ATS e-mail is here.

As is the case with any e-mail account, on any service that provides e-mail, root-level and domain-level system administrators may view any e-mail they like at any time as long as it remains on the server. No matter where your e-mail service is hosted, if you're concerned about system administration access then it is a good idea to configure your e-mail software to "erase messages from server" upon downloading them. Very often, the default is to leave messages on the server.

Information and tools to maintain privacy and security of your identity and information are widely available. A simple search on the topic can reveal a wealth of information ( www.epic.org... ).

I'm aware of a level of distrust in some circles on ats that assumes admin would review personal communications of members. As a policy don't (with the exception of two events involving hackers I can reveal via U2U), and the implications are distasteful and insulting.

Got something to hide?? hmmm?? All emails can *possibly* be read by an unsuspecting source. I wouldn't imagine the internet being a private way to communicate in the first place. Just enjoy and don't give secrets away

Originally posted by magestica
Got something to hide?? hmmm??

We all have something to hide mag. We all have secrets.

i think its a valid question and i personally dont see any reason to be offended by it....this is a conspiracy website after all....and the "what,you got somethin to hide?" argument is the same one used to further the homeland security total information awareness lobby....



[Edited on 22-10-2003 by Creepy]

Originally posted by William
As is the case with any e-mail account, on any service that provides e-mail, root-level and domain-level system administrators may view any e-mail they like at any time as long as it remains on the server. No matter where your e-mail service is hosted, if you're concerned about system administration access then it is a good idea to configure your e-mail software to "erase messages from server" upon downloading them. Very often, the default is to leave messages on the server.

Information and tools to maintain privacy and security of your identity and information are widely available. A simple search on the topic can reveal a wealth of information ( www.epic.org... ).

I'm aware of a level of distrust in some circles on ats that assumes admin would review personal communications of members. As a policy don't (with the exception of two events involving hackers I can reveal via U2U), and the implications are distasteful and insulting.

That's all I wanted to know. Thank you for answering my question. Oh and by the way If I have a level of distrust of you guys it's your own doing. Recent events on this board have forced me re-evaluate my opinion of certain individuals here. But im not going to get into it right now. Anyways thanx for answering my question truthfullly.

Originally posted by Creepy
i think its a valid question and i personally dont see any reason to be offended by it....this is a conspiracy website after all....the "what,you got somethin to hide?" argument is the same one used to further the homeland security lobby....

[Edited on 22-10-2003 by Creepy]

Exactly. You know for a conpiracy board the admins and mods here seem to get very defensive when asked simple questions. I wonder why that is. Oh and Im not buying that whole "im so offended you asked me this question bull$hit." Since William is the admin its his job and the mod's jobs to answer any questions members may have regarding features on the board.

Dude calm down.
There is no way any of the staff can read those emails. There encrypted, and it would be hard to find out to whom an email blongs to...

I am far more concerned that my ISP email address gets monitored than my ATS emails...

[Edited on 22-10-2003 by Creepy]

Originally posted by Zion Mainframe
Dude calm down.
There is no way any of the staff can read those emails. There encrypted, and it would be hard to find out to whom an email blongs to...

That should have been the answer in the first place, but instead William got all defensive and pi$$ed off because I asked a very simple question about a feature of the board available to the members. So dont go telling me to calm down. Tell that to the guy in charge.

Well...I would be pissed off too.
Is it that hard to just trust someone, for once.
Do you really think william is interested in reading everybodies emails?

Look, there is no way we can ever show you evidence that we cannot view emails which are stored on the ATS server. You'll either have to trust william, or you don't ask for an ATS email addy, it's that simple...

Ocelot, you've been around here for a long time. It's a bit distressing to hear this from you, of all people.

Some simple advice to all:
- Don�t buy an email account if you don't want one.
- No one forces anyone to come to this site. If for some reason you don't like the way admins/mod do things then your welcome to not log on.

The staff here, (especially William!), bends over backwards to develop and maintain this phenomenal community � so, when we here baseless crap about trust, nearly every day, you�re damn right we�re going to take some offense and get defensive.

Originally posted by Bob88
Ocelot, you've been around here for a long time. It's a bit distressing to hear this from you, of all people.

Some simple advice to all:
- Don�t buy an email account if you don't want one.
- No one forces anyone to come to this site. If for some reason you don't like the way admins/mod do things then your welcome to not log on.

The staff here, (especially William!), bends over backwards to develop and maintain this phenomenal community � so, when we here baseless crap about trust, nearly every day, you�re damn right we�re going to take some offense and get defensive.

Well hey if you want to get pi$$ed off then be pi$$ed off. And the word trust is getting thrown around a bit too freely here. That's right I have been here a long time and the fact that you're hearing this from me should tell you something and give you pause. I know William and the rest of you work hard on the site and I appreciate it. But it seems to me that you guys think that just because your mods you have to automaticaly get respect and trust. If the question I asked was simply answered without any bull$hit you wouldn't have heard anything more out of me. Since me asking a simple question caused such a great problem for you guys then I wont get an ATS email account then. Ill just keep the one I use now.

[Edited on 22-10-2003 by Ocelot]

Oh and the fact that you guys made a BIG stink out of a simple question is really eye opening and it really tells me a lot. Nice to know the tradition of "getting attacked for asking a question" is alive and kicking still.

Originally posted by Ocelot
Oh and the fact that you guys made a BIG stink out of a simple question is really eye opening and it really tells me a lot. Nice to know the tradition of "getting attacked for asking a question" is alive and kicking still.

