Private messages are not monitored, but as we have had problems in the past with spam, personal threats, personal attacks, and other abuses of the system, we have had to look into a member's private messages before because of potential liability to YorkieTalk and because situations have gotten out of hand before. There are just some things we can not have on the YorkieTalk server that we pay for and are responsible for. PMs can be used for anything, but they are not for spamming members, attacks, or threats.
For your privacy, we do not share your personal email address or any other pertinent information to anyone unless we notify you in advance or required by law. But as our Rules & Regulations state, we do not allow personal attacks or spam, and the only way we can determine if that rule has been broken in Private Messages is by looking into the messages themselves (which usually only happens when a member complains about a PM they have received).
You are no in way required to use the Private Message feature of YorkieTalk. You can always email or instant message your YT friends if you do not agree with our written policies regarding PMs. But, just like YorkieTalk, any email or instant message you ever send (at least using public free services) is stored somewhere and someone will be able to retrieve that message or email if need be. |