Nick Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 A few of you may have noticed a few changes that are affecting older dormant membership accounts. I am facing a few issues that dormant membership accounts are creating. First off too many dormant accounts are causing email bounce. This has caused major challenges with black listing and incorrectly marking the GMIC server as a potential spam address. Secondly UK GDRP causes issues around keeping personal identifiable data for indefinite periods. Members who clearly are not returning to the forum need to have all their identifiable data purged. Finally dormant accounts can cause potential security breaches from hijacked accounts which can also create a problem. I have identified members who have not actively logged into the forum for over 7 years. Their accounts have been changed to marked for deletion. This does not mean to say any content will be deleted, but their personal data will be soon deleted. However I am facing a technical issue with this as recently demonstrated by the late Rick Researches account. The software is designed to purge identifiable membership data and lock accounts whilst retaining content and mark content as attributed to an individual. Unfortunately this changed Ricks account to Guest Rick Research and I am not very happy about this. Until I have a work around I am not deleting old identifiable data as the software is not doing what I wanted it to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triadoro Posted April 28 Share Posted April 28 (edited) Since the deletion of inactive accounts began, Rick Lundstrom's threads and posts can no longer be found using the Search Function... even by typing-in Guest Rick Research. Several of his photos have simply vanished. Some links to his galleries lead to non-existent pages. It's ironic that in an effort to improve the forum, valuable and highly educational posts of one of the forum's most important contributors can now be accessed with the same level of ease as searching for a needle in a haystack, or accessed not at all. Edited April 28 by Triadoro correct spelling error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted April 29 Author Share Posted April 29 Nothing that can be done about it I am afraid, the content is still there but the account has been corrupted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Is that why I get the slightly disconcerting notice that our 'newest member' is Rick Research... a way to convince the system that his account should remain live even though he's sadly no longer with us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Yes I am seeing if I can rebuild the member account and attribute the content to him again it may be too time consuming and not workable so watch this space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 So this is still in the too difficult box. As for comments criticising actions taken, the reason why I take security seriously is evident by the spam attack I have had to battle in the last 24 hours. Easy for certain members to point fingers, when they do not have to manage the forum and all it entails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Thank you for all that you do. The world would be deminished without GMIC. Sorry to hear that people are being critical. They may betake themselves elsewhere if they are not happy. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirmiestelio Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Would be critical of security measures. Since the Covid shut-down, online hacking has sky-rocketed, and security measures are even more vital! Only a couple of years ago, my sister and I were (still are) active on a pin trading forum, and it was hacked. The hackers tapped into old accounts (where members hadn't signed in for an extended period) and they succeeded in editing and deleting entire sections. Irretrievable. The forum upgraded and put more security in, but it really impacted the whole forum community and sad to say - it hasn't been the same. So it is vital to get a handle on old, no-longer-used accounts. Totally understand! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkas Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 People need to remember that aside from the organised money making hacks now the norm, many other hackers are still just trolling and happily causing s**t simply for kicks & kudos. Their targets are often sites deemed ‘irresponsibly’ lax in their security and the misery the hackers deal out is a ‘punishment’, the hack is also used to show off/prove skills and more. This 👇👇 on here, doesn’t even bear thinking about… 6 hours ago, hirmiestelio said: The hackers tapped into old accounts (where members hadn't signed in for an extended period) and they succeeded in editing and deleting entire sections. Irretrievable. The effort & resources put in to keep (non-commercial, not for profit) GMIC safe from ever improving hacking tools is no easy task… & the least we can do is make sure it isn’t also a thankless one. For every ‘unsupportive’ comment there are so many more of these 👇 8 hours ago, Megan said: Thank you for all that you do. The world would be deminished without GMIC. On 23/03/2023 at 00:00, TracA said: Mine arrived yesterday. Beautiful pin. Thank you Nick, and thank you for everything that you do for the GMIC. My knowledge of my collecting area has grown exponentially because of your site and those on it who participate. All the best, Tracy On 24/07/2022 at 08:53, oamotme said: Nick, A note to thanks & appreciation for what you do. Whilst I am a loyal member of both OMRS & OMSA, GMIC is my 'go to site' especially for non-UK awards. The membership has a wealth of expertise which they are most generous in sharing with others. Thank you. I am happy to support what ever practical decisions you take. Owain 🍻🍻 tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 I do know the vast majority of members are supportive of GMIC and many have shown great support financially to ensure that we have a future. The volunteers who help me run this forum are also real stars and their work behind the scenes is very much appreciated by me. I was beating myself up over what happened to Rick Researches account and have tried several fixes which just haven't worked. The reality is the content is still there and if you search for specific articles it will come up. You just can't search using the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 Would you believe that as a response to this topic Triadoro has decided to report GMIC four times to his email provider over the last couple of days for sending him spam emails. All the emails in question being the notifications he signed up to and can switch off. Enough is enough I have had enough of your spiteful games, your account and all your alter egos, have been banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirmiestelio Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 5 hours ago, Nick said: Would you believe that as a response to this topic Triadoro has decided to report GMIC four times to his email provider over the last couple of days for sending him spam emails. All the emails in question being the notifications he signed up to and can switch off. Enough is enough I have had enough of your spiteful games, your account and all your alter egos, have been banned. For anyone unfamiliar with how to change their notification settings . . . it is VERY easy to turn your notifications on or off or make adjustments. Simply go to your profile and click the "Account Settings" button in the upper right corner of your profile banner area: Then click the "Notification Settings" towards the right center area: Here you see all the options for notifications and you can click the little arrows to view options for each type of notification option! You'll see "No notifications received" OR "Notification List" AND/OR "Email" under each heading. That is what is selected for your account for that type of communication. (The Notification List is the little bell up by your avatar in the top right of the forum pages): These are very easy to change and take literally seconds to adjust! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 Thanks for explaining that I will reference that in a guidance topic very useful for members. However in this case it was not done out of ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirmiestelio Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 29 minutes ago, Nick said: Thanks for explaining that I will reference that in a guidance topic very useful for members. However in this case it was not done out of ignorance. I figured it wasn't! But then I figured maybe someone didn't know how to change their settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonKarl Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 (edited) 46 minutes ago, hirmiestelio said: For anyone unfamiliar with how to change their notification settings . . . it is VERY easy to turn your notifications on or off or make adjustments. Simply go to your profile and click the "Account Settings" button in the upper right corner of your profile banner area: Then click the "Notification Settings" towards the right center area: Here you see all the options for notifications and you can click the little arrows to view options for each type of notification option! You'll see "No notifications received" OR "Notification List" AND/OR "Email" under each heading. That is what is selected for your account for that type of communication. (The Notification List is the little bell up by your avatar in the top right of the forum pages): These are very easy to change and take literally seconds to adjust! Thank you for the additional information and thanks for explaining to us clear detailed. Your help is greatly appreciated ! You are an inspiration ! All the best to you ! Edited May 3 by vonKarl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobW Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 (edited) On 04/05/2023 at 01:09, Nick said: Would you believe that as a response to this topic Triadoro has decided to report GMIC four times to his email provider over the last couple of days for sending him spam emails. All the emails in question being the notifications he signed up to and can switch off. Enough is enough I have had enough of your spiteful games, your account and all your alter egos, have been banned. Nick, It seems people forget that in an era where accountability for one's 'un-gentlemanly' conduct is not always called out, it can and does occur. Actions have consequences. Regards, Rob Edited May 21 by RobW Sentence construction 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuka f Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 Been there, seen that... I had a forum too, once... Great job Nick, and all the helping volunteers, too! Hang in! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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