Clarification of mod's

[Mert]

Hello ,

Please clearly state the role of the moderators on this forum.

Do they have any agreement within Xenforo ltd. ?

Please try to keep the mods not responding this thread as this is directly a question asked to management.

I am highly dissapointed by realizing moderators on this forum have access to customer information. I will like to know detailed about what kind of agreement they have with Xenforo before moving further.

 

[Chris D]

What on earth are you talking about?

They have access only to the information relevant to allow them to complete the tasks asked of them as Community Moderators.

What "customer information" are you exactly concerned about?

 

[Mert]

What on earth are you talking about?

They have access only to the information relevant to allow them to complete the tasks asked of them as Community Moderators.

What "customer information" are you exactly concerned about?

Moderators seem to have access to all customer information.

Again as i stated this thread is directly a question to management. Fanboys and moderators can refrain from responding.

I will like to know how can a company share my private information with third parties. No disrespect to Jake , Slavik or Lawrence but they clearly stated they are volenteers in this forum. Therefor i will like to know on what conditions did Xenforo Ltd. shared my and your information to mods.

 

[trilogy33]

Respectfully, your best avenue is: http://xenforo.com/contact/

 

[Chris D]

Moderators seem to have access to all customer information.

Again as i stated this thread is directly a question to management. Fanboys and moderators can refrain from responding.

I will like to know how can a company share my private information with third parties. No disrespect to Jake , Slavik or Lawrence but they clearly stated they are volenteers in this forum. Therefor i will like to know on what conditions did Xenforo Ltd. shared my and your information to mods.

This is a public forum and I will respond to any thread I like, thank you very much.

As trilogy33 states, your best avenue is to contact management via the correct avenues.

What do you class as "private information"? They have access to the ticket system so they can provide excellent support outside of the forum and they can simply see whether you are licensed or not. Who says they have access to private information?

Also, they are not "third parties". They may only be volunteers, but they are official representatives of XenForo Ltd who are only here to make our lives easier.

What exactly is your problem?

 

[kkm323]

If you are talking about the costumer area, the only data that is so private is the paypal account and again they can't do anything with that.

 

[yavuz]

I will like to know how can a company share my private information with third parties.

Out of curiosity, as a concerned member, where and when did this happen? Could you direct us to a post & thread if exist or elaborate more? Thanks.

 

[Mert]

If you are talking about the costumer area, the only data that is so private is the paypal account and again they can't do anything with that.

There are other sensetive information located inside customer details like address , vat number etc..
Anyone can freeley share their private life , though i value my privacy. So i will like to know the exact answers :

Does Moderators have access to all these information ?
Does Moderators have any agreement with Xenforo Ltd. that will prevent them from making profit from this information ?


All the other aspects posted on this thread is useless. Anyone can try to rant as much as they want. However my valid questions needs to be answered.

 

[Mert]

Out of curiosity, as a concerned member, where and when did this happen? Could you direct us to a post & thread if exist or elaborate more? Thanks.

#71

 

[RobParker]

As Slavik suggested, have you submitted a support ticket raising these queries? I think that's likely to be your most successful route.

 

[Mert]

I am sorry but i choose where to post my questions.
Because of my own protection , i prefer not to have any non public interaction with Xenforo Ltd. and it's owners.
That's why instead of posting useless messages why not let Ashley, Kier or Mike respond the thread.

 

[Chris D]

That's why instead of posting useless messages why not let Ashley, Kier or Mike respond the thread.

Because this isn't the right place to voice your concerns.

Mike, Kier and Ashley can have support tickets escalated to them by Jake or Slavik. Something that I am certain they are more than willing to do.

I'm sure that once KAM are aware of your concerns, if you would prefer them to, they would deal with you by e-mail.

They won't deal with you in public because it isn't appropriate to do so.

Does Moderators have any agreement with Xenforo Ltd. that will prevent them from making profit from this information ?

Yes. It's called "the law". It would be against the law for Jake, Slavik or Lawrence to be able to share or make profit out of your information.

But, do you make this amount of fuss anywhere else? How do you get through life? Like it or not, there are thousands of people out there that have access to your personal information. Credit card companies, finance companies, retailers, online stores, PayPal, anyone else you've bought a license from before. It doesn't have to be a "volunteer" that could share your or sell your personal information. It could be the CEO of a company that could sell your details on. KAM could sell your details on if they wanted to. But guess what? They won't. Nor will the moderators here.

Stop causing a fuss over nothing.

