by TD (aka: JaneDough)
Member since:
August 16, 2006

If You Have a "Private Group", You'll Want to Know This...

October 17, 2006 04:22 PM EDT
views: 87 | comments: 17

The Gather glitches have been a little farther reaching than previously suspected. 

 

I have a private group and have just realized that non-members are receiving email notifications for articles posted there.  The people receiving these notifications are friends of the article's author, but not members of the private group.  When they click on the articles, they're able to access them.

 

Obviously, this shouldn't be happening.

 

I opened the group at the outset of the current Gather glitches, so I don't know if this group's information has been coded incorrectly in one of the servers, which means I also don't know if it will be automatically corrected when all the servers are back up and running as they should. 

 

Many of this group's invited members initially could not sign into the group and, as the group's moderator, I still cannot access my own group unless I go in through the "edit group" feature!  Actually, I also can't access many groups that I am a member of, either.  (And I have no backdoor "edit" feature to use there in order to gain entry!)
link to this page
Bookmark this post:
Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Buzz
More

Comments: 17

capeach -. Oct 17, 2006, 4:27pm EDT
TD- one possible reason this can be occurring is if people are also selecting for their "family, friends, and colleagues" to be able to read their articles in addition to the group they post it to. Although people may be members of a private group, anyone can read the article (and the comments posted) if the original poster neglects to select that only people in the specific group they post it to can read it.
Kathryn E. Oct 17, 2006, 4:28pm EDT
This has been happening all along. If you ever publish an article to Just Me, to work on, be sure to include - something like Just me - test - come back later - otherwise, people might see it and comment on it.

Don't rely on things to really be private because Gather is not THAT secure. Just words to the wise.

I have a group for private membership that I sometimes cannot get into, either.

Also, sometimes I have to connect to myseslf to sign in!

Or, sign in repeatedly.

yada yada
Sue * Oct 17, 2006, 4:31pm EDT
Ok guys, you are losing me here. I get that we had someone ask a question on JB group that didn't have a clue who we are. I guess I didn't even realize it was a private group, although why would anyone not affliated give a care about it. But Mel, I'm lost on how we should sign up when we ask someone to be a friend. So far I'm not posting anything that the world can't read...but, I want to know what I'm doing in case the time comes.
Susan *. Oct 17, 2006, 4:45pm EDT
FYI... the article in question was one I posted and I did not check anything other than the name of the group I wanted it to go to. Shortly thereafter, a friend from another group commented on my post and I was flabbergasted! It wasn't anything that was "sensitive" by any means but it also did not mean anything to someone not savvy to the group....I contacted gather about this and will keep you posted on what they say in return....
TD (aka: JaneDough) Oct 17, 2006, 5:09pm EDT
But Susan, above where you check the name of the group, you need to specify that it can only go to that group. Otherwise, it will go out to the public and ALSO be posted specifically to that group. Did you check that box?
Susan *. Oct 17, 2006, 5:13pm EDT
yes I did...I specifically clicked it was to go to that group only....I'm going back to check my posting and "edit" and I'll see what it's on....
Susan *. Oct 17, 2006, 5:17pm EDT
OK...I just went and checked and I HAD clicked "select people and groups" and did NOT check where it goes to friends, family and collegues....the ONLY group selected was this one...let's see now if others can still access it or if the glitch in fact has been fixed.
TD (aka: JaneDough) Oct 17, 2006, 5:26pm EDT
Oh jeez... I was kind of hoping for the oversight, Susan. Dang!
Susan *. Oct 17, 2006, 5:36pm EDT
...I'm sure it's just a minor glitch but until we're sure, remember the wise words my mom used to utter..."don't write anything you don't want repeated in church!" LOL
TD (aka: JaneDough) Oct 17, 2006, 5:42pm EDT
I don't know, Susan, my church is a pretty wild place! :D
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Oct 17, 2006, 6:20pm EDT
I figured you didn't have to be a member of a group to read the articles. If you go to all the articles that have been posted, you can click on any of them and read them. I don't think there is a totally private posting here.
TD (aka: JaneDough) Oct 17, 2006, 6:31pm EDT
It does get a little overwhelming, Lisa. As far as privacy goes, I think after they've gotten these issues fixed, that functionality should work.

Gloria -- I belong to another private group where this has never happened. You can't read anything there if you aren't a member. I tried emailing an article out of Judy's OTHER Book to another one of my email accounts to see what the result would be. I was glad to see that I would have to sign in, and be a member of the group, in order to read it.
Kevin (''The SiteWizard'') V. Oct 18, 2006, 9:19am EDT
It is important to note that there are TWO settings that are very important for private groups. If BOTH settings are set to private, then all content published EXCLUSIVELY to that group should remain private.

The first setting is whether the group itself can be viewed by the public (group search, group listings, etc.).

The second setting is whether the content of that group is private (restricted to members of the group).

BOTH settings must be set correctly by the Gather Group owner (especially the second one), else others outside of the group may gain unintended access.

When publishing to this group, you must also ensure that you select only this one group, and no others.

Hope that helps.

________________________________________________________
Gather Group Owner? - Learn techniques to manage your group HERE.
TD (aka: JaneDough) Oct 18, 2006, 5:08pm EDT
Thanks, Kevin – We were aware of the points you've listed. All settings were double checked and are correct and the selections made when posting articles were also double checked to have been done correctly. We've had problems, like simply accessing the group, since it was set up. I'm wondering if, since I set up the group at the outset of the server trouble, the group info has somehow been coded incorrectly, or maybe wasn't stored in each server, or stored the same, etc. I'm wondering if ALL problems will be solved when Gather has gotten everything fully functioning and back online or if some things will need to be manually fixed after the fact.
Susan *. Oct 22, 2006, 1:56pm EDT
thank you Kevin for posting....I have done just what you suggested and I suspect that the problem in question is another example of the "gather gnome" in action. It WOULD be nice to know that articles we post to private groups STAY private

Join the Conversation
Chime in! Become a Gather member to comment.
Already a member? Sign in
top
 
Gather | Friends | Groups | Share
About Gather | Engagement Marketing | Make New Friends | Gather Points | Advertise on Gather | Gather Press | Privacy | Terms of Service | Community Guidelines
Books | Celebs | Entertainment | Family | Food | Health | Moms | Money | News | Politics | Spirituality | Sports | Travel | Writing
Version 16961, "Pacino"; Copyright © 2009 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.