05-21-2004, 10:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Public Service Announcement: DidTheyReadIt.Com Tracking Your Email Practices
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-05-20-email_x.htm
DidTheyReadIt.com is selling a service where you can send an email to [email protected] and you will know:
� When they opened it
� How many times they opened it
� Where they were located when they opened it, based on the IP address their client used and some geographical lookups.
:evil: Fortunately, there is an easy way around it if you have good filtering capabilities. Just add a filter to block all emails that have the following code in them. Mailwasher easily identified it.
Code:
<img src="http://didtheyreadit.com/index.php/worker?code=
<br />Of course, your Pocket PC Inbox won't trigger this as it doesn't understand HTML and some email clients like Outlook 2003 block the automatic downloading of HTML images. This sort of invasion of my privacy really irritates me, to say nothing of the fact that if you use this service, you are allowing them to see valid email addresses of people you are sending emails to. I know some companies are already using DidTheyReadIt to fire their newsletters from. To those companies, let me clue you in on <i>my</i> terms of service. "If I am your customer and I get a newsletter from you that passed through their server or any similar service, I will no longer be your customer." :deal:
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05-21-2004, 10:07 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 282
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Or just use Outlook 2003 and it will block the html in the email. 
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05-21-2004, 10:15 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
...I will no longer be your customer."
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...and I tell everybody I know that you are using this spyware!"
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05-21-2004, 10:29 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 148
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ditto! if I get emails from companies I have subscribed to they may as well change my email address to "[email protected]"
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05-21-2004, 10:34 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Thunderbird lets you read HTML emails but block the images. That's what I do.
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05-21-2004, 10:39 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Eitel
Or just use Outlook 2003 and it will block the html in the email. |
Will it block the image if it is from a "safe sender" though, or a friend?
Also, you can block the following 3 IP addresses and it will prevent the mail coming in. Great in products like Open Relay Filter at www.vamsoft.com
Pinging dtri3.rampellsoft.com [69.90.152.226]
Pinging dtri2.rampellsoft.com [69.90.152.225]
Pinging dtri1.rampellsoft.com [69.90.152.224]
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05-21-2004, 10:39 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 444
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I would assume that in many businesses, confirmation of receipt and opening of email would be a great asset.
In my office, we at times both email and overnight hard copies so that we get signatures proving that items have made it to the intended recipient. Having the same confirmation for email would reduce paperwork and shipping costs.
It sounds to me like this is the electronic equivalent of creating a solid paper trail.
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05-21-2004, 10:44 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mark Kenepp
I would assume that in many businesses, confirmation of receipt and opening of email would be a great asset.
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Yes. But at other times, maybe you get sent a message that you have time to read but not respond to. Or you don't want to confirm that you're reading spam? There's always plusses and minuses to any technology. I prefer when someone sends me email and "requests" a return receipt. I get a pop-up asking me to confirm whether or not I want to send one. If I don't have time to deal with the email right then, I might wait to send it until I do.
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05-21-2004, 10:46 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mark Kenepp
I would assume that in many businesses, confirmation of receipt and opening of email would be a great asset.
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But it should be the recipient's choice as to whether that receipt is returned. Just like with a registered letter coming via snail mail; it's up to me to decide whether or not to sign for it and allow the sender to be notified.
This is like a lot of other issues that we're faced with as we become prolific users of electronic media. I think we need to make sure that we don't assume that the rules of engagement are any different than with more traditional media, like snail mail and the telephone. This is just another in a long line of tools that marketing people come up with without considering its impact on society.
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05-21-2004, 10:53 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 633
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Quote:
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I know some companies are already using DidTheyReadIt to fire their newsletters from. To those companies, let me clue you in on my terms of service.
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Ed - Who, exactly :?:
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