RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users

Subject: RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users
From: "Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>
To: "Stephen Arrants" <steve -at- mbfbioscience -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:37:40 -0600

Stephen Arrants wrote:

> As a former user* of Madcap Feedback, it isn't what you are screaming
> about. When we used it, users were always informed about what was
being
> collected, why, and how. They were given the option to turn it off.
And
> the statistics collected were never linked to their IP address or
other
> identifiable information.

Were users always informed and given the option to turn it off because
that's how Feedback automatically works or because that's how your
company chose to implement it?

> If any of you civil libertarians had spent 5 minutes of your high
> dudgeon going to the Madcap site to look for information, you'd have
> answered your own shrill questions.

Dan Goldstein did just that and found information that appears to
contradict what you say about its behavior.

> Think about it. You're supposed to be technical communicators. You're
> supposed to search for answers, know where to look for information.
Yet
> not one of you said "That sounds bad--I'll go to the Madcap site and
> look for more information." Or "Does anyone here use Feedback? Is this
> true?" <snip>

This thread didn't start with someone complaining about how Feedback
worked -- a claim that indeed would call for further research before
being believed.

It began with a post by someone who has long represented MadCap on this
list, who has a sterling reputation, whose post started with "+++I work
part time for MadCap++++," and who touted the _benefits_ of this "phone
home" behavior. Accepting her description of how it works wasn't at all
unreasonable.

In any case, if it doesn't actually work that way, fine. But it still
bothers and puzzles me that people who should know better don't see the
problem, that they think its OK to sneak code onto my computer that I
don't know about to collect information -- any information -- and send
it somewhere without my knowledge. As others have noted, it's illegal in
many places and IHMO it's unethical everywhere.

> When are you going to complain about Google, for example, and their
> potentially insidious data collection policies Do you know what
> permissions you've given them, and what information about you they own
> as well as your own postings that they claim rights to?

You're comparing apples and bicycles. I chose to set up a Google home
page, knowing (at least in general terms; I skimmed the privacy policy)
what that meant. But I choose not to blog at Blogspot, partly because of
their claim on the content. I chose not to install Google's desktop
apps. If I did, I'd again be presented with alerts, options, and a
detailed privacy policy regarding data collection and how they use it.

MS, Adobe, and others that want to collect application crash data ask
permission to "phone home" each and every time. It's totally anonymous,
serves a useful purpose, and is to my benefit -- but they recognize that
it still requires my consent.

The behavior attributed to Feedback, OTOH, reminds me of the sneaky
stuff RealNetworks used to do that caused countless people (myself
included) to remove RealPlayer from their PCs.


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------






^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


Follow-Ups:

References:
Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Donna Marino
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Sharon Burton
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Dan Goldstein
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Sharon Burton
Re: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Robert Lauriston
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Combs, Richard
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Sharon Burton
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Dan Goldstein
RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users: From: Stephen Arrants

Previous by Author: RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users
Next by Author: RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users
Previous by Thread: RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users
Next by Thread: RE: Follow-up to question about getting feedback from users


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads