Re: MCF's new implementation (via XML)

On Sat, 14 Jun 1997, Walter Ian Kaye wrote:

> For anyone who hasn't heard yet:
> 
>    <http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,11470,00.html>

Does anyone know of a link to a public copy of the actual proposal by
Netscape? My reading of the Apple MCF documents did not encourage me to
believe this is simple enough to work in the real world (read in a world
where metadata schemas are beyond 99% of author's comprehension levels)
and the W3C link goes into 'member only' areas.

On the 'who needs privacy?' front, check the MS writeup of the user
profiling proposal (calling it a 'privacy' proposal is like calling
getting a suggestion to get run over by a car a 'safety' proposal). It is
at <URL:http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-Web-privacy.html>.  Among other things
it advocates assigning user WEB WIDE unique id numbers *explicitly* to
allow many different sites to know you are the same person. Nothing like
spreading the 'wealth' (of personal information).

They also want browsers to be able to send offline clickstream logs to
websites. Oh joy.  Nothing like deliberately designing a system where
*one* breach of trust has global consequences for your privacy. And there
was no discussion of the impact of *default* settings on the real privacy
or the *financial* incentives that can lead to breach of trust or the
effects of the law on privacy agreements.

"Not-Reuters: Today company 'Pure and Private' filed for bankrupcy. 
Company 'Personal Data is Us - call for prices' has obtained a judgement
againt 'Pure and Private' requiring them to turn over all substantive
assets including all computer records of clients of 'Pure and Private'."

Don't think it can happen? It *has* happened already. Ask the opponents of
the Church of Scientology about having *their* identities and other
personal information turned over the the Scientologists as the result of a
bankrupcy proceeding.

To quote a certain British actor in a very popular movie a few years ago: 

                              "Fuuuuuck"

-- 
Benjamin Franz

Received on Saturday, 14 June 1997 11:09:16 UTC