[10:12] Robin Linden: Tao the data is never saved to be deleted. It’s matched onlyHere's the mailing list, folks! Who wants a copy?
[10:12] Daniel Linden: it’s vaulted to provided a government-required audit trail for two years, but neither Linden or Integrity can access that data unless an audit is initiated.
Seriously, you now have to ask who can initiate an audit? Can the RIAA? Can the US Department of Homeland Security? Can the DoJ? What about law organisations in other countries - will they be able to request an "audit" so that they can keep track of what their citizens are doing? And how secure IS this vault, given that Linden Labs failed to protect credit card details last year?
Unfortunately, as time passed, more questions arise than get answered. Linden Labs in fact haven't made ANY attempt to answer residents concerns. Their latest blog entry on the subject once again repeats the same things "It won't be stored, it's entirely optional, it's only for adult content" - well, we now know the FIRST of these things is a lie. It WILL be stored, as is a legal requirement. The second is only true for the moment; watch this space for that changing. And just wait until the anti-furry brigade starts making noises and it'll be extended to all sorts of things.
I've seen many complaints about upcoming features in my time here, but NOTHING - absolutely nothing - has come close to this. Whereas normally 10-15% of the population complain about something new while 85-90% like the idea, here it's the other way around. 85-90% of the residents do not want to give their personal data to someone on a non-contractual assurance that it won't be given or sold or shared with third parties.
It now looks as if the Electronic Frontier Foundation is thinking about getting involved - Linden Labs, you're playing with the big boys now. There may also be European Union concerns about privacy... believe me, this is a can of worms you don't want to be trying to open.
To be continued.
1 comment:
Hi Ramsey, thanks for your comment.
In LL's case the mailing list may refer to more than just mail sent through the post. I'm using the term relatively loosely here, since it will probably be more of use to political parties to restrict what individuals unfavourable to the administration of the day will do.
Also, the list will contain more international users than it will US based users, since it's reckoned over 60% of Second Life's users are not in the US.
That said, I do agree that there should be a way to 'opt out' of any data being stored, which is why I will leave SL if and when this changes from optional to mandatory.
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