Livejournal alert!

[mellowtigger]

My bad! I mistakenly thought there was a bug in Livejournal privacy protections.

What's actually happening is that the web browser is storing Livejournal credentials in a cache.  When going to view anyone's RSS feed, the browser is also (behind the scenes) sending your userid/password.  As a Livejournal participant, you can then see posts appropriate to your security level.

If you open a different browser program (which has no cached credentials), you see an RSS feed that offers only Public posts.

You can view RSS feeds for any Livejournal blog using the instructions here:
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=149

You can even view RSS feeds only for specific tags.  If, for instance, someone wanted to subscribe only to my Furry Friday or Autism posts:
http://mellowtigger.livejournal.com/data/rss/?tag=furryfriday
http://mellowtigger.livejournal.com/data/rss/?tag=autism

This convenience is why I'm a big supporter of appropriate Tag usage on blogs.  :)

Comments

[vocalista001.livejournal.com]

So their policy as stated here is bogus?

http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=306&q=rss&lang=

I've never used RSS for LJ, so wouldn't have run into an issue where I'd see that my private posts were showing up there for any old body to read.

[mellowtigger]

I never tested it in the past, assuming it worked correctly.

If it was correct in the past (matching their policy), then it was probably messed up 2 or 3 weeks ago when they made changes to increase cross-posting abilities (to Facebook and Twitter).

It's a very serious bug. It's not possible to maintain a private "me only" diary at the moment, which I had done.

[vocalista001.livejournal.com]

Yoiks.

So, can you read my private posts on your RSS feed? Would you post a(n innocuous) sentence from my last private post to show me what you mean?

I don't even know how to get an RSS feed from LJ to show up on myyahoo RSS reader.

[mellowtigger]

Wait, you are correct!

Now, should I go back and delete this whole post to avoid confusion? *laugh*

Using a different browser program (which has no cached credentials stored in it), the Private and Friends posts were NOT visible.

[wvacritter.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you got it figured out. I would have missed reading your posts.

[kroyd.livejournal.com]

Thanks Terry. :)