Mailing List Privacy Tips

Privacy Tips for List Owners About Access Choices

If you want to make your list more private or if you are getting unwanted email on your mailing list, there are things you can do. The following changes to your list header lines can move your list from "public" to "private" with some varying degrees in between. Most public lists will usually be set up with these settings, which might not be advisable, unless you want your list "wide open":

  • Subscribe= Open
  • Send= Public
  • Confidential= No

Try some of these settings to make your list more private, if you haven't done so already:

Archiving Tips to make your archives more private.

  1. Subscribe= Open,Confirm (This allows anyone to join but LISTSERV will ask them to send another message confirming their email address. This will keep one-time spammers from getting subscribed).
  2. Subscribe= By_Owner (The list owner is the only person who can subscribe people to the list. The owner will receive the subscription request and can decide if that person should be a member or not).
  3. Subscribe= By_Owner,Confirm (The list owner is the only person who can subscribe people to the list, but the would-be subscriber must confirm their request before the list owner sees it).
  4. Service=*uvm.edu along with the keyword: Subscribe= Service (This defines a "service area" and allows only people from that area, in this example, all UVM email addresses, to join your list. You can also add the Confirm option, as in Subscribe= Service,Confirm. These options are used if you requested the "UVM Only" option on the New List Request form. You can add several hosts to the service area if needed, e.g. Service= *uvm.edu,*sover.net,*aol.com).
  5. Subscribe= Closed (This prevents anyone from subscribing themselves, but you as list owner can still add people).
  6. Send= Public,Confirm (Allow postings from anyone, but requires them to confirm their message).
  7. Send= Private,Confirm (Only subscribers can post messages to the list and they must confirm their message - an extra level of protection).
  8. Send= Public,Confirm,Non-Member (This allows a person NOT subscribed to the list to send a posting but they must confirm their message. This would be useful if you have a few people who are not normally part of the discussion, but who want to send a posting from time to time).
  9. Service=*uvm.edu along with the keyword: Send= Service (This defines a "service area" and allows only people from that area, in this example, all UVM email addresses, to send messages. You can also add the Confirm option, as in Send= Service,Confirm. These options are used if you requested the "UVM Only" option on the New List Request form). You can add several hosts to the service area if needed, e.g. Service= *uvm.edu,*sover.net,*aol.com).
  10. Send=Editor,Hold (This defines a moderated list, where the editor is the only person allowed to make postings. A posting to the list will be sent to the editor for their approval. If they approve, they can use the "OK" mechanism to approve the message, and LISTSERV will post it to the list. This allows you to control which messages get to your list, but it is some extra work for you. The Editor keyword must be defined to identify the editor(s), e.g. Editor= jsmith9@uvm.edu. These options are used if you requested the "Moderated" distribution option on the New List Request form).
  11. Confidential= Yes (This will keep the name of the list hidden from people looking for lists in "list of public lists").

The UVM LISTSERV contains links to UVM's documentation and L-Soft's documentation. The List Owner manual at the L-Soft site might be most useful for detailed information.

If you need to talk to someone, please contact the LISTSERV maintainers, Identity and Account Management: iam@uvm.edu, or (802-656-2006)