Privacy Concerns Over Posts Being Published, And Preview Mode

Some Blogger blog owners, as they develop a post, use Preview mode to periodically observe what the post looks like.

A few owners are confused about the privacy of a post, as it is Previewed. Some think that the temporary nature of the Preview window makes the content, as Previewed, intentionally unavailable for viewing by their readers.

Fortunately, the links - even though they may be clickable by the readers, lead nowhere.

Here is a Preview URL for this post.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/b/post-preview?token=yV1fKDYBAAA.ySUB0XKSvMXVATQkgsbJpQ.vf2Wk6Ed_TXX54XVpLn3uA&postId=1855542079708688719&type=POST

If you're interested, click on the link. Does it show you anything? How about another?

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/b/post-preview?token=zx9iKDYBAAA.ySUB0XKSvMXVATQkgsbJpQ.r_B4NGbmR453Nsa2tYZPKg&postId=1855542079708688719&type=POST

See anything interesting?

This post, being edited.

This post, being previewed. See the preview URL?



The preview URL:

https://24069595_d291cd04e6207d111fa5388b4e8893fada5ac690.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=xZUz-VoBAAA.O0Vfemj-2Qck1xmWN_at645qjM-E809UONHYWYK-IbP8yGx0F6eRm-z3UxF8qMPs.HwrOVypOYd44GQ-D0znhaw&postId=1855542079708688719&type=POST

Click on the URL, above - and see what you get.

Presumably, the tokens attached to the URL make the visibility of the post temporary - and the previewed post becomes secure by obscurity. That is, if anybody cares enough to view this.Why did I see evidence that 5 people had already read the Preview (and now, said evidence is gone)?

But like every Blogger feature, there are always ways to complicate the issue.

Similar to people who, years ago, published web sites, with the web site access logs published as part of the web site (and became the original target of referer spam attacks), we have Blogger blog owners who publish a real time access log on their blogs.

A popular blog accessory, Feedjit, provides a real time list of blog pages, as read by various people. Similar to a visitor log, but displayed in real time, and shown to the public in general, Feedjit shows everybody what blog content is being viewed.

And here is the complication, of the Preview content. Some blog owners are concerned that the public can view their Previwed content, because Feedjit displays the URLs of the Preview displays, as they (the blog owner) develop a new post.

Please examine the URL quoted below - does any component of that URL contain any tag, suggesting to you that the content is treated as private? It's simply obscure, because (without the involvement of Feedjit, or a similar access display log), the Preview post is not visible. To check it, here's the latest Preview URL for this post.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/b/post-preview?token=PYh8KDYBAAA.ySUB0XKSvMXVATQkgsbJpQ.6T7Xf_PcgR7nXI_xZCq_Kw&postId=1855542079708688719&type=POST

Personally, I don't use Preview mode that much. I like to Publish my posts over a period of days - if not longer. None of my posts are actually static, I call this Progressive Publishing. You're welcome to view any of my posts, any time you feel the urge.

Watch this post, and see what changes. To start, I'll now observe that, with the post Published, all of the Preview links (above) all appear to load the finished post - until the token (in the URL) expires. If you just clicked on any of the above Preview links, you are probably now seeing

Invalid security token: Error 403

since the Previews, for this post, have long expired.

The conclusion would be that Preview content is only visible until the post is Published. Until the post is Published, the Preview is available to everybody - if you choose to publicise the URL of the Preview.

Recovering Your Account Information - Improved

Blogger has long promised us that our blogs will be ours, forever, and that we are free to publish our blogs in privacy, if we so desire. Based on those promises, not all Blogger blog owners have made the right decisions, in retaining access to their Blogger / Google accounts.

Many problem reports. from frustrated owners, are seen, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

My email address changed some time ago, and now, I can't login to Blogger and update my blog!

Last year, Blogger made several changes to their account recovery policies and procedures, which made this subject, for many blog owners, a critical and painful issue. Now, Google is making an organised effort to reduce the pain, by improving their account recovery tool.

There are two tools which you may wish to try, when you cannot login directly, to your Blogger account.

