Re: [Ayatana] How to disable Music "Available for Purchase"

[James Jenner <james.g.jenner@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 12 October 2011 00:44, Ian Santopietro <isantop@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The thing is this isn't really a privacy issue. Sure, when you open
the music lens and search for a song, it looks for the song online.
But this isn't tied to the main "Dash" search (Home icon, or the one
that opens by default). So it won't send out information at any time,
only when you search on the music lens. And when you search on the
music lens, you're looking for a song name, which aren't really
confidential.

I also don't see a problem with the internet being hit with this search, purely from a privacy point of view. I do however agree that the user should be in control with all information sent over the internet. That's not a privacy concern, that's a 'empowering the user' concern. This disempowers the user.
 

On top of all of this, the data sent isn't any different from running
a search on Google or Amazon. It doesn't send any information about
*You*, only the query. It's still sending information, but it isn't
sensitive, and none of it can be linked to you specifically.

Not really apples to apples comparison. Doing a search on a Web browser obviously means to the user that the internet is being used. The user will understand that information is being sent over the internet. I would suspect that doing a search on a Operating System level interface would make the user presume that it wouldn't hit the internet.

Overall I have an issue with this, why should the internet be searched when searching a local system for music? If you extend this then that means every single lens should be changed to be consistent, i.e. search the internet for the local counterpart if that information could be online and purchasable. Do a search for a document, well let's search Google Scholar or Amazon, etc. Searching for a program, well lets search for commercial software of the same name that the user could purchase. Searching for a video, lets search search a shop where you can buy it online.

This to me appears to be move to prompt users that they could purchase something when they do a search, I don't believe it is an attempt to solve a genuine need of users.

A lens for local searching is IMHO the wrong place to try and integrate searches for commercial reasons when the lens is not clearly marked as being for commercial purposes and not marked clearly that it will search the internet.

Btw, saying "uninstall the music store" is not a solution for the casual user and at best is just a workaround. It's not something that is obvious to the user to disable the 'feature'.