Skeptic that I am I can't help but wonder who the heck runs and funds this site and why?
I've done my own research and think I know, or at least who started it. But in general I don't like orgs and companies where the origins are somewhat cloaked in mystery if you know what I'm saying...
I've done my own research and I'm not worried. Does that help?
It's just someone giving back - just like they've said a time or two.
Are you referring to something other than the general site about/faq pages? Do they post here?
@prometheus There have been a lot of clues dropped over the past two years. Research was fairly easy. I'm not going to post about what I found - that's up to the person funding the site.
They are - quite frankly - doing it out of philanthropy. (A giving back).
Members can choose to accept that or not.
But I don't blame them for keeping their identity to themselves.
It's probably a wise move.
This way it's just a site for agnostics/atheists and humanists as it was designed to be.
A stand alone effort judged on it's own merit.
You may have noticed the lack of ads here - it's because the site isn't making anyone money.
@RavenCT thanks for the feedback. Yes I notice the lack of ads. Plus running any service like this costs real money for hosting. I remain as ever, skeptical due to the old adage "if you ain't paying for it you're the product". I know there is an exception to that - and precisely the one the about and FAQ pages allude to - that it's a non-profit philanthropic venture.
It would be nice if those who fund and operate this site were openly available. But you have to remember that, we live in a world where, reveling openly that you are the funding or inspiration behind a site like this, would make you a target for half the nut-jobs on the planet.
This is true. Then again there are sites like ancestry.com that turn out to be mostly run by Mormons (although not the Mormon Church directly) who can then happily mine our genealogical info to baptize the dead. I almost signed up with them until I found that out somewhat by accident. So in general I prefer to base my trust of sites and their Privacy/T&C declarations on something more substantial than faith - it also has something to do with all the privacy training my company makes me do. I start with wonder if GDPR and other regulations might actually require sites that collect PII to identify the legal owners, even if just a corporate name. Didn't figure that out yet.
@prometheus That's true, though I am not really bothered if they baptize my dead relatives or not. What I would worry about however is trading with any business related to the Mormons, since they have a long history of using such companies for all sorts of financial fiddles. Including laundering their tax exempt tithes.