Board's policy on "outing" sock members?

[Flaubert's Dirty SOCK]

I created this Flaubert's Dirty SOCK account because I want some good advice about a delicate personal family situation which is too dificult for me to use my regular username for. I was a member at SDMB and came over here when Domebo was started, so I really value the insights and opinions of members here on family and relationships, but I'm worried to start the thread though about the "outing" of the last person who did this in a thread about adultery. I promise I'm not here to troll, but I really really don't want my "real" name involved in this situation.

[McNutty]

The intent and official policy is that you will not be outed. As you've seen, mistakes can happen. Because of this, if I ever needed a guarantee of anonymity, I would be careful to use an anonymizing proxy as well as a sock account. Create the sock account through a proxy, only log into it through a proxy, and make sure to log out and clear your board cookies before switching back to non-proxied browsing for using your regular account.

I'm not saying the folks who run the board aren't trustworthy; I'm just saying it's a lot smarter to take the matter into your own hands so it doesn't matter if they're trustworthy or not. Even the most honest and trustworthy person can screw up.

[Zuul]

The intent and official policy is that you will not be outed. As you've seen, mistakes can happen. Because of this, if I ever needed a guarantee of anonymity, I would be careful to use an anonymizing proxy as well as a sock account. Create the sock account through a proxy, only log into it through a proxy, and make sure to log out and clear your board cookies before switching back to non-proxied browsing for using your regular account.

I'm not saying the folks who run the board aren't trustworthy; I'm just saying it's a lot smarter to take the matter into your own hands so it doesn't matter if they're trustworthy or not. Even the most honest and trustworthy person can screw up.

This.

Mods are not supposed to look at IPs. I don't believe there is a way to block this ability from the moderator control panel at this time (and there are rare instances where we need access to them, though sock hunting isn't one of them), so they must rely upon their own self-control. Unfortunately, yes, a former mod gave into curiosity and did something she shouldn't have done. The resulting "outting" of that sock was a mistake, however, and those who did see the name have made every effort to not spread it around.

While I would like to say that this will never happen again, I can't guarantee that because I can't speak for everyone else. Using a proxy is the only way to be entirely sure the sock won't be traced back to your other username.

[Flaubert's Dirty SOCK]

Thanks for your frankness, I'll give it some thought.

[What Exit?]

Thanks for your frankness, I'll give it some thought.

Mainly what McNutty said as we cannot guarantee you 100% that none of staff will err badly. I would hope strongly this never occurs again, but you should take the extra step to protect yourself. Even when it did happen, I tried hard to push the plausible deniability of the sock having been identified. Collectively we are not suppose to give in to curiousity and reveal such information.

[WhyNot]

Even when it did happen, I tried hard to push the plausible deniability of the sock having been identified.

Jim, I'm not sure if anyone ever thanked you for making that classy move, so I'll do it here. Thank you. You were (are) a gentleman in the sincerest form of the word, and creating that doubt (even if the poster himself later undid that) was much appreciated, by me at least. You did what you could to alleviate the effects of a horrible situation, and it makes me feel like you've really got the best interest of the members at heart. Thank you.

[Exy]

Thanks for your frankness, I'll give it some thought.

There's lots of easy-to-use free anonymous web proxies out there. I have occasionally used ninjacloak.com in the past, but there's plenty of others as well. You just type the URL into there, and you're anonymized.

I don't know if the mods can see the entire history of IP addresses you use, but just in case: don't forget the activation link in the email you get when you first open an account. Make sure to copy and paste that into your anonymous proxy service, not just click it.

[Truth and Beauty]

Thanks for the tutorial Exy. You seem to be an expert in this matter.