• Blogger: Forgot your username or password?
• Google: Having trouble signing in?

Google re designed account recovery, in 2012.

Recognising the frustration caused by some recent changes to the Blogger / Google login, and to various account recovery procedures, Google recently improved the design of their account recovery tool. Formerly labeled

• Account Recovery: Forgot your password?

We now have

• Google: Having trouble signing in?

The newly designed wizard covers both Google account un deletion, and account recovery, transparently. It won't provide recovery of all Google services lost when the account was deleted, however.

The wizard has three initial selections.

• I forgot my password
• I forgot my username
• I'm having other problems signing in

I forgot my password

Immediately when selecting "I forgot my password", you'll be asked to provide the username of your Google account, labeled "Email address". As noted, this may be either a GMail address - or any non GMail email address.

To reset your password, enter the username you use to sign in to Google. This can be your Gmail address, or it may be another email address you associated with your account.

Having hit "Continue", expect to see a CAPTCHA. Successfully solving the CAPTCHA, you'll be presented with three options. Each of these options requires proper advance registration, by the blog owner.

Choose how to get back into your account.

• Get a verification code on my phone.
• Answer my security question
• Get a password reset link at my recovery email

I forgot my username

Immediately when selecting "I forgot my username", you'll need to provide the account recovery email.

Please enter the recovery email address you provided when creating your account.

Having entered the right email address, you'll next (surprise!) get to solve a CAPTCHA, and then receive the welcome news.

An email has been sent to xxxxxxx@yyyyy.zzz containing all Gmail usernames associated with that address.

Please make sure xxxxxxx@yyy.zzz is your recovery email address. If it is not, you will not receive an email containing your username.

Here, once again, we see the advantage of not remaining completely anonymous.

I'm having other problems signing in
Immediately when selecting "I'm having other problems signing in", you'll be asked for your Email address.

Enter the username you use to sign in to Google. This can be your Gmail address, or it may be another email address you associated with your account.

Having provided an email address (big surprise!!), you'll be asked to solve a CAPTCHA. Finally, you'll be provided the Google Accounts: Problems signing in to your account article, with additional selections.

Please select your issue:

• I forgot my password
• I think someone else is using my account
• I forgot my username
• I know my username and password, but I can't sign in
• I can't reset my password via SMS
• I use a Google Apps account
• I'm having trouble with 2-step verification

Here we see a wide assortment of options, all carefully provided to allow genuine Blogger blog owners to recover access to their Blogger / Google accounts, while preventing malicious hijacking. This should complement the separate Blogger blog access recovery wizard. You'd be wise to try at least some of these options, before asking for assistance, in a public forum.

The automated tools are necessary, to protect our accounts and blogs from people seeking to misuse the recovery process, and steal control of our accounts and our blogs.

Recovery works best with "lost access" accounts - "stolen" accounts will differ.

Now, you'll want to note that these wizards help you recover control of a Blogger / Google account that you simply have lost access. If your GMail / Google account has been successfully hijacked, you're going to need different corrective measures, for recovery and future protection.

Please note that both tools provided by Blogger / Google will work more reliably, with a blog that was not transferred improperly, from one Blogger account to another. And plan the recovery process, don't be caught unaware of the new recovery verification procedures.

Your Blogger Account: Anonymity Vs Security

One of the most frustrating problems with Blogger accounts involves the conflicting goals of anonymity and security.

1. We are allowed to publish a Blogger blog in complete anonymity. Blogger acknowledges and supports that need.
2. Anonymity comes at a price. Should you succeed in intentionally becoming completely anonymous, then forget the account name or password, there will be no way for Blogger to help you to recover access to your Blogger account.

Every week, we get reports from people who can't access their blogs because they changed their email address without proper planning, or they don't know which account owns a given blog. And some time ago, we dealt with a small flood of reports from people whose Blogger accounts - and blogs - had been stolen, using some devious hacking techniques.

Blogger and Google have added additional options for account authentication.

Considering the need to prevent account and blog hijacking, yet allow people to be able to recover account access after changing email address, this is a righteous advance. The options may not please people who value anonymity, though.

Blogger / Google has added an additional account verification option, Two Step Verification.

