Image, video, and reverse image searches show results from forum posts, people gallery, and the wall.
Private posts requires user login so it hides it from search engines. Profiles with the visibility setting "Users Only" selected also requires login so that hides galleries from search.
I have noticed that even "Users Only" profiles gallery pictures do occasionally appear in search results because of the Wall. I think comments on photos puts them on the Wall and that makes it public. The search result often links to a wall page that no longer has the image. I have seen deleted photos remain in searches for some time.
There are not really any places on the internet that you can upload photos that have no chance of getting out. While it has never happened here, there is always a chance a site gets hacked and the pictures downloaded and released. There are also some shitty people out there that could join the site, download the pictures and use them as revenge porn. We have seen similar things happen in the community before. Anything you upload to the internet is forever and you cannot control what happens once you put it out there.
dalamar666 said: There are not really any places on the internet that you can upload photos that have no chance of getting out. While it has never happened here, there is always a chance a site gets hacked and the pictures downloaded and released. There are also some shitty people out there that could join the site, download the pictures and use them as revenge porn. We have seen similar things happen in the community before. Anything you upload to the internet is forever and you cannot control what happens once you put it out there.
While you can do things to reduce the risk, this is the bottom line you have to be aware of.
Even if you're sending things privately to people you trust, if it's plugged in, turned on, or otherwise connected... it can get away from you.
That is one reason why I didn't share (or even take) wam pics here (or anywhere) for decades.
Trust is a most precious thing. It can take years to build and it can be destroyed in seconds. When I post here, I think, "What if everyone I know saw this?" Then I came to think, "So what?" I've done nothing to be ashamed of or to regret. On the contrary, I only wish that I had taken better pics and vids. If anyone from outside our community sees them, that's fine. The worst that can happen is that they might understand me a little better. And if they've got a problem with who I am, then they'll just have to learn how to deal with it. Peter
Some do, but it's not by searching for your real life name...unless you provide your actual name on here. Chances are the only way someone is going to find stuff on google is if they search for your UMD user name...so for me, "gungedhairfan" would trigger stuff I posted, but in all honesty, who do I know in real life who is going to be searching for that? I don't use that handle anywhere else (well apparently I used it on flickr one time, because I just tried the search for shits and giggles), so I'm fairly confident that the only people who are going to stumble across anything I post here outside of here are going to be people from here. So I don't think there's really much to worry about.
Pleaserbootsboy said: I searched my username, and the links are there to see my photos. However, my profile is now private, so it means you need an account.
It the reality of the internet that once something is up, it will be there forever.