Xref: utzoo comp.org.eff.talk:2287 alt.privacy:502 alt.censorship:2125 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!spool.mu.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!midway!midway.uchicago.edu!francis From: francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,alt.privacy,alt.censorship Subject: Re: Prodigy charged with invading users' privacy (was Re: Lifestyle Information ( was Re: Safeway Stores to Accept Charge) Message-ID: Date: 2 May 91 03:59:14 GMT References: <1991Apr30.143000.17493@cbnewse.att.com> <1991Apr30.184714.4675@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <1991Apr30.185752.4913@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <1991May01.165140.22452@vpnet.chi.il.us> Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (NewsMistress) Organization: Mathematics Department, University of Chicago Lines: 27 In-Reply-To: louisg@vpnet.chi.il.us's message of 1 May 91 16: 51:40 GMT In article <1991May01.165140.22452@vpnet.chi.il.us> louisg@vpnet.chi.il.us (Louis Giliberto) writes: 1) If I were a programmer with a scratch data set that was basically a cache as Prodigy claims they use it, I would not save unused sectors; would you? Yes, if I wanted to be sure of having that space later. 2) If there is *any* information from sectors that have been not deleted, then that is proof positive that the program is picking your files. If it were merely allocated and unused sectors containing data from the last delete, then it would not be able to contain "live" data. Wrong. The file could include data telling the program where to stop reading. I'll have to check my disks. I wonder what they thought when they found like 10 megs worth of Phrack on my hard drive? ;-) What? -- /============================================================================\ | Francis Stracke | My opinions are my own. I don't steal them.| | Department of Mathematics |=============================================| | University of Chicago | Should five percent appear too small, | | francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu | Be thankful I don't take it all. "Taxman" | \============================================================================/