Filing complaints/reports and privacy

edited August 2022 in General

A number of members, often pros, have expressed a reluctance to report members who have misbehaved for fear of retaliation. They want to know whether their reports are anonymous. I’d like to explain a bit about how reports work, when and how to report, and why it’s important to report members who violate the Terms of Service (TOS).

Why it’s important: We depend on members reporting profiles or members that violate the TOS. It’s the only way we have to keep the community safe. If someone sends you an inappropriate message or misbehaves during a cuddling session, there’s a good chance you are not the first nor the last person they will do that with. If you don’t let us know they will probably continue to do it to others. I’ve been dismayed to find, when investigating a report, that a member may have sent an inappropriate message to a dozen pros before someone reported them.

How to report: Near the top of their profile, under their photos, you should see a small box with three dots. Click on that and one of the options will be to report. You also have the option to block that member, too. Once you click on “Report” you’ll have a number of options as to the reason you’re reporting. There’s also a box where you can supply details. Alternatively, at the bottom of the page of your conversation with them should be that same small box with three dots.

They blocked me, I can’t report them: Even if you were blocked (or you blocked them) you can report them. If you go to their page, it still should show up as an option. Also, at the bottom of the page of your conversations with them should be that same box with the three dots. If they have deleted their profile but did something really bad, please contact one of the moderators. There is a period of time when their profile is not public but visible to mods and we can still ban them. This will make sure that if they return under a different account, we still have a record of their past behavior. Also, they have a period of time when they can reactivate their account and that report will stay on their record.

When to report: If a member is violating the terms of service, please report them. Common examples: sending non-platonic messages/making non-platonic or inappropriate requests, including sending photos that violate the terms of service; profiles that violate the terms of service i.e. inappropriate photos, inappropriate language, non-pros charging money, someone who is underage; non-pros telling you in messages that they charge for cuddling. If a member has been previously banned and returns under another account, please report it and supply the name on their previous account. If a member misbehaves during a session, please report them. This could be annoyingly pushing boundaries, asking to engage in non-platonic activity, asking to cuddle in underwear, to grosser violations such as grabbing, groping, or being aggressive and/or forceful about unwanted touch. If you’re not sure, report. The mods will figure it out. If it doesn’t seem necessary to take action, we’ll skip it but there will still be a record of the report in case it becomes a recurring problem. It’s rare but occasionally we’ll get a member who repeatedly makes frivolous reports. In that case we’ll have a conversation with them about what they should and should not report. Also, just because a person has a lot of karma or has been on the site a long time does not mean you should not report them. Even people with lots of good karma who have been here for awhile misbehave and sometimes seriously. Some bad actors intentionally rack up a lot of good karma in the beginning and then use that to try to gain someone’s trust, then turn around and violate it. Report them.

What happens next: Most of the time you won’t hear anything about it. We may issue a warning to the member. We may just make a note of the report and skip it. The member might get banned. You won’t be contacted about any of this most of the time. However, if we need more information or if there is an problem that needs to be resolved, you may be contacted.

Is my report anonymous? Moderators are able to see who reported the member so that is not anonymous. The accused member is not notified of who reported them unless it’s necessary to resolve the problem. For instance, if a pro charged a deposit and then ghosted the client, we obviously need to name the client in trying to resolve this with the pro. However, members may figure out who reported them just by circumstances. If they have only cuddled with one person on the site and then were reported for misbehaving during a session they are going to figure out who reported them. In this respect, we cannot guarantee anonymity. Please don’t let that stop you from reporting bad behavior. We all depend on these reports to keep our community safe.

Here’s a link to our privacy policy regarding reports:

https://www.cuddlecomfort.com/site/privacy#reports

False reports: False reports are rare but they happen. Depending on the circumstances, a member may be banned if they are caught making a false report. Sometimes they are given a stern warning and allowed to remain but if they misbehave after that, they will be banned. If you think you were falsely reported, you can appeal.

I reported this person but they are still on this site: Many factors go into the decision of whether to ban someone or not. Also, a person may be banned and then given a second chance if it appears they sincerely have learned their lesson. You may not get the outcome you hoped for but that does not mean it was a waste of time. Your report is still on file and if that person misbehaves again, your report will add to the evidence of what action should be taken.

I was reported and I want to know who reported me: Sorry, we do not divulge that. If you were issued a warning and want to know exactly what it was that you said and to whom, we are not going to give you that information. All we can say is make sure your communication stays strictly platonic. “Joking” about non-platonic activity is not a good idea, especially with someone you don’t know. Neither is addressing women as “sexy,” etc. Use good judgement. This site is for platonic cuddling only. Stay within those boundaries. Go back and read the TOS and, if booking with a pro, the Client Agreement. We do enforce them. You’re expected to abide by them.

When not to report: If a person is just annoying you, block them. Being annoying is not a bannable offense. If you pursue a relationship with someone you meet on this site and take it off site and that relationship goes south, please don’t come back and report them. Once you take your relationship off site, that’s between you and that person.

