No opt-out for persistent Google tracking

[Barry John]

Current versions of Linux Mint (13) and Linux Mint Debian Edition (release 5) are either relying on Google services or willfully allowing Google to track users persistently without their consent or notification.

The packages/configuration responsible for the exchange of identifiers/fingerprints are not present in either Ubuntu or Debian, so these are modifications made to those distributions for the Linux Mint releases.
Whether they were put into the distribution at the request of Google or added as part of a service the Mint developers deemed useful; they are not documented and there is no privacy policy or even an agreement from which to explain what data is being collected and what happens to it.

There are no notifications to users at the point of install or prior to the connections being established, also, there is no option to opt out or change the configuration (with the one exception of mintupdate, hopefully more but well hidden if so). I feel at the very least, there should be an official explanation as to why this behavior exists without our consent.

"Have you ever read the Microsoft Windows End User License Agreement? It’s pretty scary what you commit yourself to."
Written by Clem on Friday, October 16th, 2009 @ 11:44 am
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1073

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Here's full details of the packets exchanged at logon (also attached) on the first boot of a Linux Mint 13 Maya i386 installation:
http://pastebin.com/V1pEuTzc
They continue throughout use of the OS in an unmodified state or otherwise and no Google labeled package is responsible.

That was put up on the Linux Mint forums as part of a post on the official forum, as yet there has been no official response or explanation after two weeks so hopefully it's just been missed by the developers and there's a reasonable explanation.
http://forum.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=157&t=108859
I've been able to replicate the exact issue being reported using similar methods.

Perhaps unrelated but the privacy controls included in Ubuntu 12.04 have been removed despite Mint 13 being based on that precise version, therefore diminishing further one's ability to remove the possibility of privacy leaks while using Linux Mint.

Linux Mint excels at being a beautiful and well thought out OS, as such it's become incredibly popular. With the influx of novice users though, it becomes time to behave like the big boys and that means things like having a privacy policy and making sure your users agree with that policy.

[Erik Johansson (erikj-n)]

Hi Barry, please see the forum topic you reference, as Clem has provided a reply today (2012-08-27). I had the same concerns as you do.

http://forum.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=157&t=108859

Regards,

Erik