of the BBS software could leave the whole thing exposed. Someone here has already commented that his street address was unintentionally displayed.

The people that need to find me know where to look and anyone else has to do is ask.

I had to put some characters in the fields to be able to post this. I expect whatever screening process is used to screen out the spammers will screen me out as well...


See ya on the water,
Frank

[DonziJon]

Are we sure it's SPAM? I'm wondering if maybe "VBulletin" has access to this board without the board owners knowledge...under the guise of "Updating" the software from time to time and maybe doing a little Data Mining on the side. The common denominator here is your Email address.... which you must enter on any forum you want to post on, including those others using "VBulletin" software.

Maybe this is a little cynical. Maybe I need to change my Email address. ...except the horse is gone.

BTW: For the past year or so, the little text under my Avatar read: "Low Profile Member"....just as I input it. This morning it reads the default: "Paid Subscriber". Can Spammers change this? I tried to change it back this morning and found no option to do so. :confused: John

EDIT: I found it. I'm a "Low Profile Member" again.

[Rootsy]

Vbulletin is about as straight as a grizzly's dick... If not there are enough people out there running this software and rewriting the code on their own to find just about anything...

[vonkamp]

You might be surprised to see how much of your personal info is out there. A scary situation indeed.

Go here http://www.zabasearch.com/ and type your name in.

[cutwater]

Thanks Harbormaster and Poodle for all you guys do. Maintaining a site like this is usually a full time job (including a paycheck!) How you manage to do it in your "spare time" is beyond me.

On the topic of intrusive... look at what Britain is dealing with as of this morning :eek!: They gave away almost all control over their immigration laws, labor laws, etc...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/eu_referendum/article577014.ece

[Craig S]

I got thru without going into great detail. It just takes a little creativity. Until I get kicked off! lol!

[joel3078]

You think that software checks to see if the info you put in is correct or not. Typically as long as there is data in the fields, your good to go.

[roadtrip se]

"Paranoia will destroy ya!"

Posting on a site like this exposes you to all kinds of savory experiences.
I have been doing it here and other places for over ten years now.

Pretty simple to protect yourself from most of it with a little creativity.

Whining is not very creative.

[DonziFreak]

You might be surprised to see how much of your personal info is out there. A scary situation indeed.
Go here http://www.zabasearch.com/ and type your name in.


what the **** is this? is this even legal? this has me freaked now because it has me and every single one of my family members listed!

[BUIZILLA]

You might be surprised to see how much of your personal info is out there. A scary situation indeed.
Go here http://www.zabasearch.com/ and type your name in. zaba is, and has been, used by law enforcement since it's inception, in fact, that's basically why it was started... if you have an old girlfriend/boyfriend in high school you need/want/desire to find, well then, here's your vehicle of travel in that venture.. the public only recently found out about zaba and it's capability's... it IS a scary tool... :shark:

[joel3078]

Get used to your privacy being less and less. Most of the stuff you find on the internet is PUBLIC INFORMATION. The scary part is the internet just made it real easy to look up the information.

Infospace and Intellius are just a couple of websites you might want to check out. After bad press, it appears google took out phone number search results from their home page.

Want an example. Type joel3078 into google. Then type madpoodle into google. Guys like us have had the same forums nickname for so long we show up all over the place. There is tons of info on me - phone number, email addresses, home address, etc. Am i worried about it, hell no. As long as you are not doing things wrong, illegal, etc. you tend to blend in with the other bazillion people on the internet.

[gold-n-rod]

You can find me at 123 Main Street and my phone number is 555-1212.

It got me back in the swing of the forum!! :wink:

[Carl C]

You might be surprised to see how much of your personal info is out there. A scary situation indeed.
Go here http://www.zabasearch.com/ and type your name in. Now that there is scary sh!t! I even googled a cop and got personal info that is usually very well protected.:eek!::nilly::nilly:

[zelatore]

Don 1, Zaba 0

They came up with plenty of people with my name. Some even from Indiana where I used to live. But none from any of my past (or present) addresses.

I'm still below the radar.

[rustnrot]

If it wasn't for the fact that I have had to submit this information TWICE now I probably would not have faked it the SECOND time.

Who else lives at 1313 Mockingbird Lane and has a phone number of 8-6-7-5-3-0-9 ??

[chappy]

Don 1, Zaba 0
They came up with plenty of people with my name. Some even from Indiana where I used to live. But none from any of my past (or present) addresses.
I'm still below the radar.

Are you sure about being below the radar?

[harbormaster]

Here is the story folks. I have begun to get a massive influx of FAKE users(spamers). The ONLY way for me to battle this is for me to moderate all new users.

I can only moderate them if they give me real info.
This info is not sold or given out. I had a glitch for a day due to my initial setup that displayed street addresses but it has been corrected.

It is not too much to ask who you are when you are on MY Server. I am responsible for what happens to my server, this site and its users. If you think it is intrusive then I will be more than happy to refund your money:wink:.

Thanks you for your understanding.