Re: govt spys, was Are you a Yahoo! group member?

SteveS <sgshiya@xxxxxxxxxxxx> · Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:26:47 -0800

It's not been going on for decades with narry a 
complaint.  It's new that this Yahoo company sells beacons and delivers 
private information.  

That should answer both Bob Maxey's posts.

S.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  Bob Maxey 

  To: List for Photo/Imaging 
  Educators - Professionals - Students 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 12:49 
  PM
  Subject: Re: govt spys, was Are you a 
  Yahoo! group member?

  > It's actually somewhat worse than Robert suggests. They've been 
  using
> beacons for quite a while. Read the fine print when you sign up 
  and google
> the Yahoo privacy statement. You must also agree to allow 
  Yahoo to share the
> information they garner about you with its business 
  associates, and there's
> no stipulation as to how that information is 
  shared. 

  Its funny how this has been going on for many decades, with nary a 
  complaint. This is why there is so much personal information available for the 
  asking and ready to be used by the Great Marketing Machine.

  Customer feedback forms, warranty registrations, surveys, mass marketing 
  and mailing lists, the ability to purchase and use vehicle registration 
  information and other government maintained mailing lists. On and on. You can 
  order a mailing list that is extremely specific. 

  Things will change if the public raises the issue with those corporations 
  that have implemented policies that the user disagrees with. Never forget, 
  Yahoo might be free, but the money is flowing from somewhere. If the cash flow 
  is threatened, things will change. It does not take a marketing degree to 
  recognize that simple fact.

  If the public is frightened and is reacting to something that really 
  matters very little, the company might need to make changes that make no 
  sense. So public education is required.

  What happens if these corporations start charging a monthly fee for 
  service? How many Yahoo group members would pay fifteen bucks every month for 
  Yahoo groups? Yahoo offers a great service and I would hate to see it go 
  away.

  About all I can offer is this: read every TOS you can find on the sites you 
  want to play with; read every Privacy Policy, too. If you are concerned about 
  their policy, do not use the service. If you have time, write the web master 
  and express your concerns I do not favor boycotts, but you can write one or 
  two of the advertisers and express your concerns. 

  Use long strings of letters and numbers for your passwords and only give 
  the service the minimum amount of information required to access the service. 
  If they do not require a street address or your mother's maiden name, do not 
  give them the information. Do not freely give away your email address.

  Bob 
  ... 

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