There is a closed thread that discusses NIS's anti-phishing technology vs. user's privacy.
I'm bulding a new PC for a paranoid friend and want to be able to assure him that no "big brothers" are collecting data on him ... not even the amicable Mr. loosened-tie Peter Norton
The net of the thread on NIS 2009 was that a user's privacy was "preserved" with the following settings:
Antiphising - ON Submit Full Site Information - OFF Norton Safe Web - OFF Enhance Search Engine Results - OFF
Are there any different/newer recommendations for NIS 2010?
I don't recall seeing the thread you mentioned, but I'll search for it later (unless you have a link).
Without having read the thread, nor knowing the author I am not in a position to agree with or confirm the "recommended settings". To be honest, the suggestions seem unreliable at best.
Two of the items stand out as potential security risks. Turning off "Safe Web" and "Enhance Search Engine Results" will not allow the user to see the Safe Web rating of various websites. When performing a search query, these components are designed to provide the user with safety rating information on various websites before the websites are visited. I think that most users would like to have this type of information to make an informed decision.
Perhaps a review of these policies will dissuade some fears of what information is being collected and allow the user to take full advantage of all the Security Components in the Norton Product.
I reading the thread, the "suggestions" are assumptions on the part of forum member mk145 and are neither confirmed nor disputed by Symantec.
I would put more weight into the statement of Symantec Employee Ryan McGann who notes:
"However, it will use SSL and takes other measures to protect your privacy." and "....but Symantec does not associate your computer/IP address with any browsing history."
Let's face it. Even if someone were to examine the Privacy Policy of every website they visit, just in viewing the Privacy Policy they may have already given tacit approval for cookies, tracking cookies, and the collection of data.
Looks like you have an interesting challenge ahead of you. Best Wishes!
From the product development side, the biggest concern about transmitting user data has to do with Norton Community Watch. We make sure not to send any personally identifying information within that data but for those that are paranoid and don't want any data sent to Symantec, make sure that this feature is disabled.
I'm bulding a new PC for a paranoid friend and want to be able to assure him that no "big brothers" are collecting data on him ... not even the amicable Mr. loosened-tie Peter Norton
To broaden the scope a little bit, there is no way you can make any sort of assurance about online privacy. Symantec would be the least of your friend's concerns. His ISP would know everything he does. Google would know every search term he has entered. It goes on and on. To assure total privacy your friend would have to never go online - in which case he would probably not need security software in the first place. It is an unfortunate fact of the digital age that if you are going to participate, a lot of entities will be collecting and storing data about you - some personally identifiable, some not. I am not saying we should not be concerned about this, only that your friend is going to have to make some trade-offs in the privacy department, and no doubt probably already has without even realizing it. There are certainly steps that one can take to minimize the amount of personal information that is collected, but just about everything we do electronically, from retail purchases to web searches, is generating data that somebody is interested in. The following article has some interesting comments on the situation:
"You have zero privacy anyway ...Get over it" - Scott McNealy CEO of Sun
While paranoid, my pal is (more or less) rational, and to the extent he can "minimize" exposure using reasonable means he wants to do that --- here are two articles he presented to me, and I think most of the stuff in these articles makes sense depending of course on your personal degree of paranoia!
"You have zero privacy anyway ...Get over it" - Scott McNealy CEO of Sun
Lol, I was trying to be a bit less blunt about it, but yeah - what he said. In addidtion to the links you posted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the more visible consumer advocacy groups for people's rights in digital matters, has a good list of protective measures that your friend might find useful:
