GOP Spyware?

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () bsf-llc com>]

http://www.technologyreview.com/TR-WireStory/wtr_16507,323,p1.html

Political CD: Does It Go Too Far?
Minnesota GOP CD has another motive: data collection.
By Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A computer disk that the Minnesota Republican Party
prepared to support a ban on gay marriage has another purpose:
gathering data on the politics of the people who view it.

And that's stirred up a technological tempest on the Internet and among
Democrats who say the disk will improperly gather data from people who run
it on their computers. Privacy experts say they're concerned that the GOP
won't adequately warn users that it's collecting the data, and they worry
where the information will end up.

But GOP officials said the final version of the CD that's due to be mailed
soon to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans will contain a notice that the
information gathered may be used by the party.

The disks contain video clips from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Secretary of State
Mary Kiffmeyer, State Auditor Pat Anderson and House Speaker Steve Sviggum.
They talk about what they consider the dangers of gay marriage and why they
believe a constitutional amendment is needed to ban it.

To watch the video, a person has to go to an Internet site and punch in an
ID code that tells the party who is viewing it. Once the video is going,
viewers are asked questions on subjects like abortion, gun control and party
preference.

Party officials distributed what they called test copies of the CDs to the
media on Monday. Those disks contained no disclaimers saying that data was
being collected and transmitted.

...
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