This is "pretty good" privacy?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Tim O'Connor" <tim () roughdraft org>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 12:33:11 -0500
To: dave () farber net
Subject: This is "pretty good" privacy?


Like many people who used PGP for encryption and digital
signatures, and who supported it by buying commercial licenses,
I was pleased to see PGP saved from the brink, and also to see
the company able to offer support for Mac OSX and Windows XP.

However, there is a strange EULA in effect that governs use of
the new PGP.  It is online at:

    http://www.pgp.com/eula.php

It says, in part:

YOU HEREBY EXPRESSLY CONSENT TO PGP CO.'S PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
(WHICH MAY BE COLLECTED BY PGP CO. OR ITS DISTRIBUTORS) ACCORDING TO PGP
CO.'S CURRENT PRIVACY POLICY WHICH IS INCORPORATED INTO THIS AGREEMENT BY
REFERENCE (SEE HTTP://WWW.PGP.COM). IF "YOU" ARE AN ORGANIZATION, YOU WILL
ENSURE THAT EACH MEMBER OF YOUR ORGANIZATION (INCLUDING EMPLOYEES AND
CONTRACTORS) ABOUT WHOM PERSONAL DATA MAY BE PROVIDED TO PGP CO. HAS GIVEN
HIS OR HER EXPRESS CONSENT TO PGP CO.'S PROCESSING OF SUCH PERSONAL DATA.
PERSONAL DATA WILL BE PROCESSED BY PGP CO. OR ITS DISTRIBUTORS IN THE
COUNTRY WHERE IT WAS COLLECTED, IN THE UNITED STATES, AND POSSIBLY IN THE
U.K.; UNITED STATES LAWS REGARDING PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA MAY BE LESS
STRINGENT THAN THE LAWS IN YOUR JURISDICTION.

I'd be curious to know if any IP subscribers are aware of what
kind of collection and use the PGP company is considering.  It
seems ... ominous -- at best.  And it strikes me as highly
unlikely that members of the PGP "technical advisory board," who
are highly respected in the privacy arena, would endorse such a
menacing-sounding term of licence.  I'd be eager to hear from
anyone who knows about this, either privately or in public.

Information about the advisory board is available at:

    http://www.pgp.com/display.php?pageID=51#anch108

--tim o'connor


------ End of Forwarded Message

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