TBFKAYIBYNYAAYB

I always think twice before entering my name in any web form or posting to a mailing list. Is the web site/list respectable? Do the owners of the web site have any commercial interest in my name (spam, marketing, ...)? Would I ever regret that my name can be found with Google in context with this web site/mailing list? If I enter my name is it used for collecting data about me? Is there any reasonable privacy policy?

Often enough I refrain from entering my name after deciding that the answers to these questions are unsatisfactory. I like to be in control of my name. If I am not confident that I remain in control I don't enter my name to any service.

Recently it came to my attention that Canonical decided to create an account (!) for me in their commercial, proprietary bug tracker called "Launchpad". I never asked for one! I never even considered having one, because their service clearly is nothing that would pass the tests mentioned above. They are a commercial service, my account data is apparently "content" for them, they don't seem to have any privacy policy. (At least I couldn't find any, the navigation is pretty crappy.)

Canonical's nimbus of being "the good guys" doesn't hinder them to incorporate data from free sources (apparently they got my data from the Debian BTS) and make a commercial service of it, without even asking the original contributors if that would be OK with them, or if it is OK to incorporate their name or personal profile in the service. Apparently Canonical is not much better than a common spam harvester: generating personal profiles for business, without consent of the "victim".

If anyone from Canonical reads this: It is not OK for me to use my name as "content" for your commercial, proprietary service. Please remove any reference to my name from your "account" database. I don't want to have a Launchpad account. I don't plan to use Launchpad. Let me decide if I ever want to join! Thank you very much.

Update: I especially dislike the fact that they created an account for me in a service where Hitler apparently already has six (!) accounts. I am very sure that I don't want to be part of that community.

posted at: 22:27 | path: /projects | permanent link to this entry | 22 comments

Posted by Stu Hood at Sat Aug 26 22:51:31 2006
I didn't see any content on your page, and I don't see how they are doing anything other than crediting you for the work you have done on the Debian packages.

https://launchpad.net/faq

Posted by Jay at Sat Aug 26 23:32:38 2006
I think you're overreacting.

BTW, nice comparisons between Ubuntu and spam harvesters and Hitler.

I mean, how is Ubuntu not like Hitler? I can't think of a single way.

I guess Debian is the Rosa Parks of Linux distributions then?

Posted by Lennart at Sat Aug 26 23:34:32 2006
Jay: I've not compared Canonical to Hitler in any way. And i didn't even mention the word Ubuntu.

Posted by Mike Douglas at Sat Aug 26 23:34:35 2006
After viewing launchpad, I can't see what your objections could be. Crediting your name for work done on debian packages hardly qualifies as a privacy abuse (since your name is embedded in the packages).

I also can't understand why you have such a problem with "propriertary" web services, unless you refrain from using any of Google's services, and use only the few websites like Slashdot that run a completely open platform. The "commercial" insult just seems childish.

Posted by Lennart at Sat Aug 26 23:38:17 2006
Mike: why is "commercial" an insult? I didn't mean it to be.

I don't have problems with proprietary web sites. However, I want to be in control if and when I join them. If they just take my data without even asking I am very unhappy.

Posted by Mike Douglas at Sat Aug 26 23:48:36 2006
That's cool, just a misunderstanding of tone. There was quite a bit of push-back against Canonical when Launchpad was announced because the source wasn't available for download. It sounded like your underlying objection with Launchpad was that it was run by Canonical, hence the injection of "commercial, propriertary" before each mention of Launchpad.

Posted by bkor at Sun Aug 27 00:12:07 2006
FYI, bugzilla.gnome.org has no privacy policy.

Posted by Richard Ayotte at Sun Aug 27 00:14:50 2006
I agree with most comments here. Lennart, I think you are overreacting. I understand how you want to have control over what you are associated with but I simply can't see how that is feasible. Do you avoid driving by strip clubs in case someone might make an association?

Posted by Chris Cunningham at Sun Aug 27 00:19:44 2006
It is clearly one million times more ethical to pay a human being to take your publicly-available email address and manually send you bug reports from downstream. Nice work godwinning yourself.

- Chris (OH NOES NOW YOU HAVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS!!!1)

Posted by Martijn Vermaat at Sun Aug 27 00:50:59 2006
"If anyone from Canonical reads this..."

Given the apparent importance of this issue for you, I asume you posted this rant on your personal weblog only after your messages to Cannonical stayed unanswered?

Posted by Alan Horkan at Sun Aug 27 05:49:16 2006
Mark Shuttleworth eats babies!!!
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/sounder/2006-February/004490.html

Given the vast difference in local data protection laws and then the failure of many to respect what laws there may be your heightened concern is understandable.

