Information sharing on Cruise Critic

[Grandma Cruising]

23 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I don't think it's a great idea to share your name and booking number on a public message board. I know I would never do that. 

 

Phil 

Just wondering why giving a booking number for a past cruise would cause any privacy issues. I would have thought that once a cruise is past a booking number would not be of any use to anyone else - but maybe I’m missing something?

[excitedofharpenden]

36 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Just wondering why giving a booking number for a past cruise would cause any privacy issues. I would have thought that once a cruise is past a booking number would not be of any use to anyone else - but maybe I’m missing something?

Because if people start giving out booking numbers out on here it then becomes a standard and those yet to go on their cruise could do the same. And then anyone can go online and look at their private information, address etc. Same goes for the name. It's just not a good idea to share this online publicly.  There should be channels at Azamara that will identify the individual without broadcast here. 

 

Phil 

[procter]

Well I guess you could pose as the previous guest with the number and interrogate Miami pretending to query your bill and ask which card you used as you had forgotten which one you used.

Sadly criminals succeed because they sometimes use random info to profit.

I really doubt if they  Miami cannot identify the guest unless of course there were multiple complaints re this specific tour (joke hopefully?).

Would be interesting to hear from Ms Cabelas regarding these issues rather than Bonnie having to carry the flack.

From her Bio she does not appear to have a customer facing background although this is not against her of course.

 

FYI It took me 6 months for Azamara to accept that Owners suites do NOT have MARBLE baths  let alone even a bath.

I wrote directly addressed to both Larry Pimentel and the chief legal counsel to try and get description changed and it was only after the Advertising Standards Authority in UK got involved was the description changed.

I also note that a "wintry" travel agent in UK still has "marble bath" in their description a year later .

Still not sure of the legality of agents description being binding on Azamara. 

I doubt you could hide behind exclusions on something that has been physically impossible for more than a year

 

[uktog]

47 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Just wondering why giving a booking number for a past cruise would cause any privacy issues. I would have thought that once a cruise is past a booking number would not be of any use to anyone else - but maybe I’m missing something?

If people know how to use it to access systems they can get at future info.  It’s got credit card info if it’s mined to that level.  Bottom line no way.

Are Azamara really saying they’ve had so many complaints they cannot from the information given work out the poster? I hope not. 

[Bloodaxe]

21 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Because if people start giving out booking numbers out on here it then becomes a standard and those yet to go on their cruise could do the same. And then anyone can go online and look at their private information, address etc. Same goes for the name. It's just not a good idea to share this online publicly.  There should be channels at Azamara that will identify the individual without broadcast here. 

 

Phil 

 

This makes we wonder about some of the information people post on roll calls.

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

This makes we wonder about some of the information people post on roll calls.

Indeed

And far too much held on insecure spreadsheets and webpages where who knows the security levels. We are cautious on that.  

Its hard to set up groups without a message facility which is why other methods are becoming popular 

i think cruise critic could do more to protect posters who don’t realise what they are doing by guidance, rules host training and post removal.

[excitedofharpenden]

16 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

This makes we wonder about some of the information people post on roll calls.

Yep!  It's one of the reasons I avoid adding details to spreadsheets that some roll call members keep that include things like name and surname, cabin numbers etc. I just don't think it's a good idea. 

 

Phil 

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

This makes we wonder about some of the information people post on roll calls.

I’ve often thought the same I cringe at some of the information posted on roll calls, there are a lot of people out there who with very few clues can access an awful lot of information. 

Simplest thing is from an email address to find out your address they will already have the date of the cruise and know that there’s a high probability your house will be empty.

We all have user names rather than using our own names for a reason! 

[excitedofharpenden]

From Cruise Critic's very own guidelines on roll calls and the use of Facebook:

 

“ROLL CALLS created on FB are not anonymous. Most of them are open to the public. Even if they are private groups, once you are accepted into the group everyone will know your real name. In doing so you have pretty much told all those people -- strangers -- when you will be away on vacation. The fact of the matter is most people do not understand how much personal information they are sharing.

On Cruise Critic roll calls, everyone is anonymous. You have the ability to remain as anonymous as you'd like throughout the entire Roll Call timeframe and throughout your entire cruise if you so desire. You can be JoeCruise101 until the day you disembark. The choice is yours, you share as much or as little as YOU choose to; everyone starts out on a level playing field on Cruise Critic. Anonymous user names only.”

 

Makes sense.  Sorry to the OP for taking this slightly off track, but whilst the disclosure of private information is being discussed here, it bears pointing out.

 

Phil

Edited July 18, 2019 by excitedofharpenden

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

From Cruise Critic's very own guidelines on roll calls and the use of Facebook:

 

“ROLL CALLS created on FB are not anonymous. Most of them are open to the public. Even if they are private groups, once you are accepted into the group everyone will know your real name. In doing so you have pretty much told all those people -- strangers -- when you will be away on vacation. The fact of the matter is most people do not understand how much personal information they are sharing.

On Cruise Critic roll calls, everyone is anonymous. You have the ability to remain as anonymous as you'd like throughout the entire Roll Call timeframe and throughout your entire cruise if you so desire. You can be JoeCruise101 until the day you disembark. The choice is yours, you share as much or as little as YOU choose to; everyone starts out on a level playing field on Cruise Critic. Anonymous user names only.”

 

Makes sense.  Sorry to the OP for taking this slightly off track, but whilst the disclosure of private information is being discussed here, it bears pointing out.

 

Phil

Yes this was something hosts were hot on and at pains to point out.  I remember getting guidance in my very early days of posting and it was a very welcome reminder.  Perhaps need refocussing on.

[Grandma Cruising]

Most people who give emails have ones that they use only for Cruising and never for anything else.

[uktog]

14 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Most people who give emails have ones that they use only for Cruising and never for anything else.

Sorry but that’s irrelevant

Whether it’s a regular or cruise only email, the risks are the same unless you access them from different IP addresses using different pieces of hardware. 

[excitedofharpenden]

15 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Most people who give emails have ones that they use only for Cruising and never for anything else.

How do you know that?  If the email address reads with a name or surname in it then you can be sure it's not just one created for cruising. 

 

Phil 

[Glenndale]

20 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

How do you know that?  If the email address reads with a name or surname in it then you can be sure it's not just one created for cruising. 

 

Phil 

Maybe HGC means anyone with any common sense will use a specially created cruise email address.

Sadly 'common' sense is lacking in many 🙁

[hubofhockey]

3 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Maybe HGC means anyone with any common sense will use a specially created cruise email address.

Sadly 'common' sense is lacking in many 🙁

 

Doubtful.  Most people don't create special emails just for cruises.  I think that's insane and also would never post my personal email on a public internet forum.  

[Glenndale]

13 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

 

Doubtful.  Most people don't create special emails just for cruises.  I think that's insane and also would never post my personal email on a public internet forum.  

Why do you think that it's insane?

I have my CC email address specifically created for this forum. Are you saying that I'm insane ?

[hubofhockey]

33 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Why do you think that it's insane?

I have my CC email address specifically created for this forum. Are you saying that I'm insane ?

 

You're smarter than I am.  I don't think most people create new email addresses for Cruise Critic, just the smart ones like you.

Edited July 18, 2019 by hubofhockey

[hiccups]

41 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Why do you think that it's insane?

I have my CC email address specifically created for this forum. Are you saying that I'm insane ?

No worse than you saying those that don't create a special email lack common sense.

[excitedofharpenden]

39 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Why do you think that it's insane?

I have my CC email address specifically created for this forum. Are you saying that I'm insane ?

The point I was making is that it's much safer to create a secondary email address with the name of it being say excitedofharpenden @ xyz.com than it is to post an email address that clearly identifies your name ie joebloggs @ xyz.com. Google is very easy to do further searches when you have a name. I know whatever you do isn't foolproof, but you can take steps to help your privacy. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

With the information on the spreadsheets on a recent cruise posted on the Azamara roll calls I could do a lot of data mining

[screen-gem]

@Host Grandma Cruising

HGC,

In the last day or so, this thread has veered way off topic (Beware AZ Shore Excursions not as Advertised) into a discussion about posting booking numbers, email addresses, data mining, and the like.  As Host/Moderator, do you have the wherewithal to start up a new thread on the topic and move the latest posts (#58-76) there?   I think the topic of 'internet hygiene' is a very useful discussion, and perhaps is even worthy of a sticky given the realities of life on the internet these days.

 

The off-topic 'detour' was triggered by post #46, in which Bonnie asked me to publish my full name and booking number from our recent cruise. I can well imagine a newcomer to CC, or someone with limited internet savvy, reading her request and concluding that posting such personal information is indeed an appropriate and proper way to interact with Azamara.  Bonnie is a well-known personality on this forum -- she's an Azamara official, and has a formal corporate title. It's easy to see how someone reading her post ("I am awaiting your booking number...") might conclude that's how things are done around here, and lead people to post information they really shouldn't (for all the reasons mentioned in the latest posts).   A thread devoted to 'best practices' would raise awareness of the inherent dangers of using public forums like CC, and give newcomers some ideas on how to protect their personal privacy (such as using a dedicated forum-only email address).

 

Thanks (and thanks for being a Host)

s-g

[Grandma Cruising]

Just done that.

[Grandma Cruising]

For those just coming to this topic, I’ve split it off from an existing topic about a shore excursion & it’s description, which went off topic & went into the issue of information sharing on Cruise Critic. As you’ll see screen-gem suggested this issue was worthy of being a topic on its own.

[snowglobe]

I agree whole heartedly with screen-gem’s post (#21) and thank you for this important topic becoming its own thread. I was gobsmacked when I first read Bonnie’s post, both by the tone and the info requested to be provided on a public forum.

 

I am very, very careful of my private identity on the Internet - esp. on public forums (that’s why I hide behind fake glasses & a moustache...) I only use first names on the Roll Call & make my forum specific e-mail address a bit more difficult to read by data-mining spiderbots.

 

Having a CC messaging function would make things easier, but ripe for abuse. So juggling our need for privacy with the necessity to be able to contact each other privately is a hard balance to achieve - esp. on the Roll Calls, or in situations like Bonnie’s need to connect with screen-gem (or any other Azamara cruiser needing further assistance.)

Edited July 18, 2019 by snowglobe

[uktog]

Can I repeat even if you use a cruise only email address if you post its details on an open board there are risks as you will be using the same IP address as on your other personal email.  

Think very carefully about sharing an email address and NEVER let it be collated beside other information about yourself such as your name, town etc - that is something I believe Cruise critic should not allow to be posted or shared.  I am appalled how many times I see them being collated.