DogHouse Privacy Statement 

This sites is best viewed with MSIE

Internet user privacy is of paramount importance to the Doghouse and to our sponsors and to those affiliated to us. Below is information about our commitment to protecting your privacy and ensuring the integrity of the medium. We are not responsible for the lack of privacy in internet or web mail email systems, or the intrusions your Government take into your private matters.

Philosophy of Inclusiveness

We do not edit or judge the content that is provided, we hold dear the tenants of Freedom of Speech and Expression - something that we do not feel should be granted to the few or to one section of a community,  unless the content is in violation of our pragmatic "Hostility" policy.
Hostility: (Where freedom of speech would result in pages being withdrawn)

Data that a member provides on joining about interests, locale etc is included in the database on profiling typical members allowing us to better serve your needs. Typically adjusting site content, clustering adverts into relevant groups etc. This information is not passed onto a third party, however anyone could crawl through the site and painstakingly gather the same information.

The Doghouse honours the right
not to be included in our index

The Doghouse respects the right to privacy of members to not be included in the adverts when they join. The do however take on full responsibility of choosing if level of detail to be displayed. From name and contact details, through to just email or not listed at all. Remember the very nature of the web allows exposure to all kinds of people, for your ideal Master through to your parents - just a balance of probability of who is likely to see it.

The Doghouse is Anonymous

Any of our advertising Partners do not have the name, email address, phone number, or home address of anybody who visits The Doghouse.
All users who receive an ad targeted by The Dog House remain completely anonymous. Since we do not have any information concerning names or addresses of visitors, we do not sell or rent any such information to third parties - likewise members information is also guarded, the list is never sold or leaves the confines of The Doghouse.

Intrusions into Privacy

In some places your access to the internet is 'spied' upon.
This typically occurs where your access to the internet is provided 'by the state' (Russia/Saudi), or if you access the net from work, where your Network support department has a list of which sites are accessed (like you should be working not using up bandwidth by catching up on sport results).
You might get error codes like 403/405 "profanity error", they might block your access using a Proxy Server or something like Cyber Patrol.

Who reads your mail: Bosses spy on internet use of 27m!

A recent report in the media shows that your email/internet use at work is not private...
"One in four online workers have their Internet use continuously watched by their employers according to a new report. A Privacy Foundation survey found employee surveillance software, such as MIMEsweeper and websense, is used to scan e-mail and internet use of 27million workers around the world. The technology boom has provided bosses with fresh opportunities to spy on their employees, according to Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties director Yaman Akdeniz. But Privacy Foundation researchers Andrew Schulman said that, while companies should be able to monitor to prevent hacking and breaches of confidence, recent developments have gone to far."

Parental Control

Programs like "Big Brother" capture everything.
IamBigBrother will monitor your family in Instant Messages, Chats, Emails, Web Site URLs and much more while undetected from the user. We test many of these and this is the best one available today. Not only do you see what your child types online but what is said back as well. It monitors both incoming and outgoing activity - no other program offers this feature! Do your kids use Yahoo for email? We monitor it! See all incoming and outgoing email for Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL web and more. Many programs cannot record incoming web emails, like Hotmail or Yahoo. We do! Additionally, the user cannot get around Big Brother by clearing cache or history - it gets EVERYTHING as it happens!

Did you know... that the government and police are installing black boxes in ISPs to record your Internet surfing and downloads for evidence?

Spy Free IPS & Evidence Eliminator

Another option is to use an ISP that does not allow any kind of privacy invasion.
The Harris Interactive Poll States:
"The top three concerns of Internet users are that their information will be provided to other firms without their permission and their transactions may not be secure."

The best defence against invasion of your Internet privacy will be to get connected with the new SpyFreeISP, your PROTECTED Internet Service Provider.

