...in this case, anyhow. Your mail isn't open to the world, Bowser, at least not here.

Since you're the privacy canary in the coalmine, this is a good place to describe how the internal email system works, so you can judge its security for yourself.

The internal message system has the form of standard email, i.e., a message body, subject line, and To:, CC, and BCC fields. You can choose in MyTiki/Preferences whether the system sends you an email when somebody sends you a message; and if it does, that email goes out into the world containing the message text and is vulnerable to all the usual risks of email.

Internal messages are held in a database on the server, and when you log in and go to the Messages section of MyTiki, the server produces a report of pending messages in the database. Click one, and the server retrieves the message body from the database and sends it to your Web browser.

Internal messages are as private as any data held on a Web server. The system administrator possesses godlike powers and can read anything in the database (any data that's not encrypted; and these messages aren't encrypted). So once again, you have to decide if you trust me; and in this case, because I'm leasing a virtual server, by implication you have to trust their personnel to not invade my leased space. Additionally, messages aren't encrypted for transmission, so there's the usual risk of external interception by various entities commercial and governmental.

Bottom line: Don't use internal messages for anything illegal or for transmission of any material whose disclosure could be materially damaging to you. Which is to say, it's the same here as at any Web site.

How's that, Bowser?