# Can Admins read the pm's posters send to each other? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 17, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511 "2013-08-17T20:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/21 "2013-08-19T16:10:31Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > Does vBulletin really store passwords in cleartext? I just realized that the parent was talking about PMs, not passwords. Disregard; I cannot read, apparently. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/22 "2013-08-19T18:18:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Huh? He wasn’t asking for you to read his PMs. He was asking for you, per Lynn’s offer, to change his password and see if he got an email notification. If any of the user information was changed by an administrator the user would not get an email about it. The system does not work like that. ETA: Moderators do not have such access. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/23 "2013-08-23T21:01:44Z")
I keep finding out about all these limitations to the Admins and Mods. It’s almost shaking my faith. How will I keep up my awe and wonder? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/24 "2013-08-23T21:27:40Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I keep finding out about all these limitations to the Admins and Mods. > > It’s almost shaking my faith. How will I keep up my awe and wonder? You know that “Naughty/Nice” list that Santa Claus relies on? Who do you think composes it for him? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/25 "2013-08-24T08:12:06Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Admins do have the power to change passwords for any account. This is, of course, for a good reason which is to help a user who has forgotten their password. The user can then immediately change the new password to something else. > > A rogue Admin could change the password of a user account and then read all of the PMs. Obviously, the user would realize that something might be up when their password no longer worked so it isn’t exactly the most clever of tricks. > > Aside from that, without a hack, there isn’t a way for an Admin to read private messages. Devious. Would restoring the database from a backup return the password to the original? If so, an admin could use maintenance or other downtime to change a user’s password, read their PMs, and restore the db so the user would never know it had happened. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/26 "2013-08-24T16:19:33Z")
None of us have access to backups. Jerry (our tech guy) could do this, I guess – he has a higher level of access than any of us – but why would he? He’s a really busy guy and has a plateful as it is without messing around with the board. As large as this board is, anything that necessitated reinstalling a backup would take a very long time and the board would be inaccessible for days. (The last time it happened, quite a few years ago, there was no access for a week.) So that’s not likely to happen unless there’s some pressing need for it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/27 "2013-08-24T19:30:20Z")
But it could be done. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/28 "2013-08-24T19:51:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > But it could be done. Of course. Anyone with server access wouldn’t even have to mess around with database backups: they could just edit the includes/config.php file to grant their admin account permission to directly execute SQL queries, which they could then use to read everyone’s PMs from the AdminCP panel. So what? Pretty much everything you type into any website apart from a password or credit card information gets stored in an easily-readable format in a database somewhere that someone else is going to have access to. If you don’t trust the people who run a website with the information you type into that website, either encrypt it yourself with PGP or something or don’t type it into that website. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511/29 "2013-08-24T23:01:11Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I keep finding out about all these limitations to the Admins and Mods. > > It’s almost shaking my faith. How will I keep up my awe and wonder? Well, they may not have access to passwords and private messages but there’s still the death squads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-admins-read-the-pms-posters-send-to-each-other/666511.md?page=1)