Allow admins to hide member contact information in the directory
Josh Madsen
Wish you could make the resident directory have options to exclude phone numbers and emails as the admin, not the homeowner.
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John Kilheffer
Agree here. Similarly, add a way to make the default appearance of contact information in the directory (name, address, email, and phone) be "private" so that the feature is "opt in" vs "opt out". We're about 30/70 for/against members having their info in a community directory -- and we'd like to may a directory available to those who wish to publish their information to the community without requiring everyone to go in and remove their information if they don't want to be there (and admin feature to edit a user's record would also be very helpful -- to correct those members already who already have an account to protect their privacy by default.
Robert Mclane
This would be a helpful option. We have residents who have difficulty managing settings and have asked for help in this regard. We also have several retired law enforcement agents who did undercover work and are covered by federal statute privacy laws. They have been reluctant to join the website even after being advised that they can modify privacy settings. Thanks for considering this request.
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David Ruprecht
The fact that "Hide" is not the default for email and phone prevents us from using the Member Directory page since some members will neglect to set their preferences to HIDE even though they don't want to share this info with others. We have not launched our website yet and plan to hold off having a directory until the default is changed to HIDE or admins can set a member who has not registered to HIDE.
Mike Yoder
Without the ability to hide member contact information by default, and requiring the member opt-in to display their contact information, we are risk of validating PII (Personally Identifiable Information) laws. For now our site can not use the resident directory list, even for those that wish to share their information, because the default is to display this information even for those that do not opt-in.
Please consider changing this policy to comply with industry PII standards.
Meredith Owens
Merged in a post:
Set imported members default directory information
Rudy Kobbeltvedt
Set default Privacy settings for imported members to Hide from member directory both cell phone and email addresses to properly comply with government privacy regulations. That way people have to confirm that they wish to share this information.
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Hoa Admin Sunburst Ranch
We have some “rogue” members of our HOA that are not happy about some items and are scraping email addresses and phone numbers from the members and contacting them directly to raise their concerns. We’ve had several newer members ask us to hide their contact information by default. We explained that currently they have to do that manually. They all expressed the desire to have the HOA Admin be able to do that. I would like to see this as a setting / default that we can establish on any contact fields (e.g. phone number, email address, street number). Again, I understand that an individual may control this from their account, but from a privacy perspective we would like these to default as hidden.
Michael Tenlen
I'd like the ability to set the defaults to be hide email and hide phone number. Then as people register there is no issue of that information being shared before they can log in and set their privacy settings to reflect their choices. Currently it seems like we are forcing them to OPT-OUT of info sharing and displaying their info by default until they do. Opt-In, where they determine what is shared, seems much better when privacy of personal data is involved.
Meredith Owens
Michael Tenlen: I’m afraid we don’t currently have plans to change the default privacy preferences. We’ve chosen the defaults based on what we’ve found is optimal for the majority of members using our service. We've also found that sharing basic contact information generally promotes a stronger sense of community amongst neighbors, where they know how to get in touch with a member if needed.
For members that don't want to have this information displayed, they can edit their privacy preferences after registering, even before their account is approved, so their contact information doesn't ever appear in the directory.
John Howard
Meredith Owens: I don't think a forced "opt out" approach is compatible with evolving privacy concerns and regulations. Having your info not displayed is no big issue, but having it displayed because you weren't aware you had to opt out could be a real black eye for the Board. Confidentiality trumps convenience. People are added to the website when they are moving in, and are often being overwhelmed by house sales, condo purchase, moving issues, changing all their contact info, arranging for schools, redecorating, and so on. I agree the website as a whole can be used to foster a sense of community, but giving out people's contact info without their consent is not the way to do it. We have reduced access to the Directory to the Board and Condo Manager until we can get a better handle on confidentiality issues. And lastly, for those of us trying to drag our corporation into the 21st century, a confidentiality complaint might be just the excuse needed to withdraw approval for a website.
Daniel MacIntosh
John Howard: I have been a big proponent of "opt-in" as the default as well, and this now has me reconsidering the platform entirely. Our current platform takes this approach, and I will readily admit it is painful to get residents to take action to "opt-in." The lack of adoption has led to the inevitable question about obtaining an updated list from myself or another member of the Board. The response includes a reminder about the Board's position, but we know a few copies passed around were obtained for means other than wide distribution.
Why not offer it as a feature to admins to configure the default behavior at the very least. If adoption is the concern, I feel some features could help address it, like an email blast with a "1-click opt-in" button.
My point is that privacy is essential and if simple measures like "opt-in" are not implemented for this feature, what other features lack proper security controls and safeguards?
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Chad Allen
This feature used to be available. The reason I know this is because I created a “John & Jane Doe” account so I could test the website based on set parameters. I could logon as the test resident and make sure they are only seeing what they need to see. As an admin, I was able to hide the “Doe’s” account from the resident directory. To this day, they are still hidden but now there is no option to hide or unhide a member from the resident directory (as an admin).
Bernie Gleason
This capability is needed especially for member accounts where the member has not chosen a password and consequently can't manage their own privacy settings. This is also the case for members (mostly older folks) that don't have an email address in the system and will never Log In. To accomplish this the Admin would access to the member account as long as the member doesn't have credentials (email and password).