Forced email grab and banner spamming – not nice!

  • Resolved tekgirlymama

    (@tekgirlymama)


    3 years, 8 months ago

    I assume as I see it is your WP username divdojo you use [email protected] email?
    After adding your plugin I got an email with subject line: ‘Subject: I want to get notified via email’ …

    It’s basically saying I’m on a mystery list I never joined… Nor wanted to join.

    Before realizing it was sent ‘thanks’ to your plugin this email made me concerned my site was hacked or was vulnerable to spammers from a form or whatever, in spite of a lot of security measures I use.

    After much searching and time waste, I then found a new tab in settings > Tooltips – where I saw ‘subscription enabled’.

    To WHAT exactly? Why was I forced-subscribed and with no idea to what and how it will be used, if you will sell my email [the ADMIN email you snatched without my permission] or take me OFF your list when I deselect ‘subscription enabled’?

    Obviously, this was not performed as no email arrived to tell me I am no longer ‘subscribed’ to whatever.

    I suggest you make it clear to plugin users you WISH to collect their emails by first asking us. Common courtesy and also SPAM laws compliance.
    Even if you live in India where it’s harder to go after SPAMMERS, as a WP developer you should respect people’s right to not get on a list without consenting to that.

    Your email should have at the very least had some clear explanation from where we got on to your list and supposedly ‘subscribed’, how to get OFF such a list, what it will be used for and why we were put on it in the first place.

    I can maybe understand a plugin may get amazing new features added one day, which one doesn’t know about from an auto-update. SO maybe you mean well by informing us by email. Who knows.
    But still, no excuse to do this forced subscription. Not decent behavior and makes one suspicious reg future vulnerabilities.

    Then there’s the banner spamming nuisance. Luckily I use a plugin to hide admin notices. Even so, you managed to overcome that in the GF plugin tabs.
    Not nice. Promotions should be kept to your plugin settings tab, where you can present your other stuff, services, link to support, and subscribe option.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Author Mehbub Rashid

    (@mehbubrashid)

    hi, i understand your concern. Actually it was one of my very first wp.org plugins and I was not so much aware of everything. I planned to gather user statistics on how much sites the plugin is being installed. I forgot about that until yesterday you mentioned this and i have already started working on a new version which will remove this and add shortcode feature. I am ensuring you this was not any harmful or marketing act. I guess you never received any email from divdojo.

    Anonymous User 17160716

    (@anonymized-17160716)

    TekGirlyMama,

    I assume as I see it is your WP username divdojo you use [email protected] email?
    After adding your plugin I got an email with subject line: ‘Subject: I want to get notified via email’ …

    True, /tooltip-for-gravity-forms/admin/class-gravity-forms-tooltip-admin.php, lines 303-319:

    // Opting for email update
		$data = get_option('admin_email');
		if(get_option('tooltip_news_update_sent') != 'sent') {
			if(isset(get_option('gravity_tooltip_options')['allow_update'])) {
				$to = '[email protected]';
				$subject = "I want to get notified via email";
				$message = $data;

				$sent = wp_mail($to, $subject, strip_tags($message));
				if($sent) {
					update_option('tooltip_news_update_sent', 'sent');
				}
				else {
					update_option('tooltip_news_update_sent', 'notsent');
				}
			}
		}
    Thread Starter tekgirlymama

    (@tekgirlymama)

    Thanks @m0ze

    and also @mehbubrashid for clarifications. So Am I off your ‘list’?

    I appreciate the free plugin and your fast response, hence did not change my star review – just know that long-term success is built upon trust and being transparent, in all you do, regardless if a plugin or marriage.

    Plugin Author Mehbub Rashid

    (@mehbubrashid)

    @tekgirlymama Yeah, definitely!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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