Well, they are the public. They're people just like you and me. They may not be just any old user on this site, but they aren't some sort of deity when they have a title. They are volunteer moderators who dedicate countless hours of their personal lives to ensuring a safe environment for you and me. It's an extremely commendable position. Threatening someone in real life is a threat to the public and is handled by the public and virtual authorities, I would assume.

The cops are just like you and me. Except they have been given power to enforce the rules by the governing bodies. In the Bungie.net world, the mods and Ninjas have been given power by the governing body, Bungie, to enforce Bungie rules. If someone reports to the cops, cops have authority to enforce the law. If someone reports a thread or pm, to the ninja/mentor or use the report button, those folks have the power to enforce Bungie rules. That's the jist of it and what I meant by they really aren't the "public." They are just like us in outside life but in Bungie land, they have more authority. Never did I say they were some sort of diety.

So who is the public? Doesn't anyone else have access to a group post or forum post? The public forums are accessible by anyone who cares to look on the site, and anyone who cares to get into a group can see a group post. This does not denote privacy in any way. Therefore, the posts should not be labelled as "private."

Can I, just as a normal user, see your private messages? No. However if you broke COC and got reported by someone in that private conversation those Ninjas are given authority to look into it. I don't have that authority. And they have always said that the forums are public. You don't even need an account t to view it.

You, as a normal user, ought not to fear pseudo-privacy. Even the CoC isn't explicitly applicable in all situations on this site. What if someone made a post planning to commit suicide? Is that a description of gory violence?