PM Attachments MOD - NEED YOUR VOTE PLEASE!

[SoLoGHoST]

Ok, My PM Attachments MOD is about to be APPROVED by the SMF Customization Team, and 1 suggestion they offered is to remove the ability for Administrators to browse through all attachments sent from members via Personal Messages, since this kinda takes away the Personal part of the Message.  As it is now, Administrator's have the ability to view and/or download any attachment(s) sent through a Personal Message from any member(s), please note, they can not see the message that was sent, just the attachments (refer to pic attached in this post please).  I have thought of this before since this could be a concern by Admin's for such content that would warrant a BAN/Dismemberment from that forum, etc..  However, if Admin's can not view attachments they have no way of knowing (other than if the member(s) receiving the attachment lets the Admin know of such content) that the content is deemed inappropriate.  And no way of knowing if such content breaches the Terms of Use Agreement for that particular forum.

So, in short, I would very much appreciate all of your votes on this as soon as possible so that I can make any changes, if needed, to the MOD before 1000's of people begin downloading it and installing it on their forums.

EDIT - I am not sure, however, there may also be action taken from the Server who is hosting the site, if they find material not suitable according to their standards.  In which case the Person who has bought the domain will be held responsible!  So, please also keep this in mind as well.

Thanks

RE-EDIT - Just occurred to me that I am asking you all to vote on something that you can't even see.  So attached is what the Browse Files -> PM Attachments looks like in the Admin Settings, and same thing applies for PM Thumbnails.  This is the extent of it all!  Clicking on each filename either pops up a window for you to view it (if image), or allows you to download it (if non-image).  Same exact thing as the Attachments in Posts.

[Arantor]

Considering that SMF considers messages between users to be private, such that there is no interface for it, I would have to argue that the same should apply to attachments.

If the server admin wants to manually examine posts and files, that's up to them, however.

[SoLoGHoST]

Yes, I originally felt this way from the beginning, however, after speaking with a collegue, and a Forum Administrator, on this about several issues that could arise from not allowing Administrator's this option, have changed my mind.  Now, I'm at the point of whatever you guys think is what I'll do.

[Arantor]

There are arguments both ways, just as there are arguments both ways about allowing admins to have access to PMs other than via raw DB access.

SMF's stance on PM access is unlikely to change, and thus I would have to argue that attachments in PMs would be the same, I think.

[Uhura!]

I voted "no" because of SMF's privacy policy.

Perhaps a happy medium would be disabling the ability to attach things to PMs if the concern is security.

[Shortie]

Okay and honest opinion from me

At the end of the day the Forum owner has responsibility for what is posted and displayed from his or her forum

So the owner has the right to view all content and the easier it is the better - This mod adds a serious amount of functionality to a forum and as so must be able to be policed

Just my view

[Shortie]

I voted "no" because of SMF's privacy policy.

Perhaps a happy medium would be disabling the ability to attach things to PMs if the concern is security.

Sorry here but what is the difference from looking at the Database or having a nice front end to look at it

[Shortie]

Sorry to keep going on here

Does any one think that GOOGLEMAIL cannot be read by the government if there is an issue


Okay I will shut up for now

[SoLoGHoST]

No, keep going, these are very good points and I would like to hear others opinions on this as well.

EDIT:

...Perhaps a happy medium would be disabling the ability to attach things to PMs if the concern is security.

The whole point of this MOD is to be able to attach things to PMs.  You can disable it after installing it, sure, but what is the purpose of having this MOD installed if you don't plan on using it.  The reason I created this MOD was started from a MOD Request here at SMF, so there is a need for it.  But just need to know how far that need goes via this POLL.

Thanks

[Shortie]

Cheers SoLo

If they are taken the wrong way I apologize so apologies all round

But having worked for large organizations and EMail providers what I say is true even if you do not want to believe it

[SoLoGHoST]

No need to apologize.  This is the start of something real man.  This is how mountains are made and babies are born   This is what separates the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls.  In short, this is all GOOD STUFF!

[Arantor]

This has been discussed numerous times, both publicly and privately - at least the ability to browse PMs - and time and again the decision has been that SMF will not allow admins to browse PMs. I see no reason that they will change this stance for attachments, even if the litigious attack surface is larger.

[Kays]

I agree that the body portion of a PM should be private. but the site owner does have the ultimate responsibility for what's on the server. Most hosts do prohibit certain types of files. So the option should be there to at least view all files uploaded. At the minimum the admin should have the ability to notify the offender or to know who it is.

I do realise that SMF now encrypts file names and hosts seldom check. But still.. 

[Shortie]

Last one from me

Email

When you send us an email you provide us with your name and email address, along with any other information you provide in the body of your email. This information may be shared with persons outside of Simple Machines only when they are required to receive this information in order to respond effectively to your query. We retain all email correspondence indefinitely in order to improve our services according to customer feedback.

So where does it say that this does not pertain to PM's

[kaamaru]

Yes if the person sending the PM knows about it.

[SoLoGHoST]

This has been discussed numerous times, both publicly and privately - at least the ability to browse PMs - and time and again the decision has been that SMF will not allow admins to browse PMs. I see no reason that they will change this stance for attachments, even if the litigious attack surface is larger.

Please note, don't want to cause any confusion here, but this was just a suggestion from the SMF Customization Team, not a demand!  That means, they suggest that I do this, however, if I don't, they will still APPROVE this mod.

[Shortie]

So you put in the Forum rules Simple from my point of view

[Kai Summers]

I vote yes, I would hate to think that it would happen but if a group of paedophiles exchanged inappropriate material through the use of an SMF PM, there would be a serious legal issue to contend and as an Admin I would want to discourage such behaviour by making people aware that attachments can be monitored.

Regards

Kai

[Shortie]

Yo Thank you, someone who sees my point of view

I am not a prude but just respect my members well being

[SoLoGHoST]

Good Point, on that note, I could even add underneath of where the user attaches file(s) to a PM, a sentence or 2 explaining that "PM Attachments can be monitored" or something along those lines.  So that all users of a usergroup that has the ability to add attachments to PM will know of this.  Sounds Good to me!