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3 comments
Petter
August 25, 2008
Holy crap. I did not know that any PDF readers did that. I will continue to use software that won't, and avoid Adobe's reader and other untrusted software that might report home even more assiduously than I usually do.
August 26, 2008
@Petter:
Actually, this isn't Adobe's functionality. Adobe just provides developer capabilities for extending PDF functionality. We built docmetrics with this functionality.
As far as your "report home" concerns go, I completely understand. We're always skeptical when a new technology comes along promising to monitor your readers.
But docmetrics isn't a monitoring tool, it's a communication tool. I say this for several reasons:
1) Docmetrics only tracks analytics on CONSENTING USERS. We don't start recording analytics until the reader agrees to our privacy agreement.
2) Docmetrics FULLY DISCLOSES what it's doing and why. We are explicitly clear (both in plain English and in full EULA form) about metrics being recorded. We also give document publishers the ability to extend the privacy statement.
3) Docmetrics documents are readable EVEN IF THE READER OPTS OUT of the analytics program. We don't want to get in the way of readers enjoying content, so we make our analytics services optional. Even if readers opt out, they can still read their downloaded PDFs.
I hope that clears things up. Of course, we're very sensitive to the privacy of our readers and have taken every step to ensure that nobody's rights are being trampled on. All we care about is improving the relationship between readers and the providers of their content. That's the reason why we exist.
It sounds like you're well versed in software privacy, Petter. If you have any suggestions for how we can better improve our service, please don't hesitate to contact me or a docmetrics representative.
Actually, this isn't Adobe's functionality. Adobe just provides developer capabilities for extending PDF functionality. We built docmetrics with this functionality.
As far as your "report home" concerns go, I completely understand. We're always skeptical when a new technology comes along promising to monitor your readers.
But docmetrics isn't a monitoring tool, it's a communication tool. I say this for several reasons:
1) Docmetrics only tracks analytics on CONSENTING USERS. We don't start recording analytics until the reader agrees to our privacy agreement.
2) Docmetrics FULLY DISCLOSES what it's doing and why. We are explicitly clear (both in plain English and in full EULA form) about metrics being recorded. We also give document publishers the ability to extend the privacy statement.
3) Docmetrics documents are readable EVEN IF THE READER OPTS OUT of the analytics program. We don't want to get in the way of readers enjoying content, so we make our analytics services optional. Even if readers opt out, they can still read their downloaded PDFs.
I hope that clears things up. Of course, we're very sensitive to the privacy of our readers and have taken every step to ensure that nobody's rights are being trampled on. All we care about is improving the relationship between readers and the providers of their content. That's the reason why we exist.
It sounds like you're well versed in software privacy, Petter. If you have any suggestions for how we can better improve our service, please don't hesitate to contact me or a docmetrics representative.
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