RE: [GD-General] Collecting info from players

[Ken P. <ke...@dr...>]

For the most part this is an issue of ethics.  As far as legality goes, 
that would change from country to country and you'd need to contact 
numerous lawyers to make sure it's legal everywhere.

Though it may be an outdated idea, I still believe that if you want your 
users to respect you, you should show them respect.  Legal or not, grabbing 
information without their knowledge shows a lack of respect.

If I invited you into my home (analogous to installing your software), and 
in addition to doing whatever you were invited over for, you made notes on 
what brands of stuff I have in my home, I would consider that incredibly 
rude.  It certainly wouldn't be illegal, it's not like you were rummaging 
in my drawers, but it would be rude.

I think most people would not have an issue sharing the information if 
asked.  As you pointed out, it requires more work, but I think it's the 
right way to go.

As an additional point, with Internet security being such a big issue these 
days, how many publishers would be unhappy if they knew your product 
reported info back without telling the user?  You might think any publicity 
is good publicity, but your publisher might not agree.

At 09:47 AM 7/11/2003, you wrote:

>There are three possible choices in our situation:
>the "right way", as suggested by the I-won't-call-you-names guys
>who value their privacy, the pragmatic "wrong way" close to my original
>idea
>of what to do, supported by TomF and Timur, and simply forgetting
>about it.
>
>The logistical issues of doing it "the right way" (during installation,
>with prompts etc.) are serious: somebody to implement the
>extra user interface, then the network part (what if there's no net
>during installation?), then the usual localization hell for any text
>longer than 2 words, then explaining to N publishers for the
>different territories what is that reporting and why isn't it reporting
>to THEM... Not to mention that some publishers insist on their
>own installers, so we can't actually do this on installation.
>
>All of this, for significantly _reducing_ the utility of the system
>(especially if it's turned off by default) doesn't seem like a good deal
>to
>me - we have a ridiculously tight schedule (hey, who isn't!).
>
>I'm still somewhat wary of "the wrong way" (so not all hope
>is lost for my soul, Javier!) - that's why I started this thread in the
>first place.
>
>I'm an engineer, and this seems to be turning into a ethics
>decision. I'm not comfortable making ethics decisions -
>it's not what engineers do beyond basic common sense things,
>like not fetching your emails or not formatting the hard disk.
>I know how to solve the problem if it's turned into a technical decision
>(is it possible to report such information? definitely), a business
>decision (do we want this information? definitely), or a legal decision
>(is it expressly forbidden by law? possibly).
>
>How do privacy advocats feel about carrying a cellphone in their pocket?
>Your cellphone company can determine what brand of phone you use.
>
>I bought tires for my car recently, and at the shop the girl behind the
>counter entered my car's model in the order. Would you refuse to provide
>that information (even if she could just glance at the car parked
>outside and see for herself) ?
>
>
>
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