[IMC-Tech] about the site meter on climateimc

[ng at immerda.ch]

Hello

nice that are you up! but not nice what i have seen on your site!

well another issue about a so called statistic tool on an imc site. 
(for the last discussion a few (!) days ago see: 
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-tech/2005-November/1124-9a.html 
)

i have asked in irc but no one answered and i think anyway it is 
important for all to know.

so you really have on every page on the bottom a little image called 
site meter which links to a statisc site! and i'm really asking me what 
you have thought about that? with this little entry in EACH site you 
just tracks all client requests on your site!

---
<!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" -->
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">var  
site="s22climateimc"</script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2" 
src="http://s22.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=s22climateimc">
</script>
<noscript>
<a href="http://s22.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s22climateimc"  
target="_top">
<img src="http://s22.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s22climateimc"  
alt="Site Meter" border="0"  /></a>
</noscript>
<!-- Copyright (c)2005 Site Meter -->
<!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan -->
----

i think it is important for indymedia to protect the privacy but with 
what you do you do completly the opposite.

so let's see what every one can see with your tool:

http://www.sitemeter.com/default.asp?action=stats&site=s22climateimc&visit=71&report=9&vlr=8&pg=1&rnd=2005122

this is just an example (sorry for the person i catched). you can see:

- IP-Adress! (well the last 4 bits cut off but that doesn't mean that 
site meter doesn't have them and wouldn't them give to investigation 
organisations?)
- OS
- browser
- what did they visit

and a whole lot other stuff which are my privacy and i don't want to 
have saved them if i visit your site! where is your feeling about 
privacy? with such external tools the police don't need anymore to 
seizure our servers, they can just watch online who did what and if 
they want to know more they just can ask site meter. and i don't think 
that their goal is to protect privacy.

and with such external tools also all the tech people that do great 
stuff don't need anymore to protect the servers and to hack software 
(like apache) that they don't store anymore any potential private data. 
with such an external you give the cops a direct line to track us in 
their office!

so pleas REMOVE any such tracking tools on your site. i think no 
indymedia site should have something like that! write site meter and 
request to remove/delete any data covered since you started tracking 
it. and maybe it would  be also good for self reflection and a plus for 
all indymedia interested people to warn/inform the users that their ip 
adresses (and a lot of more stuff) have been stored when they haved 
visited your site!

or what do you think about that?

greetings and in solidarity ng (imc switzerland/de)

because privacy does matter!