# 1) Has the SDMB ever been subpoenaed to release user information? 2) Who in SDMB is allowed access? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 29, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238 "2013-03-29T03:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/1 "2013-03-29T03:05:47Z")
See subjects. Not paranoid, just interested. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/2 "2013-03-29T03:25:32Z")
> [@Leo Bloom](#): > > 1. Who in SDMB is allowed access? Be more specific. Access to what? I can see the email you registered with. I can see the IPs you used to register and post with. I can’t see anything else about you. This is also all an Admin can do also. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/3 "2013-03-29T03:37:32Z")
I can’t remember what-all I was asked to supply when registering. I guess real name, email, and changeable IP is all the private data you have. But question still stands. Also, to refine question 2) (and your answer): Admins only? Cecil? (Please don’t strike me dead, heavens, for asking that.) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/4 "2013-03-29T03:48:00Z")
Q3) To your knowledge, would you be breaking the law if you answered the OP’s question in the affirmative? To your knowledge, would you be breaking the law if you answered the OP’s question in the negative? My understanding is that the Patriot Act (and its 2012 extension) permits warrentless wiretapping of certain kinds and that it is illegal to inform the target that he has been tapped. I can’t recall whether this applies to message boards. [Warrentless Wiretapping Approved Yet Again](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/12/warrantless-wiretapping-approved-yet-again-time-barely-fight). Anyway I wouldn’t necessarily expect an answer: it might not be reasonable. ETA: Fnord. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/5 "2013-03-29T03:48:12Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I guess real name, email, and changeable IP is all the private data you have. How would we get real name? (Unless your email includes your real name.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/6 "2013-03-29T03:52:47Z")
I just checked. The registration just asks you to enter a username and password; nothing about real name. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/7 "2013-03-29T03:54:51Z")
Even if it did ask you could just tell it your name is Rusty Shackleford or something. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/8 "2013-03-29T03:56:42Z")
Although I have no private sources of knowledge, I remember stuff said in the past, and so can provide probably-correct answers pending something official. Beyond what the Admin CP interface allows a Mod/Admin to access (see **samclem** ’s post for details), nobody on active staff knows any more about you than you have volunteered. If you are a Member (Charter or regular) and paid by PayPal or credit card, some bookkeeper at the Reader office has orocessed your proferred financial data, but is subject to severe criminal penalties for abusing that information beyond what you authorized its use for – and hence would not misuse it. Ed Zotti is on record that neither he nor Jerry Davis, the two Reader-office people who post, cannot access that information; it’s handled in a different office. And from Melingate and the incident that landed TubaDiva briefly in hot water a few years back, Ed’s policy is to carefully avoid any situation that might resuly in the SDMB having any interaction with the legal system whatsoever. Such things as marijuana use and P2P file sharing being topics discouraged or prohibited from discussion serve to underscore that fact. I’m sure Ed or others more closely connected with board operations can say more if they so choose, but that’s a first cut at assurance regarding the quesstions Leo raised. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/9 "2013-03-29T08:50:01Z")
As well as the membership and credit card details, if you ever bought SDMB merchandise there would be details and obviously an address. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/10 "2013-03-29T10:16:46Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Even if it did ask you could just tell it your name is Rusty Shackleford or something. Dag Nabbit…I am fucking “Dale Dribble” …jeeze… dsw ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/11 "2013-03-29T10:27:40Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > As well as the membership and credit card details, if you ever bought SDMB merchandise there would be details and obviously an address. Typically I don’t buy crap off the internet. tsfr.. just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/12 "2013-03-29T14:34:16Z")
You could have just read it for yourself. (You did agree to it.) [SDMB registration agreement as of 5/4/2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650726) (Quotes as appropriate.) \*\*We don’t request personal information other than your e-mail address (although you may include such information in your user profile if desired). … If you subscribe to the SDMB using a credit card, your card number and related information is retained in a secure database at our office. Access to this database is restricted to authorized CLM personnel. SDMB moderators and administrators do not have access to the database. From time to time we may acquire nonconfidential but sensitive information about you, some of which you may have posted yourself to our board. We won’t disclose or repeat such information except as (a) reasonable and necessary to manage our business, or (b) required by law, or (c) consistent with good citizenship, e.g., to prevent or report a crime or to respond to inquiries from law enforcement. We log your Internet address (IP number) each time you post. The IP number tells us your Internet service provider. We reserve the right to reveal the IP numbers and e-mail address (but no other confidential information) of chronic SDMB rule violators to other bulletin board operators. We do this to identify guests registering under multiple screen names. One of our third-party advertising providers, Google, uses IP numbers to customize ads served up to SDMB users.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/13 "2013-03-29T14:37:04Z")
When there was a Straight Dope store it was maintained on a totally separate server and none of the staff had access to it. The fulfillment of orders was by _Chicago Reader_ personnel and again we had no access to any of that either except to inquire and follow up on orders as part of customer service. It was all handled at the _Reader_. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/14 "2013-03-30T14:12:58Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Dag Nabbit…I am fucking “Dale Dribble” …jeeze… > > dsw Why would we care who you’re having sex with? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/15 "2013-03-30T14:18:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Why would we care who you’re having sex with? Reminds me of the ancient joke about the guy racing to the Priest Guy: “Father, Father, I had sex with three different woman last night!” Father: “Well, that’s nothing to be proud of!” Guy: “I know, but I had to tell someone!” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/16 "2013-03-30T21:26:11Z")
It’s “Gribble,” isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/17 "2013-03-31T14:35:49Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Reminds me of the ancient joke about the guy racing to the Priest > > Guy: “Father, Father, I had sex with three different woman last night!” > > Father: “Well, that’s nothing to be proud of!” > > Guy: “I know, but I had to tell someone!” An inversion (as the term is used in music) of the same joke: A Rabbi decides to skip shul for Yom Kippur and go golfing. God sees all. The Rabbi gets a hole-in-one. ETA: So, _has_ the SDMB ever been subpoenaed for users’ info? Matching IP to either username or posting content is a common way to catch bad guys on the net. Or, as someone upthread noted, perhaps it happened and you are not allowed to say. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/18 "2013-03-31T16:15:29Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > ETA: So, _has_ the SDMB ever been subpoenaed for users’ info? Matching IP to either username or posting content is a common way to catch bad guys on the net. > > Or, as someone upthread noted, perhaps it happened and you are not allowed to say. If it has happened we really couldn’t say. This sort of situation would have been handled through the legal department; we would not have this kind of information. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/19 "2013-03-31T17:06:00Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > If it has happened we really couldn’t say. > > _This sort of situation would have been handled through the legal department_; we would not have this kind of information. Italics added. Huh. That makes sense, of course. But _somebody_ would have to help them out. A developer of the bulletin-board software, to keep you guys out of it? **Ed Zotti**?–he does know everything. The Master? My cabal-radar is turning on… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238/20 "2013-03-31T20:41:05Z")
Possibly Jerry as the IT guy. Yes, some employee of _The Chicago Reader_ (or whomever currently owns the board) would have to be involved. Wouldn’t particularly be any of the mods or admins that post here, as they are all non-paid volunteers. Very likely an IT person pulls the logs and passes them through the legal department. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-has-the-sdmb-ever-been-subpoenaed-to-release-user-information-2-who-in-sdmb-is-allowed-access/654238.md?page=2)