BBC has put up a story on the controversy surrounding the latest release of iTunes (BBC NEWS | Technology | Snooping fears plague new iTunes.) They respectfully credit the blogs of Marc Garrett, since1988 , and Kirkville's very own Kirk McElhearn (Kirkville).
The article mentions the Gracenotes and iTunes 6.0 connection, but for some odd reason fails to mention the connection between Omniture and iTunes 6.0.2 that has so many up in arms.
Apple's collection of data via a third party, Omniture, seems sneaky to the point of being nefariously Microsoftish because it is not mentioned in any of the software's litterature or agreements. I use iTunes 6.0, and when I connect to the Music Store, there is a consenting exchange of information and services. When I close that connection, the exchange of information ceases (I believe...). The point is, I have consented to and am aware that I am providing Apple with my private information. The consenting nature of the transaction was broken in the initial release of iTunes 6.0.2. I say initial because I will give Apple the benefit of the doubt and trust them to do the right thing for its customers
Apples very weak, yet semantically correct response that it "does not save or store any information used to create recommendations for the MiniStore" is allowed to stand unchallenged in the article. The omission of the Omniture angle leaves a gap in the story's information quotient. Although it's true Omniture is not Apple, but it is doing Apple's bidding. If not, then Apple needs to fix its product, because it is sending information about Apple's customers to someone else!
Also, there's no mention of Boing Boing! Shocking!
Friday, January 13, 2006
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1 comment:
David, thanks for this post. I agree that the the hidden connection to Omniture is the more important part of the story.
In the BBC's defense, I think they latched on to my earliest reporting about iTunes contacting Apple, which becamse "the story" in many people's eyes. It wasn't until my second and third posts on the issue that I focused on Omniture, after Merlin posted a screenshot to flickr showing the connection. InformationWeek did a great job covering the entire scope of the story, including Omniture.
By the way, my blog is "since1968" and not "since1988."
Best,
Marc
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