Opt-out telemetry

Posted Jul 28, 2024 13:28 UTC (Sun) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: Opt-out telemetry by pizza
Parent article: Lessons from the death and rebirth of Thunderbird

> So... if you don't want your email client to send or receive data, then switch it off and don't use it?

I don't want it to send or receive data I DON'T KNOW ABOUT. Big difference.

By my definition, spam is also illegal. Doesn't stop the authorities doing nothing about it.

It's like trespass, in the UK at least. The law defines trespass - aka being on someone else's property - as illegal. But it doesn't care about it. It presumes that the property owner will grant retro-active permission.

But if the trespasser knew - or should have known - that permission would not be granted, it is THAT that is the serious offence. That is why there are notices "Trespassers will be prosecuted" - it places people on notice that retroactive permission will NOT be granted. So what would have been treated as an "innocent incursion" becomes a criminal offence.

So using my internet connection, to send telemetry data that you have reason to suspect I would be unhappy about if I knew, is in principle exactly the same as Criminal Trespass (which is classed as "the same sort of thing as burglary").

Cheers,
Wol