Think for yourself- What does Eden mean to you? What are you willing to risk?

Contributor: Dragon Dragon
Eden has come a long way since I started writing reviews in March 2007. At that time I was submitting my reviews by email, they were being edited and reviewed by hand. About the time of my third review, I almost walked away from the program because they were adding so many links that they screwed up the grammar. Today reviews can be submitted automatically and published instantly. They’ve opened up the program to reviewing all products that you might own making it a truly interactive and reflective of personal experiences.
These days you can…
-Set alerts to track reviewers.
-Set alerts to track comments on a product.
-Participate in the forum asking questions on a product, relationship or anything random.
- Get intelligent information and a wide variety of opinions from people that actually know about sex and sex toys.
Eden has listened to the views of the forum when implementing new policies. There are many very valuable things about this company.
I’ve benefitted personally, and I love some of the products that Eden has sent me. I currently love the interaction and information of the forum. I’ve found some Christmas ideas from reading reviews of reviewers that I like. There are some books I want.
Yet…
I wonder if I should walk away.
The entire time that I’ve been with Eden they have periodically changed policies without any notification. I’m personally saddened by how the privacy leak has been handled. I believe there is a lack of forthrightness and honesty (this is my interpretation based on communication with several people). I’m bothered by the frequent staff turnover. This is one issue that I am very concerned about- reviewers that want to leave Eden.

Another issue I am concerned about is the personal security of sex bloggers. If real life identities are published on the web this creates a potential personal security nightmare. Many bloggers have dealt with stalkers and many bloggers have families and potentially complex personal situations. These are dynamically changing. My own children learned the identity of “DevilBlueDress.” Eden seems to be aware of this issue in the abstract, but I am not convinced that they understand how personally and deeply it could impact members of the reviewer community.

I appreciate deeply that the owner of this company was willing to respond to two of my emails, prior to this post. I would like to summarize what I know and feel so that everyone can make their own decisions and put these issues to rest. Any additional comments from Fred would be most welcome by me.

1. Credit Cards and general encryption.
Eden Fantasy’s adheres to PCI standards and procedures and Verisign encryption. Verisign logo is marked on the checkout pages to follow back. There is also information about encryption on the FAQ’s. Per my conversation with Fred, these encryption standards are complicated, time consuming and expensive. The original leak was not of a financial nature. The Eden profiles and data is also protected with encryption.

2. Per Fred, all contacts “were notified and totally aware about what exactly information was exposed about them.” This does not match my personal communication with individuals. They sent me copies of the email they received. Individuals were confused and individually needed to request different information. Some individuals initially received a different letter. There is some concern about an ongoing civil suit that may have affected Eden’s decisions about the information they shared – but the details here are unclear to me.

3. I do not know if any compensation or additional safeguards has been offered to those individuals whose privacy was compromised. My understanding is that these were paid sex bloggers who provide PR and advertising, and there was very little overlap with the Eden reviewer community- explaining their lack of presence on the forum. From my perspective- this is both a disputed and unverified fact .

4. I am stronly concerned about Eden’s policy when a particular reviewer wants to leave Eden.

I checked… on “Terms and Conditions” (11/25) and this is not discussed.
I questioned Fred on this issue. He agreed that it is important and needs to be addressed much be more clearly. I believe this policy will be addressed.

“Snappy” who has posted on the forum was temporarily locked out, apparently because changing her (non-verified) reviews caused substantial errors throughout the system and was considered an act of vandalism by Eden. (Thank you Neuron Geek)

I know of other bloggers that are currently denied access to their profiles or have had their profile name changed against their will. They want to have their entire presence removed from Eden- profiles and reviews. They are very unhappy with the Eden at the moment. Emails have not been answered or responded to.

You can not change your own profile name at Eden. I requested that mine be changed to DBD on Sunday. I have not had any response. (This is primarily personal.)

(My husband and I had an interesting conversation about intellectual property rights under web 2.0 – in particular about who owns a review posted to the Eden web site. There may be unresolved legal issues here that go far beyond Eden’s reviewer community. However, I think we can all agree that our primary concern here should be to create a happy and productive reviewer community – a standard that is actually more reasonable and more rigorous than the law.)

The bottom line? You need to decide for yourself. Nothing has actually changed on Eden, and several improvements are likely to be made. Right now- Eden feels as if reviews are a business asset (my terms) and has ignored the feelings of reviewers who wish to be removed creating substantial ill will.

I strongly believe that everyone should informed on issues that may affect them. (My goal in becoming involved in many of these issues.) I feel that everyone should think and address any individual concerns.

If I am welcome here - I do not currently plan to completely leaving Eden. I will become some what inactive (particularly the forum) as I observe the company. I know the company better than I used to, and I would like to see the improvements that I believe it is capable of. I enjoy many aspects of Eden – just not all. Yet. At this point, Eden is a part of my personal history- I don’t care if my reviews are left on the site- although I do want to change my name.

(Someone want to buy me a margarita?)

DBD
11/26/2008
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Contributor: Dame Demi Dame Demi
A short reply, since I'm sleep-deprived, but I just want to say I hope you don't leave. This is one reviewer that would seriously miss you.
11/26/2008
Contributor: Liz2 Liz2
A relationship with EF as with all relationships is personal. Prior to the forums, "live" individuals at EF answered my questions and assisted in thoughtful product selection for over two years.
DBD: I enjoy your reviews and comments hopefully you will reconsider with the added level of communication. The new team appears hell bent in getting up to speed.
I would luv to have a margarita with you, in spirit....wherever you are.
11/26/2008
Contributor: Dragon Dragon
Thanks @Dame Demi. I'm not actually leaving. I'm still hanging out, but I am completely backing out of this entire issue. I need to eliminate stress from my life and I don't like the conflict between feeling responsible for others and responsible to Eden.

