Using the forums at Breast Cancer Care

We hope you find these discussion forums helpful, and to ensure you are not at risk we ask that you take note of the following points before you begin:

This is a public forum.
Remember your message can be seen by anyone browsing the World Wide Web.
All messages are indexed by search engines such as Google. This ensures that the site continues to attract new users and the forums remain fresh, but bear this in mind before you go into detail about your diagnosis, treatment or where you live.

Choose your username with care.
Imagine the name appearing alongside your personal information. If you think you may be identified away from the boards because of it, choose something random or impersonal. We do not allow the use of full names to protect your security.

Do not post anything that could personally identify you.
This forum can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world, and is routinely stored on search engines and external computers that Breast Cancer Care has no control over.

Sharing information about diagnosis and treatment and personal information may feel appropriate at this moment, but in six months time it may not, and the information is out there.

To protect your security we do not allow the posting of personal contact details such as telephone numbers, email addresses or personal websites

Don't trust everything you read.
This applies not just to our forums but anything you see online. Just because someone claims to be a health professional, or makes claims about the causes of breast cancer, don't believe them until you have seen proof supported by a credible organisation.

If you arrange to meet someone, don't go on your own.
We hope you will make friends here, and if you get on with someone online it is natural to want to meet up in 'real life'.

However, do remember to take basic safety precautions when you arrange to meet someone you have never seen, or perhaps even spoken with, before. Always meet in a public place and let others know where you are going. Taking a friend along can also ease the awkwardness of first meetings.

Don't feel pressured into taking part.
All sorts of personalities use message boards, but if you start to feel uncomfortable or upset for any reason at all, remember you can always just turn off the computer and walk away.

Contact the moderators.
If anything on the forums gives you cause for concern, contact the interactive services team.
All queries are treated in the strictest confidence, and if action is necessary as a result of your email or phone call, we will never identify or indicate the source. Please understand that because of our strict ethics around confidentiality of forum members, we cannot always inform you of action taken. We will however always acknowledge your correspondence.