Privacy??
Hey everyone, I just stumbled across something.
If I Google search my first name, which is my username, and 7cups, I can see my entire profile, including everything in my feed. If I add in the word depression, which is an issue for me, I can see forum posts I have made talking about some very private things. This is WITHOUT actually being logged in to 7cups.
Maybe changing my username is the answer...I should have just gone with something less personal. But I'm kind of freaking out that everything I've said on 7cups, which I've thought of as a very safe place to just be me, is viewable by anyone online. Maybe I just didn't read the privacy agreement carefully enough?
I found this out because I searched for something about panic attacks, and one of the first hits was a forum post by this site. I thought, that's weird, I shouldn't be able to see this if I'm not logged in. But I could.
I did submit a question to the info mail address at 7cups and am looking forward to a response. Anyone else have any thoughts about this?
@Carlene Well, heck. Sorry to see that, and I can understand how you feel.
Someone from 7cups IT should know that is is technically possible to stop Google from crawling your site, but I'll post the link here:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182072?hl=en
I agree with you that getting out of Google search to the extent possible would probably be a better policy.
Hi Carlene!
Yes, changing your username is the answer: Username Change Request
When you sign up as a member it gives you a random username and tells you that only your username will be visible. That's the only hint you get that your username will be completely visible on the Internet. Perhaps it should give clearer advice about not using your real name.
The forums are public so that guests can read them. And guests means anyone not logged in as a member. So anyone at all can read the forums. And anyone who can read them can search them. It would be possible to deny access to the Internet search engines, but there's also the built-in search in the forum. Without any search facility at all, guests would find the forums harder to use.
@Carlene
Hi there @Carlene
I have just tried when not logged in and no information comes up however, it does if I'm logged in.
Lucy2
Really? When I read your reply I double-checked, and I can see 7 Cups profiles and forums as a guest and in Google search results when I'm definitely not logged in.
@lucy2