Is websleuths.com Safe?

This site attracts anonymous armchair sleuths trying to determine the causes of serious crimes such as kidnapping and murder. The moderators will only allow such "sleuthing" based on absolute acceptance of any and all law enforcement statements or published media accounts.. Consequently, discussions are frequently subject to arbitrary and irrational deletion. In other words, the site is a little more than a time waster for anyone interested in the application of the law or wishes to learn more about events in the news. Additionally, the site secretly collects large amounts of information about the web activities of its users and members utilizing a number of hidden tracking sites and services. Beware.

Excellent source of information for unsolved cases and diligently staffed by dedicated people. Don't click on the banner ads leading to unknown external sites and you should be OK here. The form policies seem to show that the administrators and moderators really care. Some good Internet safety tips that can be applied to ALL web-surfing can be applied to the rules at this site. Occasional moving Flash banner ads can cause problems with the site loading. Smaller-banner ads would help improve the loading reliability of the site. IE (Internet Explorer) is not recommended for the site because it won't block the ads. It is the only criticism I have of a great site that helps with information on missing people and resources for families. I use Firefox with the Ad Block Plus plug in, and it stops all the banner ads. I would love to assign an Excellent WOT Child Safety rating to this site, because of its devotion to helping find missing kids. BUT some of the stories are so sad and emotionally involving that very small children might be frightened. However, the site is devoted to helping lost children and adults, so to strike a balance, I am giving a WOT Child Safety Rating on the "High End" - Good scale. WOT ratings of "Good" for Vender Reliability, instead of "Excellent" because of the ads. "Excellent" WOT ratings for all other areas.