The Doghouse Users can Opt-Out of "Cookies"

Cookies are small text files a Web site can use (thousands of sites are currently using them) to recognize a repeat visitor to its site. Cookies are not programs that come onto a user's system and damage files. Utilization of cookies that contain no information about you - only a unique number that has no meaning whatsoever outside of The Doghouse   Network. The Doghouse  may use this number to track ad exposure to assure a user is not bombarded with the same ad over and over again. It attempts to limit the hassle that you get from other sites, and irritation off switch.
While we believe that cookies enhance the Web experience for the user by limiting the repetitiveness of advertising, they are not essential. If you do not want the frequency of ad exposure controlled, there is a simple procedure that allows the user to deny or accept this feature.

 

What other information do you request?

We may also request your e-mail address or mailing address for the purposes of conducting a survey or to provide additional services (for example, subscriptions to e-mail newsletters, announcement lists or information about seminars, workshops and other events). Whenever we request the identity of a visitor, we will clearly indicate the purpose of the inquiry before the information is requested. I hate Spam just as much as you do, therefore we maintain a strict "No-Spam" policy that means that we do not intend to sell, rent, or otherwise give your e-mail address to a third-party, without your consent.

In addition, TheDoghouse.org will not send you email that you have not agreed to receive. We may from time to time send e-mail announcing new TheDoghouse.org products and services. If you choose to supply your postal address in an online form, you may receive mailings from other reputable, third party companies - This is an Opt-in process.

When you join up for TheDoghouse.org, your name or alias is recorded solely for purposes of maintaining your own account within the adverts, and other online services that the doghouse from time to time will provide. 

When you enter a contest or other promotion, we may ask for your name, address, and e-mail address so we can administer the contest and notify winners.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia tracks gay web users
I would strongly caution internet users in Saudi Arabia to be aware that the unblocking of the gay sites may mean that the government is now tracking users accessing gay sites through the state ISP, like Egypt did when it began its harsh crackdown on the human rights of gay people. The web is a double-edged sword when national service providers are controlled by an oppressive government. Site users should still remain on alert for such a scheme from the Saudi government.

 

Cyber Suppression

In a number of countries are attempting to suppress the internet. In other countries such as the USA and the UK the authorities monitor email, they monitor who searches for what. A recent case in the UK when an ISP traced who it was that was doing an online search for some who was found dead, the ability is there. What reasonable precautions are you going to take ?

 

Burma
The Burmese authorities announce a ban on using the internet to disseminate political information. It forbade emails or other information published on the internet it deemed "detrimental to the government". This of course covers anything they might find uncomfortable, such has civil right violation or corruption for example. Likewise the 1996 Computer Law decrees only those with official authorization can have access to the internet, and so it follows free speech.
Indonesia
Internet newsgroups and websites used to support the East Timor's battle for independence both inside and outside of  Indonesia.  An Irish based ISP was forced to shut down after it was bombarded by "cyber terrorism" from the Indonesian government.
Jordan
The Jordanian government maintains there is no blocking or censorship by the government over content. However they arrested two students for trying to launch a web site about the normalization of relations with Israel.
Malaysia
Email and newsgroups are monitored, and a number of students were arrested for spreading ''rumours" about the riots in Kuala Lumpur.
However a new Minister has announced there that the internet soon will become free from censorship and freely accessible.
Sir Lanka
Email is intercepted, an example is where one from the oppositions party to a British Advertising agency intercepted and sent to the state run media. This is said to be typical of the governments shopping of politicians, journalist and private businessmen.
China
Secret checkers are used to monitor online activity. They are now banned from publishing "State Secretes" on the internet. As usual an insecure government deems everything to be a state secret - so that is left up to the paranoia to define. (http://www.internet-directory.com/china/)
Zimbabwe
New powers allow the president to read anyone's email and for interception at will.
Singapore
Encryption is legal only if you get permission and send it over special lines once the keys have been given to the government. This might help the agencies to know where to look.
Germany
Actively encouraging Encryption Its up to the security service to be able to break the code, and to develop their agency skills.
UK
Encryption is legal.
Proposals are in place to force all keys to be help by Government departments for all encryptions.
http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,153479,00.html
Britain is in danger of having one of the least enabling regimes in the world as Home Office attempts at "balanced" legislation too often favour the needs of plod/spook over those of citizens and business. Ireland, France, Germany, even Singapore and other countries to which many UK e-businesses
could easily migrate, appear to be taking a much more liberal line. Where current estimations are for 1 interception in 500 customers.

