CD From Minnesota GOP Also Gathers Data

[Quetzal]

CD From Minnesota GOP Also Gathers Data

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A computer disk that the Minnesota Republican Party prepared to support a ban on gay marriage has another purpose: gathering data on the politics of the people who view it.

And that's stirred up a technological tempest on the Internet and among Democrats who say the disk will improperly gather data from people who run it on their computers. Privacy experts say they're concerned that the GOP won't adequately warn users that it's collecting the data, and they worry where the information will end up.

But GOP officials said the final version of the CD that's due to be mailed soon to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans will contain a notice that the information gathered may be used by the party.

The disks contain video clips from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, State Auditor Pat Anderson and House Speaker Steve Sviggum. They talk about what they consider the dangers of gay marriage and why they believe a constitutional amendment is needed to ban it.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20060303/D8G3Q0BO0.html

[CatholicEdHead]

1. MPR's Future Tense talked about this

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/futuretense/2006/03/02.shtml#003429

The exsuse used by the consulting company was that it was a "beta" that was looked at with no privacy policy and an open server.