On Sep 29, 2004, at 9:22 AM, GAmoore at aol dot com wrote:
I agree with the digging into someone's email box.
I think its system information. In os X you have to create a user id.
And then that is automatically stored in address book, and I believe I
have seen some info from Apple encouraging access to address book.
Oh, it is not hard to get the user's name... you can even just grab the
name of the User's Home folder. But if the user actually fills out the
Owner Address Book record, you could use it to get a lot of information
like email and telephone number.
But you have a good point about privacy. But in another sense, if
someone is using your software then perhaps they might have to
sacrifice a tiny bit of privacy as part of the license agreement.
My opinion on this is it is still private data (and Verboten). I
believe it would be questionable whether you could legally justify this
even if it is part of the software license agreement.
But you could use your app's serial number to lookup your client info
in your registered users database.
While phoning home can be frowned upon by *some* users, it is a very
common technique in modern software.
As a matter of fact, I thought I read a year or two ago that Microsoft
does this all the time - sending snapshots of what software is used
and system information back to Redmond.
Doesn't surprise me.
It can even be appreciated by the users if it also provides a useful
service, like checking for updates.
Sure, much like Apple's Software update which notifies them of new
versions. As matter of fact maybe that would be the way to go - have a
screen popup and ask them if they want to check for free updates to
the program. They have the option to say No.
I disagree with that just because it would interrupt the users
work-flow. To allow the user to have a choice in the matter, you can
have a manual check for updates (menu item) and you can also have a
preference item to disable automatic checks. As long as your provide a
method within your app to disable "phoning home", I don't think that
many users would fine this practice objectionable.
I just suggested trolling for information (software version, who its
registered to (which comes from inside the app), which system its on,
and where if possible). I would think its a good idea for many
companies to have information about who is using their products. For
example, should they go a dongle like Logic Pro, Quark, etc or not? Is
their rampant piracy or not very much. If not very much then perhaps
no need for touch measures.
For me, part of that information is sent along with the query to the
server log files. I only pass the general app build (Mac Classic, OS
X, Windows) and the version number, and if it is a beta or licensed
copy. I am not interested in finding out which percentage of users
have 2.0 ghz CPUs.
Instead, I have a feedback form built into the application (using
HTTPSocket). In issues where users are willing to report bugs or offer
suggestions, having OS information and a few other system profile data
could be useful in isolating the problem (but is not required). It is
not a bad idea to get the user's email from the Address Book in this
case, since the user would have the option to override it before the
form data is sent.
By the way, (since this is an OT thread) doesn't the RIAA do some kind
of spyware type of thing to find out which 12 year old has downloaded
music to sue? How else would they know whats on people's computers?
And I wonder too how they can tell the difference between an MP3 you
ripped yourself from your legallly purchased CD, and one you snagged.
I don't think that they use spyware on individual user computers --
that would be like a search without a warrant and the evidence would be
thrown out. Instead, I know that they have reverse engineered Kazaa
software (there is a law suit about that) and are tracking people by
network traffic. Since IP address ownership is public knowledge, the
get search warrants issued for the ISPs to release the information they
need to identify the user and then get a search warrant for the user's
computer. If they find MP3's and you cannot prove ownership (CD's,
online purchase receipts) then they can prosecute you.
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