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    They don't really ask, but it's a part of the WordPress.org's
    Privacy Policy.<br>
    <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wordpress.org/about/privacy/">http://wordpress.org/about/privacy/</a><br>
    <br>
    On 3/9/2012 2:53 PM, Joost de Valk wrote:
    <blockquote
      cite="mid:EFF1FF4F-67AB-422E-8F5F-22ADB4514B7A@yoast.com"
      type="cite">
      <div>Let's be clear: at which point does WP ask for permission to
        check for plugin/theme/core updates?<br>
        <br>
        <div>Cheers,</div>
        <div>Joost</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        Sent from my iPad, so please excuse typo's and brevity</div>
      <div><br>
        On Mar 9, 2012, at 21:01, Chip Bennett &lt;<a
          moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:chip@chipbennett.net">chip@chipbennett.net</a>&gt;
        wrote:<br>
        <br>
      </div>
      <blockquote type="cite">
        <div>The very act of pinging a third party upon activation of a
          Theme - and doing so without the informed consent of the end
          user - is a violation of the free-software principle that
          users have the right to use software "<i>without being
            required to communicate about it with the developer or any
            other specific entity</i>".
          <div>
            <br>
          </div>
          <div>The rest of your arguments still miss the fundamental
            point that the issue here is not the usefulness/benefit of
            the service, but rather that the <b>informed consent of the
              end user</b> is paramount, and is required, both as a
            matter of adherence to free software philosophy and also as
            a matter of <a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="http://wordpress.org">wordpress.org</a> policy.</div>
          <div><br>
          </div>
          <div>Chip<br>
            <br>
            <div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 1:34 PM,
              Trent Lapinski <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a
                  moz-do-not-send="true"
                  href="mailto:trent@cyberchimps.com">trent@cyberchimps.com</a>&gt;</span>
              wrote:<br>
              <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
                .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
                <div style="word-wrap:break-word">For the record,
                  PressTrends is not a "tracker" it doesn't track users
                  WordPress usage, or personal information.
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>It simply tells you when someone activates a
                    theme and reports back the version number of the
                    activation and what version of WordPress they are
                    using. That's the meat of it. It does a few other
                    minor things, but the users aren't be "tracked", and
                    we aren't getting live data from the users or any
                    personal information.</div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Furthermore, this information is publicly
                    available to begin with. By viewing the resources /
                    source of any WordPress install you can see the
                    stylesheet which contains the version number of the
                    theme. Which means this information is publicly
                    available on all WordPress websites running any
                    WordPress theme.</div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>Is it wrong to aggregate such information? I do
                    not believe so, &nbsp;and&nbsp;even Otto has stated this is
                    something Automattic has been looking to replicate
                    for <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="http://WordPress.org" target="_blank">WordPress.org</a>
                    themselves, so the "ethical" argument for
                    PressTrends is entirely invalid.&nbsp;</div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>If <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="http://WordPress.org" target="_blank">WordPress.org</a>
                    offered these same features you would all think its
                    the greatest thing since sliced bread, and no one
                    would be raising privacy concerns because there is
                    no private information being made available.</div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>No one is having their privacy violated,
                    PressTrends simply aggregates useful publicly
                    avaliable analytic data. That's it.</div>
                  <div><br>
                  </div>
                  <div>
                    <div>
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>&lt;Screen Shot 2012-03-09 at 11.23.32
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                                                        <div
                                                          style="word-wrap:break-word">
                                                          <div><span
                                                          style="font-size:12px">
                                                          <div
                                                          style="word-wrap:break-word"><span
style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;border-collapse:separate;text-transform:none;font-size:12px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
                                                          <div
                                                          style="word-wrap:break-word">
                                                          <span
style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;border-collapse:separate;text-transform:none;font-size:12px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
                                                          <div
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                                                          <span
style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;border-collapse:separate;text-transform:none;font-size:12px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px"><span
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                                                          <div>
                                                          --Trent
                                                          Lapinski</div>
                                                          <div>=============</div>
                                                          <div>CEO of
                                                          CyberChimps
                                                          LLC</div>
                                                          <div><a
                                                          moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:trent@cyberchimps.com" target="_blank">trent@cyberchimps.com</a></div>
                                                          <div>Mobile <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="tel:%28714%29%20904-4280"
                                                          value="+17149044280"
target="_blank">(714) 904-4280</a></div>
                                                          </span></span></div>
                                                          </span></div>
                                                          </span></div>
                                                          <div
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style="text-indent:0px;letter-spacing:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:normal;border-collapse:separate;text-transform:none;font-size:12px;white-space:normal;font-family:Helvetica;word-spacing:0px">
                                                          <div
                                                          style="word-wrap:break-word">
                                                          Twitter
                                                          @trentlapinski</div>
                                                          <div
                                                          style="word-wrap:break-word"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://CyberChimps.com" target="_blank">http://CyberChimps.com</a></div>
                                                          </span></div>
