Oregon Hikers

Isn’t it within their rights to send email to us since we do business with them by using this site?

Regardless of the answer to that question, I find it ironic that people are using the free resources of this site, that is provided and paid for by TKO, to complain about TKO. Out of all the things concerning me in the world right now, I think this is about 11,632 on my list. If we all throw them a few bucks every now and then (which I’ve done too) then maybe they wouldn’t need to ask for money over email to keep this free site running. (which is one of the things they pay for)

You probably received that message because you are a volunteer moderator on this TKO-run forum. I would recommend clicking unsubscribe and moving on. I have forwarded this thread to TKO to make them aware of your concerns.

First world problem?

I'm more concerned that people can make unlimited, anonymous, tax free donations to politicians. And the polices of the government are oriented to satisfying those donors.

mjirving wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 5:56 am

Regardless of the answer to that question, I find it ironic that people are using the free resources of this site, that is provided and paid for by TKO, to complain about TKO. Out of all the things concerning me in the world right now, I think this is about 11,632 on my list. If we all throw them a few bucks every now and then (which I’ve done too) then maybe they wouldn’t need to ask for money over email to keep this free site running. (which is one of the things they pay for)

Well said.

However, I know for a fact that TKO isn't harvesting emails from this site to solicit donations from all users. If TKO wants to solicit from Forums users, they'll just post a temporary banner or something directly onto the site. I think Nat is on a list of volunteers (as a moderator) that they want to contact to show appreciation by inviting to an event. I've suggested that TKO could also invite directly through the Moderators and Field Guide Editors forums, and everyone's equanimity should be preserved.

bobcat wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 11:34 am

... I know for a fact that TKO isn't harvesting emails from this site to solicit donations from all users. ... I think Nat is on a list of volunteers (as a moderator) that they want to contact to show appreciation by inviting to an event...

I've never volunteered or donated and I got the email. OTOH I'm not bothered by it.

Thank you for clarifying John. I did get the TKO event invite, but I also got a TKO donation solicitation email (quoted in my first post). If my email address was added to a TKO volunteer list since I'm a mod here, that at least clarifies that they didn't scrape email addresses from the entire forum, which is why I had initially posed the simple question of whether anyone else had gotten that email and wasn't sure how TKO had gotten their contact info.

mjirving wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 5:56 am

Isn’t it within their rights to send email to us since we do business with them by using this site?

No, not if there was not an explicit opt-in to such solicitations by users. I signed up before this forum was a "service" of TKO, and back then the forum appeared to be an independent entity like NWHikers, rather than a "service" of a larger organization like the WTA forums or TRs. If they want to use members' information in a way that was not made explicit back when some of us signed up, then they need to revise the forum's Terms of Use and allow us to opt in or out. As Michael noted, this is 2019, and given the countless contemporary examples of misuse of personal data by online organizations, there should be an expectation of data security and protection of protection of personal contact information. (Nonprofit organizations regularly sell their contact lists to each other - as Charley said, it's hard to drum up new donors.)

While I appreciate the "recommendation" to just unsubscribe (I already did), I would "recommend" that some of you retract your knees from the jerked position, especially if you feel there are 11,631 more pressing matters you could be attending to. (It is baffling the number of you who took the time to respond to a topic you purport not to care about.) I do not see much "TKO bashing" (as they like to decry) in this thread (note that this thread is not about whether people should donate to TKO). I simply asked if other people got an email they didn't feel they should have gotten, and opined that if our information had been scraped from the forum, that would be cause for concern. A couple of people gave actual responses to the original question, and I think John has settled it, as noted above. This is supposed to be a hiking community, and while it has withered markedly in the past few years (a lot of which is probably due to FB), I would hope that this is a place where questions can be asked about issues that would impact that community (and if you don't consider personal contact information harvesting to be an impactful issue, let's agree to disagree). If that is not the case, and the veneer of community here is just the echo of days past, then maybe it is time to take Cheryl's "recommendation" and "move on."

I'm not a mod and I got it too.

I wasn't replying due to the issue of the spam, it was due to my intrigue in the reaction to the spam. That was getting more into the realm of entertainment than concern...which is much higher on my list of priorities.

All kidding aside...I'm sure you're correct in that we should all pay more attention to these types of things as the value of personal information has surpassed the value of oil (or something like that from The Great Hack movie on Netflix).

Maybe I ought to bump it up from the 11,000 range, even though it's from an organization I do business with.

I went back and found the email. It said this at the bottom...

"You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive messages from the Trailkeepers of Oregon."

I don't recall if or when I did this, but it's there...for whatever that's worth. Maybe when I donated the first time??

Bosterson wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 1:20 pm

(and if you don't consider personal contact information harvesting to be an impactful issue, let's agree to disagree).

I agree. Or disagree, rather. Yes.

adamschneider wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 4:19 pm

Bosterson wrote: ↑

November 15th, 2019, 1:20 pm

(and if you don't consider personal contact information harvesting to be an impactful issue, let's agree to disagree).

I agree. Or disagree, rather. Yes.

Community is all about compromise.