[epub] HTML abuse (was Re: A Lockergnome in our midst)

[Brian Alt <brian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mark,

At 10:24 AM 1/31/2001 +0930, Mark Neely wrote:
>It is very easy today to design a newsletter with embedded codes/scripts
>that allow the sender to determine if/when I open the message, where I open
>the message (i.e. location-based profiling), which IP address I am using
>(which can be cross-referenced down to the ISP/domain name owner i.e. am I
>at home, using an office PC, on the road etc.), which OS I am using, what
>Web browser I have installed and all the other details that can be obtained
>via the HTTP headers - plus what can be discerned by doing a followup probe
>once you've collated those details).

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, you could actually accomplish
all of these things with a text-based email as well. It would only
require one more step on the part of the recipient. Rather than simply
opening the message, the user would have to click through to the Web
from a URL within the ezine. Assuming these URLs were set up to track
_which_ subscriber was doing the clicking (a rather simple process with
today's technology), one could then collect the IP address, operating
system, browser type, and what pages the subscriber chooses to visit from
links within the ezine. It's not any different than the data one could
normally collect from visits to a Web site, except that because the
sender of the message kicked off the process, he or she already knows
the email address (and possibly other information) about the visitor.

It's an interesting dilemma: As mail merge and database functions in email
become more and more sophisticated, they become more ripe for abuse. I
don't see this technology going away, however.

What's arguable is whether this information can be used to hurt people.
I don't practice any of it myself, preferring instead to simply ask
list members to volunteer information about themselves if it is deemed
necessary for demographic reasons. Good relationships with your
subscribers are built on trust, and any data you collect about your
subscribers without their knowledge can't make up for a potential loss
of trust.

Cheers,

Brian Alt
http://EmailPossibilities.com/
Comprehensive Email Publishing Solutions




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