One of the major objectives of the Blueboard is preserving the security of its members. There are several ways we accomplish this.
1) Emails of all of our members are never exposed to the open web. This means no one is allowed to use their email as their visible name on the board. (Posts with an email as the visible name will not be approved and/or will be removed from the visible board.)
2) In each person's profile, there is an option to "allow others to email me." If this box is checked, other board members will be able to see their email addy. If it is NOT checked, their email will be "hidden" from other people who are registered on the board and only the individuals themselves and the Blueboard Management Team will be able to see their email addy. This means each registered person can allow other members to look up their email - or not. (You will find your profile options in the drop-down menu under your name on the top right hand side of the board when you are logged onto the board.)
3) The Blueboard Management Team realized when the board was first created that there was always the potential for spammers to join the board in order to get access to our board members' emails. In order to stop this possibility, all new members to the board are unable to see other people's profiles and/or email addys until they have been on the board for a while, and have posted responsibly. At that point, when we know they are legitimate board members (and not just spammers trying to harvest our members' information) they are then allowed access to see to other people's profiles.
4) Because anyone on the internet is allowed to register for the Blueboard, every single registration is personally vetted by one of the Board Administrators - without exception. Their emails and IP addresses are first checked to see if they are known spammers. If they are, the registration is immediately deleted. If they are not a known spammer, then their other information is checked - websites, social media sites, etc. If they show as legitimate writers, illustrators, educators, editors, agents, etc. then their registrations are approved. If nothing shows up at all, their registration application is left to sit for a week or so to see if they show up as spammers at a later date. If nothing ever shows up on them, they are approved with a warning to all of the Board Moderators to watch their first posts very carefully.
5) All new members to the board have their posts monitored. This means anything they want to post must first be personally approved by one of the Moderators. So even if a spammer did slip through the Administrators' checks, they wouldn't be able to post any spam messages on the board. If it turns out someone IS trying to spam our membership, their membership is immediately deleted and they are banned from ever joining the board again.
6) SCBWI (The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) is constantly upgrading the security measures on their site to keep everything on it (including the Blueboard) safe from hackers and spammers.
As you can see, SCBWI and your Administrators and Moderators are always looking out for the Blueboard Membership. We take our job of securing your safety very seriously so that your emails will NEVER be subject to spam through this board.
The Blueboard is one of the safest and best sites on the internet for people to gather and discuss the business of writing and illustrating for children, and SCBWI and your Blueboard Management Team always has your back. We are a community of like-minded people, dedicated to the creation and publication of wonderful books and stories for children. We hope each of you will build lasting friendships through your posts on this board and that you enjoy your time with us.