Eden has changed my name to DBD. Thanks.
11/27/2008
Contributor: Airen Wolf Airen Wolf
I can fully understand the need to sometimes just sit back and observe. As a new comer and having only had good experiences with both EF and it's community I can't really add much to the discussion beyond the fact that this community has been so very helpful to me and my little triad that I am choosing to ride out the current upheaval as an interested observer.
I came to EF with no concrete knowledge of safe sex practices beyond condom usage (I have an open marriage and a closed relationship as well...it's rather odd but it works for us.) and my foibles during reviews were very gently and lovingly corrected by more knowledgeable reviewers leaving me enlightened without feeling put down. That is so rare with any community online where people seem to think that not seeing the person's crestfallen face is license to say the nastiest things.

I accept that EF isn't perfect and probably will make sweeping changes or maybe they'll only tweak things, I remain hopeful and look forward to getting to know all of you as well as getting to know my own body and reviewing until my eyes bleed for all those women like me whose whole sexual education was "wait till you get married, and then learn from him..." This attitude lead to probably the worst latex/rubber allergy flare up my doctor had ever seen. Seems I have an allergy I probably would have known about had my mother informed me, however, she kept my latex allergy a secret (it's not life threatening in my case) so she'd know if I ever used a condom. This caused me cramping and intense painful swelling of the vaginal canal, all of which I had no idea was latex related until I read a post on the forums here and called my Doctor's office.

No group of people is ever 100% safe nor perfect. I realize I put my name and my profile out there along side my given name and address so I am placing myself at risk. I trust the company to do everything it can to ensure my privacy and I will reciprocate by abiding by their rules and policies. If it all goes terribly wrong then at least I leave this arrangement with tons of knowledge for myself and my children. For me, this is a good place to be, though it is by no means a criticism for those who have real life problems that require complete anonymity. For me, beyond dealing with stalkers and other psychotics, it really isn't a terrible issue to have people know I review sex toys and speak frankly about how I use them. I have a husband who is a swinger and a boyfriend who is monogamous and we all co-exist very happily with our children, who are not at risk from the department of social services. We work very hard at being open and honest with everyone to maintain this high level of security.

My heart goes out to those of you who were so affected by this security breach and I pray that your lives are not adversely affected. I cherish the fact that I have been treated with dignity and respect and I would like to say from my heart that I do respect your outrage and caution after this terrible event. I choose to stay a part of the community, regardless, because I have so much to learn and I need to be able to make sure my girls know proper toy care and safer sex practices. To teach them I need to know the information myself.

I, too look forward to getting to know you better DBD and I respect your concerns and advice. Thank you for taking the time to point me to this thread.
~Airen
11/28/2008
Contributor: Oggins Oggins
I'll buy you a margarita DBD and I too would love to see you stay here on Eden! You've made some great points that will hopefully be addressed. I too would love to see more information available for reviewers who would like to cancel their accounts but, I also would hope that no one makes any rash decisions too hastily before they have time for all of the information to "sink in" so to speak. I hope there aren't too many reviewers deciding to leave just yet. I would love for them to stick around and see some changes implemented to settle their fears. I do believe this is possible especially with Fred joining the forums weekly now. I really have no idea why some of the bloggers are being denied access but, if they want removed entirely from Eden, I would hope Eden is willing to work with them to work something out that is in the best interest of both parties. On another note, I do truly feel that our financial information is safely encrypted and I doubt that this information is ever in danger of being breached. I have no fears about that now. I really don't know about a lot of the other issues but, I do feel as though Eden is giving each issue the attention that it needs and I hope everything is settled to the best interest of both parties - fairly. Victoria has also assured me that there will be no more lists of this nature so long as she is with Eden so, I'm positive that improvements are going to be made and I hope the community will be there for every step of the way to help give feedback on what needs changing.

I'm in agreement with Airen as well who also made some great points. I have also learned many things here through Eden's community and would hate to see other's questions go unanswered because this is a fantastic place to get answers that many can't get elsewhere. I love this community and I will be sticking around. I would also hope that everyone keeps it in mind that their reviews whether verified or not, help other people. I enjoy helping others and I find a sense of satisfaction in voicing my opinion to unknowing customers of a products worth. These reviews have also helped me tremendously! To try and give back, I look at my reviews as sort of a gift to the next consumer who comes along interested in that product. That's just how I personally look at it anyway. Basically, I feel that improvements are on the way and I would hope that everyone stays to see it through. This is a community and I hope the community is here to help deal with this too. Everyones feedback helps so, suggest away! =)
11/28/2008
Contributor: Snappy Snappy
I've only been contributing to Eden Fantasys for a few months. I registered in March and received my first product for review in September. I've enjoyed my participation here.
I'm concerned about the security issue and other issues regarding professional ethics that have been raised here and elsewhere. However I have confidence that Eden Fantasys can successfully overcome them.
11/29/2008
Contributor: Dragon Dragon
Quote:
Originally posted by Oggins
I'll buy you a margarita DBD and I too would love to see you stay here on Eden! You've made some great points that will hopefully be addressed. I too would love to see more information available for reviewers who would like to cancel their ... more
Thank you and well said...
11/30/2008