Blizz: Don't take non-personal system information grab personally
by Mike Schramm 
May 30th 2007 at 11:36AM
It only showed up for a fraction of a second (not even long enough to grab a screenshot of it, or barely read what it said), but after logging in today, you may have noticed the login screen flash a quick message: "Submitting Non-personal System Information." Say wha? What did Blizzard just grab from my computer?I tried logging in again to see the message again, but no dice-- apparently it was just a one-time process after the first login. I can't remember whether I was given an option to opt out of that system check (I usually say no on that stuff, just because I don't want Blizzard finding out that I'm dumb enough to run the wrong drivers on my sound card or something), but I'm sure it's legal. I'm just not sure that sneaking that in for a split second was the right way to do it.
Nethaera says it's not personal-- they were just grabbing some random system spec info (and I'll speculate that it was to determine a good way to fix all of the graphical errors lately). It's not wrong for companies to have that data necessarily-- Valve does the same thing with Steam, and they've gotten some great info about what gaming PCs are like. It would be nice if Blizz shared info like that, but for now they're just using it to work on their product.
Some gamers aren't real thrilled about the implementation either-- if it's so non-personal, why did they throw up a warning we could just barely see? I just hope that if Blizzard is second-guessing their system reqs, they keep the rest of the process as open as possible.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Keysdawg May 30th 2007 11:58AM
They have been doing this for a while now. It's not every time, but it has been going on for at least a year off and on. I know we had a keylogger scare a while back on Shadow Council and some thought it was Blizzards way of preventing stuff like that.
Either way, it should be told I think.
Keysdawg May 30th 2007 12:01PM
They have been doing this for a while now. It's not every time, but it has been going on for at least a year off and on. I know we had a keylogger scare a while back on Shadow Council and some thought it was Blizzards way of preventing stuff like that.
Either way, it should be told I think.
FadedReality May 30th 2007 11:59AM
My 2c:
If everything goes smoothly, all parts of the login process show up for a fraction of a second.
If Blizzard wants to non-personally know that my computer is a marginally upgraded piece of junk office computer, they're more than welcome. I've got nothing to hide :d
Ryan May 31st 2007 2:22AM
Funny how this post caught my attention. Perhaps it's because I'm stuck at the "Handshaking" step(whoops-not able to connect). :-( Staying on topic... I've seen the non-personal blurb for the past few months when my computer was slow enough to lag during login. It's really hard to see on any "decent" machine.
EmperorTuna May 30th 2007 2:40PM
This has definately been going on for a long time; I remember seeing it ages ago. people get far too excitable over it.
Isn't it in fact mentioned in the updated EULA?
Satarus May 30th 2007 12:41PM
Not a big deal. If Blizzard wants to grab my system specs let them. It will help them know what kind of systems people are playing on and maybe help them fix the graphic bugs I've been getting. Last night i was getting my normal 30-55 FPS while running around but when I tried the bombing run on the forge camps, I was down at 1-6FPS. If I wanted that kind of FPS i would go play vangaurd.
skuska May 30th 2007 1:53PM
Personally, I think its an outrage. The TOS (or the EULA, not sure which) say that Blizzard is allowed to monitor the running processes on your computer. This is so that Blizzard can make sure you are not running any botting programs or trying to reverse engineer WoW. The downside of this is that Blizzard is being sent a snapshot of what you are doing on your computer, which I for one am against. The fact that a EULA can protect spyware seems like a gross misapplication of the DMCA.
Interestingly enough, one of the "fair" uses of monitoring your processes, ie to make reverse engineering not possible, is a muddy legal issue. From the EFF web page on EULAs (http://www.eff.org/wp/eula.php):
"Some EULA terms harm people who want to customize their technology, as well as inventors who want to create new products that work with the technology they've bought. "Reverse-engineering," which is often forbidden in EULAs, is a term for taking a machine or piece of software apart in order to see how it works. This kind of tinkering is explicitly permitted by federal law – it is considered a "fair use" of a copyrighted item. Courts have held that the fair use provisions of the US Copyright Act allow for reverse-engineering of software when the purpose is to create a non-infringing inter operable program".
Personally, I am disgusted with the way that Blizzard, and more importantly Vivendi, handle the legal rights of their customers.
iMacabre May 30th 2007 12:57PM
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/legal/termsofuse.html
16. Acknowledgements. You hereby acknowledge that:
D. Blizzard Entertainment has the right to obtain "non-personal" data from your connection to World of Warcraft in order to make certain demographic assumptions regarding the users of World of Warcraft without any further notice to you.
