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Did They Read It?
France determines e-mail service is illegal
Did They Read It, a service of Rampell Software, LLC, has been declared illegal (translated) in France by the CNIL (National Commission on Information Systems and Liberties) under the item 25 law of January 6, 1978. Did They Read It? allows subscribers to track all e-mails that they send. The software informs users when recipients have received their message, when the message was opened, how long it remained open, how many times it was viewed, if it was forwarded to others, and if those recipients opened the message. French citizens that use the service risk up to five years imprisonment and hefty fines if caught.

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keith2468
Premium Member
join:2001-02-03
Winnipeg, MB

2 edits

2 recommendations

keith2468

Premium Member

I've cleaned up the translation--it is fair

Zorglub is right, most of the people who hang out in the BBR Security Forum and other security forums elsewhere on the Internet would applaud this action by a court -- if it were a US court.
quote:
The American corporation, Rampell Software, has been marketing a new service for tracking electronic entitled mail "Did they read it?" (in French « THE did THEY read? ») since the end of May. This service allows subscribers to determine if addressees of their electronic messages have read, when they read, how many times they read the message, and whether the addressee forwarded the message. The subscriber can also determine the web browser and operating system used by the addressee.

The process occurs completely without the knowledge of the addressees of the electronic messages. In contrast with conventional email software, the addressee does not have the choice of accepting the tracked email, or refusing read the email and letting it return to the subscriber of "Did they read it?". The addressee doesn't even know the tracking is going on behind the scenes.

On principle, the CNIL can only to rule against such a process: The collection and recording of such personal information and transmitting detailed information on the personal matter of how the email was handled by the addressee. Such collection carried out without the knowledge of the addressee, contravenes the data protection law of January 6 1978, precisely of item 25, relating to data processing, that forbids the collection of personal data in ordinary circumstances, without permission or secretly..

The CNIL notes that the breaking of this law is punishable by five years imprisonment and a fine of FF300,000(item 226-18 penal code).

Consequently, CNIL warns French businesses, administrations and the general public that it is illegal for French residents to subscribe to "Did they read it?".
I hope Canadian and US courts rule similarly about this and other spyware.