# Remove moderator ability to view users email addresses
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [2015年六月20日 21:48 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261 "2015-06-20T21:48:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@AstonJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AstonJ)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 18:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/21 "2015-06-27T18:20:26Z")
> [@TechnoBear](#):
>
> So they put a fake location and use a proxy to match…
If they are going to those lengths then I am sure they can come up with a better email/username algorithm.
> [@TechnoBear](#):
>
> Moderators on vBulletin forums also have access to e-mail addresses. I imagine it’s common to most forum software, although vBulletin is the only other I have moderator experience of.
They don’t and never have on my vB forums. As far as I know they are not exposed on IPB forums and I don’t recall them being viewable on PHPBB forums either - but I may be wrong as it’s been a long time since I used PHPBB.
> [@ColdSun](#):
>
> Very few people are going to mind the fact the moderators have access to emails. A large portion of the forum and cms software allow for the exposure of email addresses to moderators. It’s likely the userbase doesn’t differentiate between moderators and administrators and instead just considers them ‘Staff’.
I don’t think that’s the case at all. Several times I have been asked whether a user’s account details are private and kept separate from moderators.
---
### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 18:36 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/22 "2015-06-27T18:36:07Z")
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> They don’t and never have on my vB forums
Not in the forums per se, but in ModCP definately
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> Several times I have been asked whether a user’s account details are private and kept separate from moderators.
And I wonder what they have to hide?
---
### Author:  [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 18:58 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/23 "2015-06-27T18:58:18Z")
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> I think what would serve you better is what I posted earlier - by having a required field on signup called ‘location’ and cross checking that with their IP.
That wouldn’t stop our current plague of profile spammers, who are all setting their locations within the US, and all using US IP addresses. What _is_ a giveaway, as @cpradio already mentioned, is the format of the e-mail address.
---
### Author:  [@AstonJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AstonJ)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 19:32 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/24 "2015-06-27T19:32:40Z")
> [@Mittineague](#):
>
> Not in the forums per se, but in ModCP definately
Not on any of mine. You _can_ enable it by giving mods ability to edit profiles - which I don’t do. I think most people will expect moderator responsibility is to help with moderation of topics/posts - not the moderation of user accounts.
> [@Mittineague](#):
>
> And I wonder what they have to hide?
Why do they have to have anything to hide? Everyone has a right to expect their details to be private and kept relatively secure.
> [@TechnoBear](#):
>
> That wouldn’t stop our current plague of profile spammers, who are all setting their locations within the US, and all using US IP addresses. What is a giveaway, as @cpradio already mentioned, is the format of the e-mail address.
I’d guess there are other tell-tale signs, like the IPs not belonging to well-known ISPs.
Sooner or later they will change their email/username format - what will you do then?
What are these accounts actually doing? Posting spam? Are there any other tools you could use? Like phrase replacement? (So you can prevent certain domains/names from being spammed.)
---
### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 19:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/25 "2015-06-27T19:37:21Z")
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> Everyone has a right to expect their details to be private and kept relatively secure.
As they do, They _are_ private and secure.
Moderators being able to access them does not make them otherwise.
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> what will you do then?
As we’ve always done, look at all available information to make an informed judgement.
The harder it is for Moderators to do so, the easier it is for problem acounts
---
### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 20:26 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/26 "2015-06-27T20:26:11Z")
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> Not on any of mine. You can enable it by giving mods ability to edit profiles - which I don’t do. I think most people will expect moderator responsibility is to help with moderation of topics/posts - not the moderation of user accounts
Your view on moderation greatly differs than the view we have. We have an admin team of 2, our moderation team is near ~10. If I had to constantly keep asking the two admins to Ban X, or suspend Y, that’d be frustrating. Those are moderator actions on an account.
Knowing the persons email address is critical for both of those actions (especially the first, as you’d want to ensure the email was sufficiently blocked for re-registering).
I think you are a very low minority on this one. I wouldn’t be able to perform 60% of what we deal with on our instance without seeing the email address. The posts that “feel off”, but are not obvious spam, and thus require a small bit of investigation. It sounds like you should make your “moderators” as TL 4 as that grants most of the ability they have now (except they can’t deal with flags) and then they can’t see the email address/edit profiles of others.
---
### Author:  [@AstonJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AstonJ)
#### Post date: [2015年六月27日 21:54 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/27 "2015-06-27T21:54:34Z")
> [@cpradio](#):
>
> Your view on moderation greatly differs than the view we have. We have an admin team of 2, our moderation team is near ~10. If I had to constantly keep asking the two admins to Ban X, or suspend Y, that’d be frustrating. Those are moderator actions on an account.
>
> Knowing the persons email address is critical for both of those actions (especially the first, as you’d want to ensure the email was sufficiently blocked for re-registering).
>
> I think you are a very low minority on this one. I wouldn’t be able to perform 60% of what we deal with on our instance without seeing the email address. The posts that “feel off”, but are not obvious spam, and thus require a small bit of investigation. It sounds like you should make your “moderators” as TL 4 as that grants most of the ability they have now (except they can’t deal with flags) and then they can’t see the email address/edit profiles of others.
Mods banning spammers or problematic members is fine - as usually an admin will set out guidelines on when this intervention is needed (we have a mod rulebook). I don’t think though, that mods, who are usually unpaid volunteers, should have access to the private details of users.
Our mods have never needed to view the email addresses of users - and we have been hit by all sorts; organised ‘troll’ groups, disgruntled ex members repeatedly creating accounts, mass bot spam, eastern block spam, members just wanting additional accounts, etc.
What kind of problems are these accounts creating on your site? Spam posts? PM Spam?
---
### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [2015年六月28日 00:59 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/28 "2015-06-28T00:59:14Z")
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> What kind of problems are these accounts creating on your site? Spam posts? PM Spam?
All of that and more.
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> Our mods have never needed to view the email addresses of users
True, they may not be _needed_, neither should they be the sole criteria for making decisions.
They are but one, and a crucial one, of things that should be looked at before making a decision.
Your Mods are to be commended for working under less than optimal conditions.
> [@AstonJ](#):
>
> I don’t think though, that mods, who are usually unpaid volunteers, should have access to the private details of users.
The answer has been provided
> [@cpradio](#):
>
> you should make your “moderators” as TL 4
Seems that all that can be said has been said, it’s your forum so of course you are free to do as you choose. But personally I prefer to have as many tools for the job at my disposal as possible.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年六月3日 00:15 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261/29 "2017-06-03T00:15:38Z")
[上一頁](https://meta.discourse.org/t/remove-moderator-ability-to-view-users-email-addresses/30261.md?page=1)