http://www.stand.org.uk/ + http://www.fipr.org/rip/index.html
USA
In the USA Providers mush be able to demonstrate their ability to conduct simultaneous interceptions of email and other internet traffic. See SpyFree IPS

Protect and Survive

You are also advised to protect yourself, as many right wing government such as the one in power in the UK will enjoy raiding your home in the search for 'porn' (porn is in the eye of the beholder, and can mean whatever they want it to mean), during which time your home and personal life has been violated. If there pics are clothed there is little problem, in theory they are interested in obvious hard-on, but then when has that every stopped anyone.
They do not need an excuse, any can be fabricated, your life can be destroyed from malicious behaviour and yet there was no further action taken.
It is also not advisable to take your PC into somewhere like PC world (as with Gary Glitter) and get them to repair the PC as they are dying to snoop around your PC, god help you if you are famous.
You have to weight up the risk, take a chance and trash the disk or Protect and Survive.

MSIE
Netscape
Temp Files
IRC
Legal
Encryption
Stealth
Failure

To minimize such problems ensure that in:

  • MSIE that you regularly Delete all "Temporary Internet Files" via Tools-> Internet Options -> General. Usually the files are stored under your windows directory for example in c:/win95/Temporary Internet Files/  or c:/winnt/Temporary Internet Files/  or within the User Profile area.
  • Netscape you will need to edit properties, and go into the Cache then delete the files.
  • Temp clear out the files that you may find in possibly your C:/TEMP or C:/Win95/TEMP directory, do a Fine file (Start-> Find) on files such as *.tmp and in those directories you may see files such as *.jpg, *.gif or *.htm that you perhaps do not recognize. These should all be checked, many of them can be checked using one of the above browsers or you may use paint shop pro ( http://www.jasc.com/ ) to quickly view the pictures.
  • IRC clear out the files that you may have down loaded. If you keep a log of your chats, they may use email addresses of people you have spoken you for further raids, and could use the text to fabricate charges of intent.
  • Legal Advice It would not hurt to ensure that you have the name of a support service that offered legal advice, such as NCLR or GLAD
  • You may also way to consider Encryption such as that offered by pgp (http://www.pgpi.org/) from which you can down load the international edition of the PGP program
    For example:
    • PGPdisk is a program that lets you create encrypted disk partitions. This is suitable for your save area, for example Temporary Internet Files.
    • PGPfone (Pretty Good Privacy Phone) is a software package that turns your desktop or notebook computer into a secure telephone.
    • PGP for secure eMail.  Both the US and international versions of PGP use full-strength, unencumbered 128-bit encryption and are completely interoperable with one another.
    • Do not write the key down so that anyone could find it.
    • Do not write the password to your PC down so that it could be easily accessed. They may take the Hard disk out and put it into another PC to look at it (dropping it as they return it to your PC).
  • Use free Stealth Technology (such as visual secrets) to have invisible applications, folders and drives on your PC so that if the Boss/Parent walks by your privacy can be maintained.
    Hay Stacks is another feature of successful protection is to ensure that the needle is hidden in the haystack where that one file is hidden amongst all the other files.
    For example put your pics into a ZIP file with password protection, then rename it to '.bin' or '.vxd' or ".dll" something that there is loads of on your PC, also change the name porn.dll is not the best choice - also choose whatever is bland/mundane to your life, for example wedding pictures on a gay persons PC might be a bit odd (unless its your Sisters).
  • PC failure It well it might not be the State/Police that came for your PC, Windows and Intel do not offer the most robust of systems, so make back-ups.
    Ensure that there backup are secure (in all senses of the word), consider what if they were stolen, or your mother started looking at them!
    Do not make assumptions, consider risks and weight up their likelihood of happening, what is the worst that could happen, and take steps to protect yourself.

    Plan through with "What Ifs".
    You might want to invest in a CD Writer.

 

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