[JTMON]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bira
I would just like to warn those admins who installed this hack from a legal standpoint.

If you do not clearly state both in your privacy statement and in your Private Messaging area (eg at the bottom) that PMs may be viewed by administrators, you are making yourself liable to ANY user suing you for privacy invasion.

Those who say that this is on your own "property" don't know the law.

ISPs, for example, store your e-mails. PMs are by default person-to-person exchange - their name suggests as such, and any reasonable user is allowed to assume by the name alone that they are as such = and are therefore defined by law in US and EU the same as e-mails. If an ISP admin was reading your e-mail without your knowledge or permission, you could sue the ISP and win.

The same applies to any service provider who offers "private" person-to-person communication on his premises, but in effect does not warn his users that this is not necessarily the case.

Install the hack all you like, but don't forget to add a warning to your Privacy statement and Private Messaging area. Otherwise, each and every single member of your community can sue you - and win.