The Ubuntu community has contributed 12232 ideas, 57574 comments, 1174524 votes
Idea
#6364: Lock down "About Me"
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227
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Written by HDave the 3 Apr 08 at 22:25.
Category: Security.
Related to:
Nothing/Others.
Status: New
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Description
The "About Me" utility under System->Preferences is a nifty way to store information like your name, phone number, etc.
Do many people use it? I think not. Why? Because you have NO idea which applications read this information and what they do with it.
Either allow me to control which applications read this information so I can restrict access on a field level or get rid of the thing entirely. For example, I do not want Pigin/IRC channels to have access to my home phone number, etc.
As it is, it has that creepy, privacy-invading feel of Windows that made me move to Ubuntu in the first place. Time to fix it or lose it.
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Comments
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alejandro.mc wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 04:41
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We shouldn't get carried away with the wiping out staff jut because. So I agree:
"Time to fix it or lose it."
Let's fix it. I agree that most people do not use it because they don't know who or what application will read it. But I think it is a great place to put every piece of information so that all other applications take information out of it. Meaning, the advantage is that we can converge. But it's true it has to be modified. Maybe each field could have something like "Allow information to every application", "Allow to Pidgin", or something like that. This is your idea I just wanted to agree and support it.
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MilesTeg wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 08:59
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yeah, this should be more transparent. at least list whats use it
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Eldmannen wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 12:44
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I agree...
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HDave wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 13:08
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@alejandro.mc -- I agree, it would be vastly preferable to fix it. Your suggestion is what I had in mind. A list of "registered" applications (like the keyring) and the ability to check each field that the application can access.
However, I believe that all access should be denied by default.
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ld_barthel wrote on the 4 Apr 08 at 15:08
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Funny thing--when I looked at this idea, I went to look up the documentation--and couldn't find any on my system. No man page. Nothing in GNOME help center. The help button on the app itself does nothing. So I tried to Google for it. No success there either.
Now, I've never used this either--and I'm glad I haven't.
This app needs documentation and a published privacy policy (that is enforced in its code). At a minimum, individual fields could be flagged as public (always share), local (restricted to local networks, like a corporate directory), private (share only when confirmed by the user--and the default setting).
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Gatesgamer33 wrote on the 5 Apr 08 at 02:03
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Its something that I think should be integrated with Firefox, as a form filler. Just my two cents.
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boteeka wrote on the 5 Apr 08 at 10:18
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> individual fields could be flagged as public (always share), local (restricted to local networks, like a corporate directory), private (share only when confirmed by the user--and the default setting)
Exactly what I was thinking of. This looks to me like a good solution. And when private fields are accessed by applications a dialog should pop up and ask if you want to grant access for that application to that field like "Just for now/Permanently yes/Not for now/Permanently no".
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HDave wrote on the 6 May 08 at 04:47
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Perhaps this could be accomplished through the keyring?
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jrusinek wrote on the 26 Jul 08 at 16:23
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About Me is used to choose face and name (used esp. in screen unlock dialog).
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