I hope this sheds some light on how reporting works and why we need for members to report bad behavior. We are a community and it takes all of us to keep it safe.

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Comments

  • Brilliant. I've wanted a post like this for a long time. Thank you @Babichev.

  • You’re welcome. It’s a subject that comes up and I decided to try to bring some attention and, hopefully, some clarity.

  • I hate excessive sticky threads in the general forum, but this is one that needs to be considered.
    We see a constant influx of new members who have no idea how to report and on what basis.
    Many don't report out of fear, this could help ease that.

  • @Rezz - my thoughts exactly. I think I’ll sticky it for now and see if the other mods agree.

  • About how many reports are filed per day?

  • @dave31415 - several months ago @reurbo looked at that and said we had been averaging about 40 per day but recently there’s been a big uptick and it’s often around 100 a day. Some are easily and quickly processed, others are time consuming. We’ve had a huge increase in scammers. Also, apparently there has been some exposure - on TikTok maybe? - that led to a lot of new members. And, unfortunately, this site has been mentioned in outside forums for guys looking for non-platonic activity. As a result, we’ve had a lot more reports in the last few months.

  • @Rezz - after discussing with the other mods, decided to add this thread to the FAQs since having too many stickied threads can get cumbersome

  • I think what you guys need is a Data Scientist. I fight the bad guys for a living. Let me know if you need any help.

  • 100 reports a day? Wow that sounds like a full time job.

  • @dave31415 Careful what you wish for! 🤣 Acts of Service are noble but can grow into huge time monsters.

  • Well I am on sabbatical soon. If I don’t have any data to analyze, I might just go mad.

  • @sunnysideup - fortunately, there are five of us.

  • edited August 2022

    @dave31415 I'm a hobby data scientist as well. (well, I'd consider my self semi-professional as I'm steeped in statistics, linear algebra, probability, calculus, python, non ML algorithms and ML algorithms.)

    I think CC is sitting on a treasure trove of NLP (natural language processing) data. They can definitely utilize algorithmic bots to read reports and escalate if required.

  • edited August 2022

    This is all well and good unless you have entertained someone in your personal space, and they have shown you a blatant disrespect for boundaries. It's not hard for people to figure out why they got banned, or who is responsible if they're paying attention, and have a vindictive nature. It's a beautiful system if cuddling only happened in a virtual space, and members were trackable forever. I wish I had a perfect solution 🫂

  • @biancalovecraft
    ☝️☝️ This right here.

    We take on such a significant risk when hosting.
    Add into the fact these predators now know where we live. Reporting them can be a terrifying choice.

    This is why I strongly recommend pros new and veteran to always screen and have multiple sessions before giving anyone your address.
    Cuddle somewhere not attached to you or your job first. Don't give out personal information such as your phone number. There are some seriously unwell members here who will use it against you if they want to.

  • edited August 2022

    @rezz hosting is obviously the most immediately troublesome aspect, but there are so many ways to take another into your personal space, emotional, social, professional, spiritual, psychological, etc, slip out at some point, either divulged or perceived, unless you are running a warm body clinic, its just natural part of bonding, caring intimately for someone, important in many ways. The wrong cuddler can wreak havoc on any aspect of your well being, and you dont have to be a pro. Its terrifying to have a disgruntled, maybe dangerous being holding that, and have to try to placate it, protect yourself, protect others, pretend youre "anonymous" when only they really are. Untenable.

  • Staying anonymous online is hard. You need to be very careful about giving away any clues to who you are. I’ve done some investigatory work and I can usually find out who someone is and where they live etc with just a few clues.

    All it takes is one clue to lead you to the next cache of clues and each of them leads somewhere else. So for example:

    • Don’t give out a phone number unless it’s a burner (e.g. Google voice)
    • Don’t use your real first or last name in your username or profile
    • Don’t use a user name that you also use on other sites (cuddling, dating, Twitter etc)
    • Don’t use a picture that is on other sites. Reverse image search is a thing.
    • If you give out your home address to meet, they can basically fill in all the other details of who you are most of the time.
    • Don’t give out any info about where you work or went to school or even what town you live in. Keep it need to know info only.
    • Don’t take a pic with info such as a banner for your college in the background

    A typical search could go like this. Let’s say the user (made up example) is Mayita406. Mayita is the person’s first name. They are listed as living in Burlington MA. How many Mayitas do you think live in Burlington MA? Probably just one. Any Google search for “Mayita Burlington “ is either going to turn up info on that person or else nothing at all. Let’s say the only thing that comes up is an old article on Burlington Highschool Volleyball where Mayita (a team member) is quoted on winning their state championship. Her last name is listed there. Bang, you are on to the next clue. Google that whole name and you find a Pintrest webpage which shares a username MayitaBaby777 with a Twitter account. Now you’re on there are you’re learning all about the person. Next it gets your to Facebook and you can learn the person is single. And when you Google a full name or have an email or whatever, you’re likely to hit a hit on one of those shady websites that gathers such into on people and you can get their full address.

