<html>
<body>
Dear Chris<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<ul>
<li>free use online
<li>some functionality online requires registration (e.g. storage of
personal data, notes/bookmarks)
<li>free download
<li>installation process offers to create online account because online
version has more features
<li>registration for the account requires email address/password and
country/name, perhaps as optional (i don't mind either way)
<li>opt-out for email notifications
<li>Build in software and data update notification with a link to a page
that explains what is being updated (can be disabled in the system
settings but on by default, although need to think about access to the
internet in sensitive countries - i.e. don't want to send people to
prison because they didn't know their software was accessing the
internet) </blockquote>
</ul>All sounds good to me - couple of suggestions: <br>
* the collection of email address with optional name+country could be at
the initial download stage <br>
(eg "we will send a download link to you by email") <br>
* the opt-out for emails is a blanket one - updates and all. <br>
This is because what my boss wants (I'm fairly sure) is a way to
increase the number of people he can legitimately send newsletters to.
<br>
I don't think this will be burdensome for anyone because, by law,
each newsletter has an unsubscribe for the newsletters, so those who find
they aren't interested will only have received one unwanted email.
Thereafter they would only get the other emails. <br>
* as you say, the country a person volunteers to tell us is more accurate
than the IP number. But we could use the IP number as a backup. The small
proportion which are masked don't matter. * Mind you, it might
matter if masking makes us assume they are in the USA and actually they
are in a sensitive area and we send something to an email
inappropriately., so: <br>
Perhaps we should include a tickable box for "I live in a
sensitive situation so please do not send anything which is identifiably
Christian to this email address."<br><br>
Did I suggest anything shouldn't be free? I certainly didn't mean to.
<br>
Good point about being able to stop silent updates. Some people live in a
dangerous world. <br><br>
I've cc'd this to our STEP email box<br><br>
David IB<br><br>
At 18:21 08/03/2011, Chris Burrell wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Sure we can use the IP, although
if NAT-ed then we only have the router that's doing that
NATting.<br><br>
I think if people register for a reason, then they might be more inclined
to give the country. The problem with recording the IP vs the user's
country is that people aren't aware of that necessarily. I'd rather
provide my country information myself rather than have my IP logged and
stored and used. I think it's probably a breach of the DPA to store &
use user data without notifying them.<br>
<br>
As long as people can use the online app for free without registration.
There can be a button to register. I don't mind filling in
email/country/password and even name. That in turn could be useful
information to trim down the number of displayed versions based on the
country they are in. I think we should provide the standard checkbox to
say they don't want information sent to them (or 3 checkboxes - software
updates, data updates, other news).<br><br>
As far as the download goes, I'd much prefer if we could download for
free (a lot of people won't even download it as it suddenly doesn't
appear to be free anymore). The installation process can (like adobe
realplayer for example) offer to sign up for updates, etc. (that in turn
creates the user's online account if need be which is the incentive since
more features would be available on the online version.)<br><br>
<br>
I can see why we want email addresses. And I can see why we want country
information. And I agree there is wisdom. But first of all, we need to
remember that some people don't have email access from home, others don't
want emails from us. If we offer to upgrade their version (or put some
code in to check if an up-to-date version exists), perhaps that page /
"release notes" can help your manager with his
message.<br><br>
In summary, I'd like to aim for this:
<ul>
<li>free use online
<li>some functionality online requires registration (e.g. storage of
personal data, notes/bookmarks)
<li>free download
<li>installation process offers to create online account because online
version has more features
<li>registration for the account requires email address/password and
country/name, perhaps as optional (i don't mind either way)
<li>opt-out for email notifications
<li>Build in software and data update notification with a link to a page
that explains what is being updated (can be disabled in the system
settings but on by default, although need to think about access to the
internet in sensitive countries - i.e. don't want to send people to
prison because they didn't know their software was accessing the
internet)
</ul>Does that help?<br>
Chris<br><br>
<br>
On 8 March 2011 11:45, David Instone-Brewer
<<a href="mailto:Technical@tyndale.cam.ac.uk">
Technical@tyndale.cam.ac.uk</a>> wrote:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Dear Chris<br><br>
<dd>I suggested to my boss that we could get email addresses when people
download stuff or create a login for notes etc.<br>
<dd>I pointed out that people may be wary of giving information like
country and name, but he is keen to get this so that he can send emails
specific for different areas.<br>
<dd>I can see the wisdom in this, but I'm unsure about asking for a
country and name for people in sensitive parts of the world.<br><br>
<dd>Do you think it would be practical to make "name" and
"country" optional, but record the IP number along with an
email address, so the country can be filled in from that?<br>
<dd>I realise this won't always be accurate, but it will be so in the
great majority of cases.<br><br>
<dd>David IB<br><br>
<br><br>
<dd>At 10:17 08/03/2011, Peter J Williams wrote:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Dear David,<br>
<dd>That's not the information I want. I want to be able to send an
e-mail blast to particular parts of the world. That's why I need a
location (even if general) for every e-mail. The more specific the
information the better. So if we can ask for address, town and country,
but only make continent required then it should work.<br>
<dd>Best wishes,<br>
<dd>Pete<br><br>
<dd>At 09:14 08/03/2011, David Instone-Brewer wrote:<br>
<dl>
<dd>It is more accurate to get a picture of which countries are using the
resources from web stats.<br><br>
<dd>David IB<br><br>
<dd>At 15:38 07/03/2011, Peter J Williams wrote:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Dear David,<br>
<dd>Thanks for this. What if we just asked for name, e-mail and continent
(or country, but give them the option of only providing continent)? It
would be useful to be able to do special news blasts to people in the UK
or in the US and so I think we need to get some basic information as to
whereabouts.<br>
<dd>Pete<br><br>
<dd>At 10:16 07/03/2011, David Instone-Brewer wrote:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Dear Peter<br><br>
<dd>I like your idea of getting contact information from STEP users, but
we have to be a bit careful.<br>
<dd>Many of them will be working in sensitive countries, and will have an
instinctive resistance to this.<br>
<dd>I find the same thing in myself, when I visit Bible software sites
which require registration.<br>
<dd>Generally I pass by on the other side.<br><br>
<dd>I've chatted with Chris, who is doing most of the programming, and he
says that we can do it<br>
<dd>when we have things to download, and when we set up the
"Notes" function (where people can<br>
<dd>store their own notes and share them with a group or with the world
if they wish).<br><br>
<dd>Virtually everyone will want to download modules, and people are used
to getting a confirmation<br>
<dd>email with a download code, so demanding an email won't feel so
intrusive.<br>
<dd>However, I still think we should be wary of asking for a compulsory
name & country<br>
<dd>especially for something specifically designed to help people in
missionary situations.<br>
<dd>We can still ask for this as voluntary information.<br><br>
<dd>David IB<br><br>
</dl>
</dl>
</dl>
</dl><br>
</dl></blockquote></body>
</html>