Privacy statements tend to be not worth the paper they are printed on but I suppose you have to at least try if you ever want to retain any sort of internet privacy. I find disposable addresses and a campaign of disinformation to be much more fun.

Posted by z at Sun Aug 27 05:54:25 2006
what have you done about it other than whine in your blog?

if you didn't want your name "stolen" why did you make it accessable in a public forum (debian packages)?

if you dont want you're name "stolen", then why do you require people to leave their name when the comment on your blog?

Posted by soliste at Sun Aug 27 08:46:39 2006
fud about Canonical is boring. Know you ennemy (if any).

Posted by A.B. at Sun Aug 27 09:47:15 2006
I agree with Lennart. Even though Canonical means more-or-less well, and isn't what you'd call evil, I, too, would be bothered by being made a part of a community I hadn't asked and would have preferred not to join.

(Just to counter the general tone of some of these comments....)

Posted by qwertz at Sun Aug 27 10:52:43 2006
All launchpad is doing is reserving accounts for ubuntu package developers. If you look on the right side of the page, you will see it says "This account is not activated".

Posted by Nice guy at Sun Aug 27 15:07:48 2006
Oh wow what a troll. And a bad one at that, you took lessons at Slashdot? What is the matter, really? Your distribution isn't as popular?

This is just plain stupid and not even worth a rebuttal of the claims, since they are essentially non-claims and just flamebaits.

Moving along.

Posted by sen at Sun Aug 27 22:34:44 2006
Why is it that any criticism of anything related to Ubuntu is considered trolling?

Posted by Nikulin at Mon Sep 11 19:47:39 2006
Mark makes my brains boiled. Why these guy just can't stop making his comic cult of personality.

Posted by SavvyPlayer at Mon Sep 18 14:12:26 2006
I can understand a little healthy consternation with respect to network identity and one's participation in every seemingly innocuous project, community or discussion becoming a perpetual part of the public record.

They key word here is 'healthy'. By your simple criteria, participation in any community forum/project, networked or otherwise would be neigh impossible. That is no way to live.

Act ethically, create value, and question the motives of those who would do otherwise.

Posted by Jonny at Mon Sep 18 16:17:13 2006
eh, slightly humorous - from Launchpad - "Adolf Hitler is not an active member of any Launchpad teams."

Posted by mpt at Thu Sep 28 02:20:22 2006
Hi Lennart

Thanks for your comments on Launchpad. In future, you'll likely get a quicker response by contacting us directly. <https://launchpad.net/feedback> If you don't want to trust us with your e-mail address, :-) try irc.freenode.net/#launchpad; we have weekly meetings Thursdays 1200 UTC, but at any hour of the day there are usually at least a couple of us around.

We've now changed the way we present pages for people who don't use Launchpad, to make it clearer that they don't have an account. Soon we'll also include an explanation of why a person is recorded in Launchpad at all (e.g. "Launchpad knows about Lennart Poettering because an mdns-scan package was imported into Ubuntu Breezy"). This is similar to sites like SWiK (where you also have a page) or Wikipedia: people have pages based on what they do, not on whether they have accounts.

You make a good point that Launchpad should have a privacy policy; I've reported that as a bug. <https://launchpad.net/bugs/62702>

Posted by Lennart at Sun Oct 1 21:05:56 2006
mpt: That feedback URL doesn't list any reasonable email address to contact the launchpad team, just a public ML which is good for public discussions but not for quickly pointing out things. Please, add a proper email address there! And change the page title! "Help us improve LP" is not exactly what sounds like a page where I could find a way to contact the LP people for negative feedback!

I joined #launchpad for a while and was present while another annoyed user complained about mostly the same things as I did in my blog story. The responses here very unfriendly if there were any at all. I guess the word "ignorant" is what describes the reactions best. From that experience I got the impression that the launchpad guys seemed not to be interested in fixing these issues.

Please understand that since Launchpad is a commercial product and not a community product I am not interested at all to join IRC channels or mailing list and spend a long time in discussions for improving it. Why should I?

I couldn't see much of a change in the Ubuntu people's pages. I am still listed under "Launchpad | People | Lennart Poettering", and this is not where I want to be listed. I am not part of the "Launchpad People", that hasn't changed.

In short: I am still not happy with the way the Launchpad guys are handling this, I am sorry.

Anyway, thank you for your feedback.

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It should be obvious but in case it isn't: the opinions reflected here are my own. They are not the views of my employer, or Ronald McDonald, or anyone else.

Please note that I take the liberty to delete any comments posted here that I deem inappropriate, off-topic, or insulting. And I excercise this liberty quite agressively. So yes, if you comment here, I might censor you. If you don't want to be censored your are welcome to comment on your own blog instead.

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Sat, 26 Aug 2006

Launchpad is Evil