TellingSecrets.org Frequently Asked Questions

Is this really anonymous?

It really is. I have no way of knowing who has posted any particular secret.

How anonymous?

Tellingsecrets.org stores only three things when you submit a secret: the secret itself, the category, and a random number used to identify it. IP addresses are not stored. No cookies are involved. It doesn't even note the time.

We do collect some traffic data like referrers and browser statistics, but no identifying information is included.

The site does store one cookie if you use the Judging system. All it does is keep track of which secrets you've already judged.

How do we know you aren't lying?

Let me explain why I don't want to know who submits these secrets. Suppose someone posts a secret that someone else doesn't like. They might demand to know who posted the secret. This in itself would only be irritating. But suppose they decide to involve lawyers. Or maybe it's law enforcement or a government agency that wants this information. I could become legally required to devulge someone's identity. I don't want to betray the trust of this site's visitors. I also don't want to end up in court. Making this site truly anonymous just makes my life easier.

Why did you make this site?

Mostly it was an experiment having nothing to do with the telling of secrets. I wanted to try out some web techniques I had been reading about, and this was more interesting than writing yet another blog engine.

I submitted a secret, but it didn't appear on the site. Why?

All secrets must go through a judgement phase before they appear on the main page. This is designed to weed out junk. If the secret is judged to be Bad (ie. Spam, Obvious Lies) it gets thrown in the trash heap. The rest go into a pool of new secrets. Whenever a new secret is added to the pool, a random one is taken out and added to the main page. This means that your secret could sit in that pool for a very long time. Some secrets get displayed the same day they're submitted, others take weeks or longer.

Who are you, anyway?

My name is Ben. I'm a Gemini. You can send me e-mail at ben@tellingsecrets.org.

Can I send you comments or suggestions anonymously?

Indeed you can. Just use the nifty suggestions form.