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Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

There's a new bill that apparently is now in the House Representative known as the Cyber Privacy Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5108). If approved , individuals will have the right to ask from websites to take down their personal information. Apparently this is going to be regulated and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. One concern is that if approved websites might be faced with the task of removing overnight the information of scores of individuals in order to comply with their requests and avoid penalties. Granted, no one knows at this point if it will pass or not, but if the new registrations in Fauna are around 50+ a day, wouldn't it be prudent to put this idea on hold until the outcome of this bill is known? If registrations continue at the present rate, in three months time there will probably be around 5,000 new members with their private information registered, in addition to those that are already here and opted for the change. Right now they can be entered as time permits, but what would happen if all of a sudden 1,000 individuals requested their information be deleted?

The impact of such a bill would definitely depend on what they defined as "private information." Is your last name "private?" Is the town you live in "private"? Those are just a part of our every day lives that MOST of us do not consider "private" at all.

Also...how the heck would such a bill be enforced? They can't even enforce the current internet laws regarding fraud and theft.

Originally Posted by JudyC

The impact of such a bill would definitely depend on what they defined as "private information." Is your last name "private?" Is the town you live in "private"? Those are just a part of our every day lives that MOST of us do not consider "private" at all.

Also...how the heck would such a bill be enforced? They can't even enforce the current internet laws regarding fraud and theft.

Apparently even your last name is going to be considered private information, let alone your location. They probably will not need to enforce it, if your name is posted on a site you request for it to be removed, if the site does not comply it will be denounced to the FTC and they will impose the fines.

Best

A United States internet law would not effect a website based outside our country, so I find it hard to believe that it will be approved and enforced. The man power needed to confirm a website is US based before following through for each complaint would be ridiculous in itself. We're also talking what, 15 years of data at least? What about internet archiving websites? It's just not logical.

If it did come to that, it wouldn't really be a big deal for Rich to disable the Name and Location from public eye in vBulletin. It's a few clicks of the mouse.

I think the point he is trying to make is.... those of us speaking out about this here is not the only ones... even the gov is looking at it.

Why force us to disclose our info... it should be up to us to decide who gets it.

Yes Steph... I know it can be found... but once again... why make it easy for those that are too lazy to find it. Just like that article that was posted. Maybe it was someone that knew them... or maybe it was a crime of opportunity because they saw photos posted and also a location to go looking

Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

There's a new bill that apparently is now in the House Representative known as the Cyber Privacy Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5108). If approved , individuals will have the right to ask from websites to take down their personal information. Apparently this is going to be regulated and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. One concern is that if approved websites might be faced with the task of removing overnight the information of scores of individuals in order to comply with their requests and avoid penalties. Granted, no one knows at this point if it will pass or not, but if the new registrations in Fauna are around 50+ a day, wouldn't it be prudent to put this idea on hold until the outcome of this bill is known? If registrations continue at the present rate, in three months time there will probably be around 5,000 new members with their private information registered, in addition to those that are already here and opted for the change. Right now they can be entered as time permits, but what would happen if all of a sudden 1,000 individuals requested their information be deleted?

I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it. But quite frankly, those that put that info in the profile fields themselves are implicitly agreeing to have it here to be able to utilize this site. It is a requirement of registering. They can choose to not register on this site if they do not agree to provide that information.

But you do know it would then neuter the BOI, as any bad guy who has positively identifying info about them could request it to be removed. So then, what use would it be to even have the BOI? If you cannot positively identify who you are referring to, what's the use of such a forum?

As for the classifieds, likely my response will be simple, and pretty much in line with the requirement for new registrations. If you choose to have that information removed, then you just cannot use the classifieds. That will be the choice then, as it is now, that you have to make.

So except for the loss of the BOI, nothing much would change here if that bill becomes law.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it. But quite frankly, those that put that info in the profile fields themselves are implicitly agreeing to have it here to be able to utilize this site. It is a requirement of registering. They can choose to not register on this site if they do not agree to provide that information.

They gave their information willingly, no fault there but if the bill goes into effect, they are within their right to change their minds and ask to have their information removed. There's no problem if they don't request it, and probably no one is going to enforce that. Who are going to be the enforcers? The very same people that request their info to be deleted. If they request it and a given site does not comply, the fines come into play. It seems to be odd and chances are it will have to be modified for it to have chances to pass. But we have seen worse things happen...

Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

They gave their information willingly, no fault there but if the bill goes into effect, they are within their right to change their minds and ask to have their information removed. There's no problem if they don't request it, and probably no one is going to enforce that. Who are going to be the enforcers? The very same people that request their info to be deleted. If they request it and a given site does not comply, the fines come into play. It seems to be odd and chances are it will have to be modified for it to have chances to pass. But we have seen worse things happen...

The way I understand Rich to be explaining it is: If it's a REQUIREMENT, to use the forum, then the info stays. If they no longer want the info displayed then they lose privileges. They will not have the right to use the classified section of this site without that information. It has nothing to do with enforcing removal of "private" info as some seem to understand it?

Originally Posted by The BoidSmith

They gave their information willingly, no fault there but if the bill goes into effect, they are within their right to change their minds and ask to have their information removed. There's no problem if they don't request it, and probably no one is going to enforce that. Who are going to be the enforcers? The very same people that request their info to be deleted. If they request it and a given site does not comply, the fines come into play. It seems to be odd and chances are it will have to be modified for it to have chances to pass. But we have seen worse things happen...

If members can FORCE the removal of their names on posts they made on the BOI, as well as identifying information about a person posted with a thread, then the BOI no longer has the ability to do what it is designed and hoped to accomplish. If someone can make their posts anonymous after the fact, then the entire basis for trying to force some credibility of the posts just evaporates. It would become completely useless then, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

Nope, we won't. And we advise anyone considering doing business with someone who is in a location different from what is listed here to think twice about it.

I know I'm coming in on this discussion late -- but --

It is quite frequent in rural areas for a person to have a mailing address with one town name on it, but a physical address with a different town name. For instance, I know one fella who has a mailing address in a town called Springfield -- yet he actually lives about 20 miles north of there, closer to a couple of other towns with other names. Springfield is simply the closest post office to his farm. Similarly, here where I am, Lebanon/Watertown/Mt.Juliet/Lavergne/Smyrna/Murfreesboro all sort of overlap to one degree or other. So town names don't always mean much.

Just a thought!