Originally Posted by FewMiles
... your e-mail is stored on a server somewhere on the internet and is that any more or any less secure/private?
I just want to know: 1. if someone is going to access my private messages, I will be informed ahead of time, and that, ideally, my refusal to consent will be respected; and 2. that nobody is snooping around my "private" messages looking for "incriminating" info to leak to others. By that I mean, like if I had sent a private message to you criticizing Randy Petersen's hair style, I would probably want that to remain private. But use your imagination - I would prefer that ALL my private messages to other members remain "private," bar none. There are people on the boards about whom I feel less than warm and fuzzy, and if I am discussing experiences with them, obviously, I want those third parties to remain ignorant of my personal feelings (since that really is irrelevant to whether or not a member is legit or not).
If you truly want private, use encryption.
All I truly want, at this point, is a "yes" or "no" answer, i.e., "yes, private messages are really private," or "no, private messages are accessible to more than just you and the other member you are messaging."
(thanks for your response, fewmiles. ^ )