2-Step Verification improves your chance of successful account recovery.

Two-Step Verification will improve the chance of your being able to recover account access, if you forget the account name or password.

For those unable or unwilling to accept 2-Step Verification, and where tracking cookies are not regarded as a devious plot, Blogger uses demographic authentication. First seen by people who travel being asked to prove identity, demographic authentication appears to be used when you need to recover account access, or when you login from a different computer.

2-Step Verification may not be acknowledged by everybody as a major advance.

For people who have had their Blogger account hacked and blogs stolen, or people who fear this fate, demographic authentication may be seen as a positive direction for Blogger / Google to take, For people who fear "big brother" and the never escapable cameras and total lack of privacy, an authentication process which tracks each of us, as we login, may be seen as privacy violation.

We will be recognised, demographically, by computer, by geographic location, and by Internet connection. This may substitute for, or enhance, 2-Step Verification.

Two Step Verification - which uses your cell phone or home phone as a verification token - will not work, for everybody.

• It requires advance action. By the time you realise that you have forgotten the account name / password, and you cannot use the backup email address to reset the password, it's too late to register your cell or home phone.
• If you value anonymity, you may not want your activity tracked.
• If you value anonymity, you may not want Google to have your cell or home phone number, stored in their databases.

For people who understand the risk of having ones Blogger account hacked - or who want to provide an additional option for account recovery when necessary, however, this is a solid option.

Your Blogger Account: Privacy Vs Account Recovery

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see questions about publishing a blog, anonymously.

How do I publish a blog, without having my identity revealed?

One of the best techniques for keeping yourself anonymous is to use different Blogger / Google accounts, for different blogs. But, there's a downside to that technique.

I can't regain access to my blog, because I don't remember the email address!

Sometimes, it's a bit more embarrassing.

I can't regain access to my blog, because I don't remember the GMail address!

And here, we see blog owners who took the need for secrecy a bit far.

Regardless of whether a Blogger account is based on a GMail, or a non GMail address, backup access - should one forget the account name or password - uses the email address.

You can't maintain anonymity, if you ever have to reveal your email address.

If you want to publish your blog without revealing your identity, that's fine - Blogger permits this - and even supports your need. In order to support this need, though, you have to allow them to refuse to disclose any personal details.

Neither the account name - or email address, should you forget either, can be disclosed, without revealing your identity.

If you maintain email account access, you can always recover Blogger access.

One of the reasons for using one's email address (Gmail, or non GMail) as your Blogger account name is so you won't forget the account name. If you forget your email address, you'll have worse problems than just inability to publish your Blogger blog.

You need your Blogger account based on an active email address.

Unfortunately, if you choose to use one "email address" to read and send your email, and a second "email address" (whether bogus, or genuine) to publish a Blogger blog, you are not as likely to remember your Blogger account name. That's a decision that you have to make. If you want to publish your blog anonymously, don't expect Blogger to gratuitously break your anonymity, later.

If you forget an identity detail, you must break anonymity.

In this case, you're going to have to hope that you can supply your email account hosts - either GMail, or non GMail - with enough personal details (anonymity not possible, now) so they can restore your email account, and / or recover access to your Inbox - and you can open the Blogger account recovery message, and regain access to your Blogger account.

If you'e forgotten the backup email address of the active account, again, don't expect Blogger to tell you what you need to remember. Now, you'll have do do some research, and hope that you can find the forgotten email address mentioned in email, in one of your remembered accounts - or maybe in a friends email account.

You'll have problem with a deleted / locked account or blog, without email.

This scenario will be intensified, when a blog is deleted for any of several different reasons - possibly including accused DMCA Violation.

There is one valid reason to have multiple email addresses.

There is one reason to maintain two (or more) email addresses. If you have a small business, or you communicate through your blog using email, don't use your Blogger account email for casual contact with the public.

Here, using two (or more) email addresses makes sense - but maintain Blogger account names and email addresses, constantly.

Use Google Two Step Verification, for extra protection.

At any rate, if you're able to recover access, this time, consider using Two Step Verification, for future protection. Especially if you travel.