IP: a statement from Real re their privacy policy and practice

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

PRIVACY STATEMENT 7/18/00
DRAFT v.10  PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

In response to recent questions regarding certain technical functions of 
its RealDownload product, RealNetworks Vice President for Government 
Affairs and Privacy Officer Alex Alben today issued the following statement:

"We emphatically disagree with the implications raised by certain members 
of the technical community about the behavior or planned behavior of 
RealDownload.  To be clear:  RealDownload does not transmit personally 
identifiable user information to RealNetworks without informed consent.  It 
does not monitor users' behavior and it does not log download URL 
information. Because we do not log download URL information and the product 
does not transmit registration information identifying the RealDownload 
user, we cannot and do not store download URLs with personal 
information  and we never have.

"Because of the way RealDownload calls the APIs of the Windows operating 
system, it creates for each download a new, 32-character code that does not 
contain any personal information, but that in some versions of Windows does 
not fully randomize during each download.  Now that we are aware of this 
technical issue, and because the 32-character code serves no purpose, we 
are removing it from forthcoming versions of RealDownload.

"We work very hard to ensure that our products comply with all of our 
privacy policies.  We have even taken the extra step of hiring Arthur 
Andersen to independently review our compliance with our own strict privacy 
policies.  Through its eSure audit program, Arthur Andersen has 
independently verified that RealNetworks does not store URLs transmitted 
from the RealDownload product.  (For more information on Arthur Andersen's 
report, go to http://www.realnetworks.com/company/privacy/clickthru.html).

"As the leader in the delivery of Internet media, we at RealNetworks set 
for ourselves and will adhere to the highest privacy standards. We 
appreciate the ongoing diligence of privacy experts and we will continue to 
develop RealNetworks products in a manner that respects customers' privacy."