Greetings. I have recently been contacted by a subscriber to this list
who had apparently just become aware that emails distributed via the
list are stored in the list archive which can be accessed online at
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds . They
expressed concern that their email address was visible in the archive as
part of emails that they had posted to the list.
The person who hosts the archive for COG, and I, both explained that,
although a person browsing the archive can see the email addresses, the
email addresses are actually camouflaged in such a way that it is
difficult for spammers and others to harvest email addresses from the
archive.
Until last year this also prevented Google indexing email addresses in
the archive. Google recently adopted more sophisticating methods for
scanning web pages and did commence indexing them. Our archive
maintainer has now taken action that will stop Google from indexing the
email addresses in the archive. It will probably take a couple more
weeks for Google's cache to be updated, meaning that email addresses
retrieved from the archive will appear in Google's indexes for a little
while longer.
The content of emails in the archive will remains searchable by Google,
and a human visiting the pages of the archive following a link provided
by Google search will still be able to see e-mail addresses.
It has been suggested that information about the contents of the archive
are not communicated sufficiently explicitly to people when they
subscribe to the list. The availability of the material in the archive
is actually mentioned in the header or footer of all emails distributed
via the list, and in COG's publications. It is frequently mentioned in
emails distributed via the list.
Nevertheless, as list manager I want to make sure that all subscribers
are aware of the archive and of how it operates. If you have any
concerns, please contact me directly at
rather than replying to the 310
subscribers to this list. It is possible for us to delete your email
address from emails currently in the archive or, alternatively, to
delete your emails entirely if you prefer that course of action. Since
all emails distributed via the list are archived, if this is not
acceptable to you please either leave the list by sending a blank email
to or cease sending
emails to the list address.
I have amended the information at the list's web page
http://canberrabirds.org.au/publications/discussion-email-list/ , and in
the 'welcome' message that people receive upon subscribing, to clarify
that material distributed over the list is stored in the archive and is
publicly available there for perusal.
As mentioned above, if you wish to follow up on this matter please
contact me directly.
Best wishes -?? David
--
David McDonald
Canberra Ornithologists Group email lists manager
1004 Norton Road, Wamboin, NSW 2620, Australia
Tel: (02) 6238 3706
Fax: (02) 9475 4274
Mobile: 0416 231 890
E-mail:
|
