Comments on: "Netscape is using SmartDownload to eavesdrop,"

"Netscape is using SmartDownload to eavesdrop,"

Mick — Thu, 06 Jul 2000 12:24:17 -0800

"Netscape is using SmartDownload to eavesdrop," I thought Microsoft was the ONLY evil!

By: dogwelder

dogwelder — Thu, 06 Jul 2000 14:21:52 -0800

No, Microsoft is merely the current most powerful evil.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Thu, 06 Jul 2000 14:52:57 -0800

It's true, they DO have a near-monopoly. But the Justice Department of Hell is working on that.

By: harmful

harmful — Thu, 06 Jul 2000 15:00:20 -0800

Actually, Hell has already approved the merger.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Thu, 06 Jul 2000 16:12:14 -0800

I tried posting this once before and it seems to have vanished. (that's happened a couple of times.) It isn't the "smart download" feature that they're using, it's the "what's related" feature. When that's enabled, your browser reports to a special Netscape address every time you make a page change, telling it where you are and where you're going. What they're doing is building for each possible address a list of all the places people go next, and when you ask "What's Related?" for a given web site, you get told the most common sites that other people went to after being at that one. It is, of course, a major violation of privacy and it's the very first thing I turn off whenever I install Netscape.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 07 Jul 2000 15:58:08 -0800

meetoo This was mentioned in the RISKS Digest (A moderated forum on risks to the public in computers and related systems) at *least* a year ago, if not more. If this isn't on your reading list (issues go out about bi-weekly, usually; it's also available as news:comp.risks), it should be.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 07 Jul 2000 15:59:16 -0800

GRRR. Matt? You didn't fix the pseudo-tag munching yet. That should have read: <AOL> meetoo. </AOL> ...