    This is basically how investigators work online and online predator or stalkers can do the same thing. Some are better than others at it but don’t underestimate the diligence of weirdos. So don’t give out any info that can be used to link you to anything else.

    Sometimes people have challenged me to find them based only on their profile info and I usually can tell them within 20 minutes their name, address, name of their dog, their hobbies, that they are in a legal dispute over a dog bite. The stuff is just all out there. You just need Google and the will to do it.

    On the flip side, you can use all the same tricks to vett your cuddle customers to try to avoid dangerous people. Sometimes you just have to a ask a couple of questions.

    So, be careful and stay safe folks.

  • It sounds to me that if you want to remain that anonymous on CC …. You’re going to find it really challenging to actually meet people here .

    I’m pretty sure I have done all those “don’t’s “ listed above in my time here .

    Hope everyone here also stays safe and careful 👍

  • [Deleted User]Btown (deleted user)

    I have most likely done most of those "don'ts" also. If you really want to cuddle with a stranger there is a certain amount of risk involved. Just be smart and consider safety first.

  • I also break my own rules. It’s a more important issue for female cuddlers I think. Women seem to be more sensible than men and don’t usually stalk others as much. But there are exceptions to that as well.

  • I’ve met with maybe a dozen enthusiasts from this site. My vetting process is conversation, meeting them in public before agreeing to cuddle with them, paying attention. The biggest problem I’ve run into is guys pushing boundaries. I’ve never felt threatened, only annoyed. Most people are not really that threatening.

    One thing I notice is most pros don’t get enough information from their clients for them to easily identify them. Often all they have is a first name and their username. That’s it. Maybe a phone number. As a massage therapist, I met with total strangers every single day in a fairly intimate setting. AND every one of them filled out an intake form with their name, address, phone number, and emergency contact. I’ve encouraged pros to up their game and start taking that kind of information. Also, if they accepted credit card payment it might add another level of safety. Most of them seem reluctant to do it and probably clients would balk. However, I think any client with good intentions should be able to understand that the other person is putting themselves into a very vulnerable position and should be willing to accommodate reasonable requests.

  • edited August 2022

    Edited to shorten the post

    @dave31415
    All great points.

    FOR EVERYONE CONCERNED ABOUT PRIVACY:
    I highly recommend using a service called DeleteMe which is available from Abine.com. This service will purge all your personal information from 30+ of the biggest data aggregators / data brokers. They will scan for your data then send takedown requests on your behalf to purge your data on a quarterly basis for $129 per year (with discounts for multi-year and multi-user accounts). I have no financial ties to the company, but I have been a very happy user of their services for nearly a decade. They also have an app called Blur which is helpful in keeping your private info private. Their monthly newsletter is also full of useful tips to minimize your digital footprint.

  • @Babichev The things is that a brick and mortar massage place is something that people generally trust enough to leave their contact details behind. They know that businesses like this have some regulations on how they must keep data confidential to a degree. For a solo pro cuddler they aren’t likely to feel the same.

    Many of the men who go to a cuddler are married and I’d guess the majority do it without their spouse knowing. And if somehow their spouses found out, they might have a marital crisis. She might not buy the story that it is all platonic and even if she does she might not be OK with it. Seeing a cuddler does not yet have the level of social acceptance as getting a massage.

    I’d say a good analogy for cuddling would be getting a massage at one of those massage places that is open to midnight versus say Massage Envy. You can get a regular massage there and you can sometimes get more than that. For the same reason men wouldn’t want to leave their name behind at such a place even if they are the type that only gets a regular massage. There is just a stigma around that activity and questions of legitimacy.

    So for a married man to leave his info behind it creates two risks. One is blackmail. The other is somehow the info getting out and back to their spouse. Even some people not in a relationship would just be embarrassed by it.

    The other type of person who doesn’t want to leave their info is the sexual predator. It’s hard to distinguish between those with a valid reason and those who intend mischief.

    So it’s tricky to cross this divide when neither has enough reason to trust the other. Perhaps the site could do something to act as a trusted third party to help solve this problem.

  • True. And we’re licensed by the state. If we misbehave the client can report us to our licensing board.

  • I think it would be interesting to make a Naive Bayes classifier like mentioned in http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html , but using messages from people banned here for soliciting for sex.

    As Graham figured out by doing this with spam/ham emails, the most unexpected words can be powerful indicators -- in his email experiments, he figured out that #FF0000 (the HTML color code for red) was a huge indicator of spam, since spammers would regularly color their text red.

  • @gary see previous post.

  • @Babichev Maybe pros should share an intake form via Google docs//forms. If more pros do it, maybe it'll become standard procedure.

  • I'm just necroposting on a thread that I believe is still important and people should read.

  • @JohnR1972 excellent recommendation.

  • edited February 8

    This is inaccurate.

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