Do you suspect your stars and flags being logged?

Sorry to say it, but, I don't think anyone really cares. When you hit forty plus you will feel most people are full of BS. You will spend most of your time worring about money and you will be very busy in your day to day life with all the responsiblities and comittments you took on in life. No time for much of anything else. It's the younger
and naive people who are so wholesome and idealistic. I am thrilled to remember how to spell something right when it happens, the rest of us are worried about aches and pains and seeing the back of a medicine bottle. World problems are really the problem of the younger generations. Most people really don't care and don't remember things unless it's on their to do list. Relax and don't worry so much, take time to smell the roses.

Originally posted by antar
Hi just have recently begun to sense that each post I choose to star or flag is being monitored by some outside source as if discovering what my real intentions, thoughts and actions are or could be.

That's not possible... at least, doing so would require specific monitoring and deep packet inspection of your daily Internet access and activity.

We don't keep server-side logs of user activity, and the posts you star and flag are retained securely in our database (for the purposes of preventing you from starring/flagging more than once). So even if an outside source gained access to the servers, there would be nothing to "see."

Locster:

So they could profile me with my stars and flags, but it would not be very accurate

I know thats the whole point I am coming from here.

Aliensun:
Ill link to you via u2u, dont want to pull up another window, comp running like a snail right now... easy though, its your stuff.

Ophiuchus 13:
Man it's not the ET related stuff I am concerned about, that is my life and part of who I am.

ghaleon12:

I know! That is a bad thought, I mean it would strike anonymity. I miss when you could post as anonymous.

InfaRedMan:
Thats because you have loads of MOXY!!! Or huge cahonies...

NewlyAwakened:
You know your stuff, smart and yes left me a bit more inclined to paranoid thoughts on the matter...

Chevalerous:
I meant from an outside source, ATS has too much to do this kind of thing, plus they proved over the years to me that they are on the up and up and not the psyops they have been accused of, but in the end they too are vulnerable to the outsiders inquisitions.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


So you are adding to the paranoia!! Am I correct in saying that "IF" I was being tracked it would have to be via my own comp and not this discussion board?

Thanks for taking time to respond. I hope you are right. Just a hunch. It will not keep me from starring and flagging.

I didnt start this to be an arse or cause dissention, just felt recently my info is not secure, it would not be surprising with some of the stuff I come up with though you know.

reply to post by locster


I think your post resonates with me more than anything said so far if you know what I mean.

reply to post by antar


Tread lightly. I had a thread trashed the other day for implying that there may be some other motives behind sites like this and others. First, my source was trashed and the OP deleted and then the entire thread along with the comments disappeared into the trash forum due to T&C considerations.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

That's not possible... at least, doing so would require specific monitoring and deep packet inspection of your daily Internet access and activity.

So it's not possible....

But you also know how it could be possible..

Kinda contradictory don't you think?

We don't keep server-side logs of user activity,

So how do you compile all the highly detailed ATS STATS?

and the posts you star and flag are retained securely in our database (for the purposes of preventing you from starring/flagging more than once). So even if an outside source gained access to the servers, there would be nothing to "see."

I believe you.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
We don't keep server-side logs of user activity, and the posts you star and flag are retained securely in our database (for the purposes of preventing you from starring/flagging more than once). So even if an outside source gained access to the servers, there would be nothing to "see."

But aren't you contradicting yourself here? If you are maintaining star/flag data for the purposes of preventing double-starring (something I didn't even think about when I wrote my last post but really only serves to bolster the point of that post), then would it not be possible for someone with access to the database to query for this information? I don't see how there would be nothing to see.

This is presuming they managed to break security of course, but my point is this stuff is logged (but my other point was not to worry about it ).

reply to post by Aliensun


P is for the number of posts you have authored .
F is for the number of flags you have received from other members on threads you have authored .
S is for the number of stars you have received from other members in response to posts you have authored .
W is for WATS.
K is for karma .

I don't understand W and K well enough to explain it to you , maybe someone else can help .

Can anyone explain those letters and numbers in the little box below our avatar area? I was assuming that the "F" stood for number of flags we gave, and the "S" for the number of stars, with the "P" for the number of posts.

hi antar
SANDF to you.
I think you are right about the SANDF indicating much of our personality if someone were to or could look...
On the other hand, we are here spilling our guts in plain english anyhow, so while you make a good point, i think if anyone wants to know about us, they will just read our posts.

I'll still star and flag. What the heck, I'm a harmless little nobody. I think because we have a lack of confidence in our government and are aware of so much corruption, we wouldn't put anything past them. Things are so insane these days and sometimes we get a bit paranoid.

probably, otherwise, whats the point of this website really

Originally posted by nerbot
So how do you compile all the highly detailed ATS STATS?

None of that data comes from any server logs, and is the result of several queries against the content of the database.

Originally posted by NewlyAwakened
then would it not be possible for someone with access to the database to query for this information?

All access is logged and restricted to a very small number of IP addresses... one for me, one for our tech support firm (for status monitoring, they don't have the password to the ATS database), and one for our hosting company (also for status monitoring and no password). The effort required to "get into" the server is significantly out of proportion to any potential benefit from the data obtained.


Also...

I get email alerts each time "someone" logs into the console of any of our servers. And disabling that alert first requires someone to log-in.

And to clarify -- no unauthorized access has been noticed.

Besides, I think one is far more in danger for what they may write on here than what they S&F.

But hey, you brought it to the right place to be discussed.

Good job.

reply to post by jibeho


I don't think so unless the trolls start coming out of the woodworks to trash the thread. In any case my answers have been met and my paranoia fully met...

reply to post by Danbones


The sad part is that there are probably REALLY innocent people who use this as some form of selfempowerment for lack of it in their real life, they could get others in trouble not so much for the stars and flags as that has been pretty clearly outlined, but for the anarchist type responses it may create in others. I know I have jumped on that bandwagon more than once in the Anti American threads, have taken my blows and been almost kicked out of the Discussion boards forever.

Interesting topic, and yes, I too have had that fleeting thought.

I would think logging all that information into usable form would be a bit taxing on the servers, or take up a lot of room, and to what end?

However, this site is above all else, a marketing and network site, and maybe the extra information IS data mined somehow to sell for whatever reason.

I'm not sure it would make any odds anyway. People star for all kinds of reasons, not just because they strongly agree with a post.

CX.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by NewlyAwakened
then would it not be possible for someone with access to the database to query for this information?

All access is logged and restricted to a very small number of IP addresses... one for me, one for our tech support firm (for status monitoring, they don't have the password to the ATS database), and one for our hosting company (also for status monitoring and no password). The effort required to "get into" the server is significantly out of proportion to any potential benefit from the data obtained.


Also...

I get email alerts each time "someone" logs into the console of any of our servers. And disabling that alert first requires someone to log-in.

And to clarify -- no unauthorized access has been noticed.

edit on 19-11-2010 by SkepticOverlord because: (no reason given)

So it would be possible if ATS was in on the deal??
Personaly I don't see what all the fuss is about.
Why would they even bother tracking what us members post?
They can tell your views by your posts that anyone can read and what you star and flag are probably posts of the same view as your own.
If they had an interest in a particular person they would attack their PC, not a website..