Re: MadCap feedback privacy issue - ignore if you're not interested

[Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>]

No confusion on my part. You need to specify a Feedback Server URL and
enter a license key to generate a feedback-enabled .chm.

That doesn't make the lack of an opt-out dialog in the .chm any less
of an issue for a software vendor who wants to use Feedback:

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=7564

On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Sharon Burton <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com> wrote:
> You're missing the part where you *CANNOT* enable these extensions in Flare
> if you don't specify a valid Feedback server *AND* a valid Feedback license.
>
>
> So you CANNOT build a Feedback ready Flare help if you don't have Feedback.
> That's why I keep emphasizing the If and only if part.
>
> I refer you back to this topi:
> http://webhelp.madcapsoftware.com/flare5/Content/Feedback/Enabling_Feedback_
> in_Flare.htm
>
>
> sharon
>
> Sharon Burton
> MadCap Software Product Consultant
> Managing your content, one topic at a time
> www.anthrobytes.com
> 951-369-8590
> IM: sharonvburton -at- yahoo -dot- com
> Twitter: sharonburton
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: robert -dot- lauriston -at- gmail -dot- com [mailto:robert -dot- lauriston -at- gmail -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
> Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 11:15 AM
> To: sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com; Mike Hamilton
> Cc: TECHWR-L Writing
> Subject: Re: MadCap feedback privacy issue - ignore if you're not interested
> (was: Re: in search for better tools)
>
> It's a Flare issue in the sense that the code for generating the
> opt-in dialog needs to be added to Flare.
>
> Once the feedback-enabled .chm has been generated, bundled with a
> product, and installed by an end user, it doesn't matter whether
> there's a Feedback Server running at the specified URL. The .chm will
> still collect and attempt to send the data, which in many cases will
> generate a firewall or antispyware alert.
>
> On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:08 AM, Sharon Burton <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com>
> wrote:
>> OK - so it's the fact that a Feedback enabled Flare generated help system
> is
>> gathering the data that upsets you? Did I get it right?
>>
>> BTW - you CANNOT enable this feature in Flare without a Feedback server
>> specified, so it's a Feedback issue, not a Flare issue. *If and only if*
> you
>> have Feedback installed and configured *AND* *if and only if* you then
>> specify that server in Flare, can this information be gathered.
>>
>> Mike, your turn. I'm going to shower and then finish knitting my grand
>> daughter's sweater.
>>
>>
>> sharon
>>
>> Sharon Burton
>> MadCap Software Product Consultant
>> Managing your content, one topic at a time
>> www.anthrobytes.com
>> 951-369-8590
>> IM: sharonvburton -at- yahoo -dot- com
>> Twitter: sharonburton
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: robert -dot- lauriston -at- gmail -dot- com [mailto:robert -dot- lauriston -at- gmail -dot- com] On
>> Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
>> Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 11:00 AM
>> To: sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com; Mike Hamilton
>> Cc: TECHWR-L Writing
>> Subject: MadCap feedback privacy issue - ignore if you're not interested
>> (was: Re: in search for better tools)
>>
>> See the following discussion from last November on your forums for a
>> real-world complaint by one of your customers:
>>
>> http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=7564
>>
>> The privacy issue arises when a .chm generated by Flare with feedback
>> enabled "phones home" with information collected about which topics
>> the user viewed, which terms they searched for, and which CSH links
>> they followed without first popping up an "opt-in" dialog.
>>
>> This has nothing to do with Feedback Server per se. That the data is
>> aggregated at the receiving end does not make it OK to collect it
>> without the end user's knowledge or acquiescence.
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 10:36 AM, Sharon Burton <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com>
>> wrote:
>>> Perhaps we are not understanding because you're not clearly explaining
>> what
>>> your issues are? Sometimes something that's really clear in my head
>> doesn't
>>> get explained outside my head very well.
>>>
>>> From what I understand from you, you think the issue is that a Flare
>> created
>>> help system can enabled so that if and only if there is a Feedback server
>>> configured, the Flare created help can report blinded aggregate activity?
>>>
>>> Am I understanding you correctly?
>
>
>
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