C. and E. aswell
iMacabre May 30th 2007 1:02PM
And while you're up to it, you might be interested in tthis one too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warden_%28software%29
Chris Anthony May 30th 2007 1:04PM
"...if it's so non-personal, why did they throw up a warning we could just barely see?"
"Warning" is a pretty loaded word to use here, Mike.
FadedReality is exactly right. The notification is displayed quickly because it's a quick process. The way I see it, Blizzard's options are:
* Don't collect system information. (Blizzard can't tell what systems people are running WoW on, so they can't make judgments about future content as effectively.)
* Collect system information, but allow users to opt out before the game starts. (Blizzard's information is no longer necessarily representative of the game-playing population, so again, they can't make judgments as effectively.)
* Collect system information, and don't allow users to opt out, but make a big deal out of it. (Blizzard annoys users who are sensitive about any information about them being transmitted, and annoys everyone else by delaying their ability to play the game.)
* Collect system information, and show a notification while the information is being sent, which is a brief process. (Blizzard annoys players who are sensitive about any information about them being transmitted, and nobody else notices.)
* Collect system information, and don't show a notification at all. (Blizzard's players get up in arms when they find out.)
In other words, there really isn't a good solution; I personally think Blizzard's hit on the best of the available solutions, but YMMV.
-Chris Anthony
http://www.etherjammer.com/blog/
Mike Schramm May 30th 2007 1:15PM
All right, well, to clarify: I'm not against this at all. Personally, like I said, I tend to opt out of "anonymous system information" stuff like this, just because that's the way I like it. But I never said this is wrong, or illegal, or that Blizzard shouldn't do it.
Yes, warning is a loaded word-- you got me there. I just thought it was interesting that Blizzard threw this up at all-- if it's so harmless (as I believe it is), then why did they feel the need to tell us they were doing it?
I'm not trying to restart the Warden debate (In fact, I'm fine with Warden, because I've got nothing to hide-- I happily accept the EULA and the ToU). I'm just saying the implementation-- flashing a message on the screen for a fraction of a second-- was the wrong way to go about it.
IKT May 30th 2007 1:31PM
then why did they feel the need to tell us they were doing it? I would guess they did it to let us know that we were submitting non-personal information to them. Compare to windows you don't know what's starting up, all you see is a logo, on linux you see a logo and exactly what is happening, on some linux versions you can see the code running through =O it's much as much in the end.
Procyon May 30th 2007 6:42PM
The only people that this bothers are people like Suska here. Overly touchy privacy advocate cry babies. If Blizz wants to collect random info from my system for the betterment of my gaming experience...then by all means go for it. I have nothing to hide.
My theory has always been, those who get upset about things like this have something to hide. Things like surveillance camaras, red light cameras, criminal profiling, random security searches at airports. etc.
It is Blizzards product, everything is fully enclosed in the LUA and TOS. If you read it and don't like what you see.....I have an easy fix for you.
1. Got o control panel
2. Select add/remove programs
3. Find World of Warcraft and click it
4. Select remove program
5. Cancel your account
6. Go to the hardware store
7. By bulk amounts of duct tape and plastic sheeting
8. Go home and use said duct tape and sheeting on all windows and doors
9. Disconnect any device that may be able to access the internet, radio airwaves, or television airwaves
10. Live the rest of your miserable life in a bubble
IKT May 30th 2007 6:44PM
You can't win with some people like skuska. Luckily most of us will 'put up with the spyware program' bundled with wow to enjoy a (mostly) bot and cheat free enviroment. Playing almost any other game you are almost guaranteed to run into bots and cheats.
Rainwizard May 31st 2007 10:24AM
Blizz can have whatever they want. I've already sold my soul to them...why not my system specs too?
skuska May 31st 2007 1:24PM
Theres just no arguing with some people.
I, for one, would rather that my programs NOT be riddled with spyware. Given the two alternatives, how can you argue otherwise? Anyone who has installed Kazaa knows that the same EULA that allows you to download things for free also allows Kazaa to install literal spyware onto your computer. We aren't talking about the tame im-gonna-let-blizzard-know-my-processor type of spyware, but rather the heres-some-ads-on-startup-imma-log-your-keystrokes-sorry-cant-uninstall-me type of spyware. The fact that they are completely "protected" by their EULA is disgusting.
I'm not saying that Blizzard is the worst offender out there, thats far from the truth (although who knows what information they are REALLY getting?), I just don't think that ANY form of spying that I cannot opt out of and that is only legally possible because of a clause in the EULA is wrong.