                                                          </span></div>
                                                        </div>
                                                      </span></div>
                                                  </span></div>
                                              </span></div>
                                          </span></div>
                                      </span></div>
                                  </span></div>
                              </span></div>
                          </div>
                          <br>
                        </div>
                        <div>
                          <div class="h5">
                            <div>
                              <div>On Mar 8, 2012, at 6:35 PM, Emil
                                Uzelac wrote:</div>
                              <br>
                              <blockquote type="cite"><font
                                  color="#333333"><font><font
                                      face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">oh
                                      and as far as checking if the
                                      Theme is on warez or not is
                                      completely useless, don't even
                                      bother, anyone that sells them
                                      commercially will tell you not to
                                      waste your time, you report one
                                      bad link, 5 more will appear in
                                      few hours, than you report that 5,
                                      20 more will come up shortly after
                                      that...this is the war we can't
                                      win, at least not for right now.<br>
                                    </font></font></font><br>
                                <div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 8,
                                  2012 at 8:30 PM, Emil Uzelac <span
                                    dir="ltr">&lt;<a
                                      moz-do-not-send="true"
                                      href="mailto:emil@themeid.com"
                                      target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>&gt;</span>
                                  wrote:<br>
                                  <blockquote class="gmail_quote"
                                    style="margin:0 0 0
                                    .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
                                    solid;padding-left:1ex">
                                    <div><font color="#333333"
                                        face="arial, helvetica,
                                        sans-serif">Neither one was good
                                        to be honest with you. GA tracks
                                        more than just how the Theme is
                                        being used and that isn't right.
                                        For Adobe, Sure if you let them,
                                        I personally don't allow
                                        anything to go out, not even
                                        simple report back to them when
                                        something crashes. We all like
                                        more details, better statistics
                                        for greater improvement, that's
                                        why people invented surveys,
                                        polls etc... Most of the time
                                        this is covered in support
                                        forum, if they like your work,
                                        they will tell you a) if
                                        something goes wrong b) if
                                        there's something that they
                                        don't like and just another way
                                        of communicating with users or
                                        customers if we're talking about
                                        commercial Themes.</font></div>
                                    <span><font color="#888888">
                                        <div><font color="#333333"
                                            face="arial, helvetica,
                                            sans-serif"><br>
                                          </font></div>
                                        <div><font color="#333333"
                                            face="arial, helvetica,
                                            sans-serif">Emil</font></div>
                                      </font></span>
                                    <div>
                                      <div><font color="#333333"
                                          face="arial, helvetica,
                                          sans-serif"><br>
                                        </font>
                                        <div class="gmail_quote">On Thu,
                                          Mar 8, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Daniel
                                          Fenn <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a
                                              moz-do-not-send="true"
                                              href="mailto:danielx386@gmail.com"
                                              target="_blank">danielx386@gmail.com</a>&gt;</span>
                                          wrote:<br>
                                          <blockquote
                                            class="gmail_quote"
                                            style="margin:0 0 0
                                            .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
                                            solid;padding-left:1ex">
                                            So how is one suppose to
                                            check of see if it was
                                            downloaded from a werz<br>
                                            site? Adobe does this all
                                            the time. Or was it GA that
                                            pissed then off?<br>
                                            <div>
                                              <div><br>
                                                <br>
                                                <br>
                                                On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at
                                                9:41 AM, Emil Uzelac
                                                &lt;<a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>&gt;
                                                wrote:<br>
                                                &gt; Back in late 2009 I
                                                contracted for
                                                commercial Theme site
                                                where they had two<br>
                                                &gt; forms of tracking,
                                                one was via Google
                                                Analytics and second one
                                                hidden to<br>
                                                &gt; check if the Theme
                                                was purchased or
                                                downloaded from ""
                                                sites. In matter of<br>
                                                &gt; months they went
                                                from "all star" to
                                                "where are the
                                                customers" type of
                                                thing.<br>
                                                &gt; Long story short
                                                users don't like to be
                                                tracked one way or
                                                another and<br>
                                                &gt; honestly I don't
                                                blame them at all.