Your exact question: "What I meant was if you or any other staff are able to view the email accounts of the members or are they completely private." Carries the implication you think we would, and are concerned you think we might. As one of the people working hard to offer these services to our members (as a thank you for participation) as part of a website devoted to alternative thinking, it's very bizarre to hear things like this.

We're not doing this as part of some hobby to create a means to be digital voyeurs. We do this because the mission of ATS is important to us. And engaging in sophomoric antics that disrupts privacy and breaks down the trust of members is not part of the mission. I'm struggling to discover where in the history of this site, any action by senior staff would have resulted in any member assuming that the privacy of @abovetopsecret.com or @denyignorance.com e-mail accounts would be managed with anything but the utmost of professionalism.

Well i think it was a perfectly valid question, god forbid we get paranoid people on a conspiracy website.

I dont believe any of the staff would do it though but people should be ok asking.

I shall not be purchasing one, i love my u2u inbox too much

Can we please calm this down, myself, Bob88 and especially William have every right to be defensive when members start being questionable towards us, as we have been taking attacks nonstop daily for months now.

Ocelot, I've recognised your name since you first joined the ATS boards, so I hope you can understand that when a person says something to one of us (no matter how subliminal the remark may be), we will now take it more personally as an attack. The reason for this again, is simply because we are so used to it.

William's response was honest and warranted, seeing as so many people still don't seem to realise that site level (Bob88, William, myself) and particularly root level admins (myself and William) will have access to all information pertaining to every aspect of ATS that isn't encrypted. As was previously mentioned, this is a conspiracy/secrecy website so we do understand alot of our returning visitors will be more "nervous" and question security matters involving themselves and information they distribute/receive.

Nowadays, everyone questions us and expects a big discussion over every little thing we do. Is it no surprise we get a bit annoyed at the least when we have to explain ourselves for every comment and action? (Retorical question)

Originally posted by SimonGray
Can we please calm this down, myself, Bob88 and especially William have every right to be defensive when members start being questionable towards us, as we have been taking attacks nonstop daily for months now.

Ocelot, I've recognised your name since you first joined the ATS boards, so I hope you can understand that when a person says something to one of us (no matter how subliminal the remark may be), we will now take it more personally as an attack. The reason for this again, is simply because we are so used to it.

William's response was honest and warranted, seeing as so many people still don't seem to realise that site level (Bob88, William, myself) and particularly root level admins (myself and William) will have access to all information pertaining to every aspect of ATS that isn't encrypted. As was previously mentioned, this is a conspiracy/secrecy website so we do understand alot of our returning visitors will be more "nervous" and question security matters involving themselves and information they distribute/receive.

Nowadays, everyone questions us and expects a big discussion over every little thing we do. Is it no surprise we get a bit annoyed at the least when we have to explain ourselves for every comment and action? (Retorical question)

Ok Simon. I've talked with both William and Bob and they set things straight. So everything is cool. I apologise if my question pissed you guys off because that was not my intention. By nature I am not a very trusting person so I saw fit to ask that question. Anyways lets put this little incident behind us and go on with the conspiracy business at hand.

Originally posted by William
A POP e-mail account. You'll need an e-mail client like Outlook or Eudora to use it.

Thanks...I've gotten the U2U info today & got it set up. I've also updated my ATS profile to reflect the new email addy.

Originally posted by William

Originally posted by Gazrok
Just set mine up today...works great! Curious though, it doesn't show as an option in the store anymore...

That's because you have one... only one per member.

Hmmm...If my wife signed up here & earned enough points, could she get an email addy too?
She probably won't, but I figure it would be worth it to ask...

Originally posted by Ocelot
What I meant was if you or any other staff are able to view the email accounts of the members or are they completely private.

As a related question, once I've gotten the new account set up, I shouldn't have any problems with changing the assigned password, should I?

Originally posted by Ocelot

Originally posted by magestica
Got something to hide?? hmmm??

We all have something to hide mag. We all have secrets.

Just take a look at his avatar...At the very least, he has to hide the name of Clark Kent...

Originally posted by Ocelot
Since William is the admin its his job and the mod's jobs to answer any questions members may have regarding features on the board.

Point taken...After all, this entire topic & all threads contained here *are* supposed to be devoted to the purpose of asking & answering of such questions. Implications of IT honesty or user-suspicions shouldn't even come into play, although the fact that this *is* a conspiracy-site I can understand how such implications get mentioned. After all has been said & done, there shouldn't be any offense implied or interpreted from either party...At least in this particular topic anyway.

Well I have my top secret email, and fully understanding how the web works, and issues involved, I have absalutely no problem with having my email hosted here, also.

I have setup my Outlook POP account, and have tested it.

This is one of the fasted email servers I have experienced. I bounced a test email out, and it was returned, after being virii scanned, within seconds !!
My broadband ISP is not near that fast!

If security is a concern, bear in mind, that emails are not secure, in most forms, in the public domain! Precautions can be taken, but primarily, keep your private stuff out of the email. As emails are delivered, they naturally could bounce off several 'other' servers as part of normal email delivery process for everyone and all companies, and any one of them may pose risks. You may be suprised how vulnerable email is, especially when using some anonymous email services (hotmail, yahoo, etc). But I doubt any email company, will give you the personalized service offered here, that william is giving.

I am fully satisfied !
Thank you william for a great addition to the store !

Is ATS email still around? I'd love to have an @abovetopsecret.com email address, that would be awesome.

Anyone know if this system is still up?

Thanks.