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Re: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users
Subject:Re: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users From:quills -at- airmail -dot- net To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:14:14 -0500
The main point, that most are missing, seems to be that the privacy laws
of the U.S. are rather lax. If the EULA states that the software will
use Feedback and "Phone home" with the tracking information, that would
cover the U.S. customers, regardless of their druthers.
In the European Union, HOWEVER, they have MUCH stricter privacy laws,
laws that would place a great many practices of companies and
individuals in the U.S. under indictment if they were subject to those laws.
In other words, in the EU you cannot assume that the the "phone home"
feature of Feedback would be legal WITHOUT a positive and active
acceptance of that feature.
If it were in place in a .chm help file associated with a software
product, and installed in a computer in the EU, and it was found to be
active, then the company who made that help file, and MadCap would be
liable under EU law, and subject to both civil and criminal suites.
The moral outrage, the questions of ethical suitability are moot beside
the law.
Scott
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