[boost] Re: [OT] Whether and how to obfuscate email addresses inposts, docs & code

From: Andreas Huber (ah2003_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-07-03 14:11:32

David Abrahams wrote:
>> Right. ah2003_at_[hidden] is a disposable address. I'd definitely
>> disable it and create a new one, which I would then publish only
>> obfuscated.
>
> It's very strange, since we have this option enabled in Mailman:
>
>   obscure_addresses (privacy): Show member addresses so they're not
>   directly recognizable as email addresses?
>
>   Setting this option causes member email addresses to be transformed
>   when they are presented on list web pages (both in text and as
>   links), so they're not trivially recognizable as email addresses.
>   The intention is to prevent the addresses from being snarfed up by
>   automated web scanners for use by spammers

Right, this avoids problems with bots harvesting web pages. It does not
avoid problems with bots harvesting newsgroups. Moreover, when people use
news readers like OE, then the email addresses in downloaded messages end up
trivially recognizable on their hard drives. As I explained in my original
post this becomes more and more of a problem (viruses that suck email
addresses from newsgroup archives).

Regards,

Andreas