4 ms·

> or in private messages We do know that there's nothing 'private' about any social media platforms, but some people still believe that to be the case. Now th

> or in private messages We do know that there's nothing 'private' about any social media platforms, but some people still believe that to be the case. Now they are blatantly publicizing that private chats are being read. Anyone remembers the outrage when gmail was analyzing emails to provide ads? What happened to that?

tossaway90302 6y ago
>Now they are blatantly publicizing that private chats are being read. Who is publicizing it? This is purely speculation by moderators who are not reddit employess.
- frogpelt 6y ago
  If private message content is being moderated, it is not private.
  - belltaco 6y ago
    Moderators cannot see private message content.
    - goatinaboat 6y ago
      Moderators cannot see private message content. Maybe ordinary mods but Reddit employees?
      - Quillbert182 6y ago
        Yes, that's right.
      - shagie 6y ago
        Some Reddit employees certainly can see message content. This shows up in /r/redditrequest . Some times the system will flag a request for manual review. In that case, the following message is in the request: > Thanks for submitting this request! It’s been flagged for manual review (not a bad thing!). This might delay a decision by a couple weeks. In the meantime, please politely message the moderators of r/whatever and reply to this comment with a link to that message. Only you, the mods of r/whatever, and some admins will be able to view the message content. Including a link to this message will help speed the process along.
  - dmux 6y ago
    I believe that's why some platforms have started using "Direct Message" (i.e. "DM me") instead of the older Private Message terminology.
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
Yes of course the platform can read them. Everyone knows that. It's obvious from context that when people talk about private messages they mean messages that other users on the platform cannot see. It's one thing to prevent people from saying something on a part of your platform anyone can see it but if they want to talk about it one on one with someone else (someone who presumably has a block button at their disposal) then that shouldn't be censored. It's the difference between a billboard and a letter. Of course a 3rd party can snoop on a letter. But a billboard is content that is intentionally put in public view.
- nobody5050 6y ago
  Also, private letters and parcels are frequently checked for contraband.
Lammy 6y ago
> Anyone remembers the outrage when gmail was analyzing emails to provide ads? What happened to that? Google's PR seem to stay on top of that one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26484883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26484883
fsckboy 6y ago
> Now they are blatantly publicizing that private chats are being read. no, they aren't: banning the item from private messages doesn't mean that they are enforcing it by reading private messages. It could mean, for instance, that if somebody complains about you including the item in a private message, you would be in contravention of the rules. also, a robot daemon scanning private messages for the text string would not mean that your private messages were being read in any meaningful way.

tossaway90302 6y ago

>Now they are blatantly publicizing that private chats are being read. Who is publicizing it? This is purely speculation by moderators who are not reddit employess.

frogpelt 6y ago
If private message content is being moderated, it is not private.
- belltaco 6y ago
  Moderators cannot see private message content.
  - goatinaboat 6y ago
    Moderators cannot see private message content. Maybe ordinary mods but Reddit employees?
    - Quillbert182 6y ago
      Yes, that's right.
    - shagie 6y ago
      Some Reddit employees certainly can see message content. This shows up in /r/redditrequest . Some times the system will flag a request for manual review. In that case, the following message is in the request: > Thanks for submitting this request! It’s been flagged for manual review (not a bad thing!). This might delay a decision by a couple weeks. In the meantime, please politely message the moderators of r/whatever and reply to this comment with a link to that message. Only you, the mods of r/whatever, and some admins will be able to view the message content. Including a link to this message will help speed the process along.
- dmux 6y ago
  I believe that's why some platforms have started using "Direct Message" (i.e. "DM me") instead of the older Private Message terminology.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

Yes of course the platform can read them. Everyone knows that. It's obvious from context that when people talk about private messages they mean messages that other users on the platform cannot see. It's one thing to prevent people from saying something on a part of your platform anyone can see it but if they want to talk about it one on one with someone else (someone who presumably has a block button at their disposal) then that shouldn't be censored. It's the difference between a billboard and a letter. Of course a 3rd party can snoop on a letter. But a billboard is content that is intentionally put in public view.

nobody5050 6y ago
Also, private letters and parcels are frequently checked for contraband.

Lammy 6y ago

> Anyone remembers the outrage when gmail was analyzing emails to provide ads? What happened to that? Google's PR seem to stay on top of that one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26484883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26484883

fsckboy 6y ago

> Now they are blatantly publicizing that private chats are being read. no, they aren't: banning the item from private messages doesn't mean that they are enforcing it by reading private messages. It could mean, for instance, that if somebody complains about you including the item in a private message, you would be in contravention of the rules. also, a robot daemon scanning private messages for the text string would not mean that your private messages were being read in any meaningful way.