                                                Permission or not
                                                "touching things that<br>
                                                &gt; should not be
                                                touched" are never good
                                                idea.<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt; If one wants to
                                                track and get the
                                                general ideas where the
                                                Themes go, simply<br>
                                                &gt; use your very own
                                                GA. There are many
                                                things you can do with
                                                Analytics beyond<br>
                                                &gt; how many visitors
                                                one have on monthly
                                                basis. Not 100%
                                                accurate, but it does<br>
                                                &gt; get close.<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt; This is from my
                                                marketing perspective.
                                                Privacy is issue
                                                everywhere nowadays<br>
                                                &gt; and once this leaks
                                                to the public, your
                                                sales will go down to
                                                toilet, please<br>
                                                &gt; believe me on this.<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt; Imagine this title
                                                on a popular WP News
                                                sites "Example Theme
                                                Site Now Tracks<br>
                                                &gt;
                                                User's&nbsp;Behavior".&nbsp;warez<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt; Cheers,<br>
                                                &gt; Emil<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt; On Thu, Mar 8, 2012
                                                at 3:48 PM, Bruce
                                                Wampler &lt;<a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:weavertheme@gmail.com" target="_blank">weavertheme@gmail.com</a>&gt;
                                                wrote:<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; As the author
                                                of a popular WordPress
                                                theme, I would like to
                                                add my strong<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; agreement with
                                                the opt-in only policy
                                                for trackers such as
                                                PressTrends.<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; I find Trent
                                                Lapinski's arguments for
                                                the harmlessness of
                                                opt-out tracking<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; self-serving
                                                and disingenuous. Anyone
                                                with the least bit of
                                                understanding of<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; the difference
                                                between opt-in and
                                                opt-out, and how that
                                                affects user<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; privacy, would
                                                never argue for allowing
                                                any kind of automatic or
                                                opt-out<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; tracking of any
                                                kind in any repository
                                                based WordPress theme.
                                                It is simply<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; the wrong thing
                                                to do.<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; Maybe
                                                PressTrends isn't any
                                                different in concept or
                                                privacy issues than<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; Google's
                                                tracking code, or even
                                                WP stats, but both of
                                                those are opt-in -<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; they don't
                                                happen unless the web
                                                admin actively adds
                                                them.<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; Personally, I
                                                believe any sort of
                                                tracking should require
                                                permission from<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; the visitor to
                                                the site - but that is a
                                                much larger battle.<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; Bruce Wampler<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;&gt;
                                                _______________________________________________<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; theme-reviewers
                                                mailing list<br>
                                                &gt;&gt; <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
                                                &gt;&gt; <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers"
                                                  target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
                                                &gt;&gt;<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt;<br>
                                                &gt;
                                                _______________________________________________<br>
                                                &gt; theme-reviewers
                                                mailing list<br>
                                                &gt; <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
                                                &gt; <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers"
                                                  target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
                                                &gt;<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
                                                theme-reviewers mailing
                                                list<br>
                                                <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
                                                <a
                                                  moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers"
                                                  target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
                                              </div>
                                            </div>
                                          </blockquote>
                                        </div>
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                                    </div>
                                  </blockquote>
                                </div>
                                <br>
_______________________________________________<br>
                                theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
                                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                                  href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org"
                                  target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
                                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                                  href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers"
                                  target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
                              </blockquote>
                            </div>
                            <br>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                </div>
                <br>
                _______________________________________________<br>
                theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                  href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
                <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                  href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers"
                  target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
                <br>
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            </div>
            <br>
          </div>
        </div>
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote type="cite">
        <div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br>
          <span>theme-reviewers mailing list</span><br>
          <span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a></span><br>
          <span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
              href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a></span><br>
        </div>
      </blockquote>
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      <br>
      <pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
theme-reviewers mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a>
</pre>
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