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Archiver > COOK-CO-IL > 2002-10 > 1035056649
From:
Subject: Family Treemaker Spyware??
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 15:44:09 EDT
This is a cut/paste from an overseas list I belong to. Does anyone know
anything about this? If there was dialogue on this topic prior, I missed it.
But it fits in with recent talks regarding sharing/selling our genealogy
data.
Bonnie/IL
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When searching for a file this morning, I ran across a text file that
apparently was looking at my Family TreeMaker files and Internet access.
The file is called "aqueduct.txt," and had information about the software on
my computer, web sites I had accessed, and a few references to my various
.ftw files. When I researched this file online, I found that it is, indeed,
a file that was installed with Family TreeMaker 9.0, but was only supposed to
'help find problems with the Beta release of the software.'
I know that I have invested thousands of hours continuing a project started
by my mother, and eventually want to publish the results with credit to her
for starting the project, which is why I have not 'published' my research to
any of the genealogy sites yet. I am not a "conspiracy theorist," but am
uneasy about the possibility of spyware
since genealogy is becoming a big business, and recently I have found online
even some information that I gained from original research from original
documentation in our ancestral village. Of course, there is always the
possibility of a coincidence, but all three of the families I am researching
have very unusual last names so I would be surprised to find others digging
up the same information I am at approximately the
same time. Although the articles I found (links below) dismiss this program
as an unfortunate incident - and one even focuses on the reporter's non-tech
background suggesting he may have misunderstood the way software programs are
developed - I am a technology professional and take these programs seriously.
I visited Genealogy.com's website to submit a complaint. You may also want
to check the below reports.
Joe
http://www.techtv.com/news/security/story/0,24195,3402630,00.html
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/4934.asp
http://globalgazette.net/gaztec/gaztec72.htm
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