 

[yavuz]

#71

Ok, I see the ground for this thread. Couple of questions that needs clarification then:

Does it violate the right of a customer when a volunteer staff member of a company (not on payroll) to access user information such as e-mail adress, contact name?

And as follow-up, does XenForo have a written agreement with its volunteer staff not to disclose sensitive information (like above) outside the company?

Thanks.

 

[borbole]

Mert 's concern is very valid. If someone does not have a problem with their personal info being seen by the moderators or one does not value his/her privacy, then say that but do not go on attacking someone for his legit and valid concerns. This fanboyism is getting extremely annoying and very irritant to the point of making one feeling sick.

The current moderators are not paid stuff but volunteers which is a huge difference.

 

[Slavik]

For clarification purposes only.

Forum moderators have access to see if a user has a license linked to their forums account or not. They do not have the ability to view anything beyond that.

Support staff have a different login (not linked to the forums) to access to the ticket system and customer information required for the process of supporting any customer queries.

For the avoidance of doubt due to a several weeks long backlog of tickets following Mikes wedding (with Mike answering technical support and Ashley answering billing and account issues) Jake and myself were asked by XenForo if we were willing to work for them providing unpaid support answering support tickets, to which we both accepted.

Being on the payroll or not does not add influence to the situation.

All data is stored in such a way that it is fully compliant with the ICO Data Protection Act requirements as mandated by UK law. This includes the security of data, as well as how the data is made available and the transferance of any data. In short we are legally bound by UK law to maintain your privacy unless gaining your express consent first.

A full guide of the DPA and its requirements can be found here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide.aspx

 

[Mert]

For the avoidance of doubt due to a several weeks long backlog of tickets following Mikes wedding (with Mike answering technical support and Ashley answering billing and account issues) Jake and myself were asked by XenForo if we were willing to work for them providing unpaid support answering support tickets, to which we both accepted.

Being on the payroll or not does not add influence to the situation.

Do you have a NDA signed within Xenforo Ltd. or not ?
This is the main question and still is not answered.

 

[Chris D]

Mert 's concern is very valid. If someone does not have a problem with their personal info being seen by the moderators or one does not value his/her privacy, then say that but do not go on attacking someone for his legit and valid concerns. This fanboyism is getting extremely annoying and very irritant to the point of making one feeling sick.

The current moderators are not paid stuff but volunteers which is a huge difference.

In the grand scheme of things, they aren't valid concerns.

I'd say exactly the same thing to exactly anyone about exactly any company or product in the world.

This whole "my data must remain private"ism is getting extremely annoying and very irritant to the point of making one feel sick - and not just at XenForo.

There is absolutely zero difference between paid staff and volunteers. People are frankly naive if they believe their data is as secure as it should be. I once worked as an entry level telephone monkey on behalf of one of the UK's largest companies. I had access to endless amounts of customer data. Not just relevant to my job. But financial data. Credit card information, bank account information and credit history. Addresses, previous addresses, dates of birth.

Sure, I was an employee. Sure, there's a piece of paper that says I shouldn't do anything with that data. Sure there's laws in place. Do you really think that would stop some unscrupulous person from ignoring all that and doing it anyway?

So all in all, I don't think the concerns are valid. And actually, I suspect that this is pretty much just another attempt at creating forum drama. I've not attacked anyone, I'm just relaying my opinion and my opinion is that whether JAS have access to my personal details or not is no different to PayPal, Facebook, British Gas, a Travel Agent, an Estate Agent, a bank or any other organisation having my data.

I mean hell, we live in a world where people leave their customer details on a train on a USB stick: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7449927.stm

And all you guys can worry about is one tiny company out of hundreds leaking your data?? Naive.

 

[Chris D]

Do you have a NDA signed within Xenforo Ltd. or not ?
This is the main question and still is not answered.

Irrelevant.

An NDA is much less legally binding than... well, the law.

 

[RobParker]

Do you have a NDA signed within Xenforo Ltd. or not ?
This is the main question and still is not answered.

Jake/Slavik are the data processors in this scenario and aren't classified as a third party (read the ICO guidelines)

 

[Slavik]

Do you have a NDA signed within Xenforo Ltd. or not ?
This is the main question and still is not answered.

A NDA is not required as we are mandated by a higher authority (the UK government) that we are not allowed to disclose any information.

For comparisons sake, assuming said data was taken and transfered outside of XenForo. An NDA would mean we may be liable for any damages or a financial penalty.

Under the ICO we could face fines of upto £500000, reccuring fines issued yearly or even a custodial sentence. The ICO is a much more powerful requirement than an NDA.