Re: Potential Launch of Boost Website: Request for Final Feedback

From: Phil Endecott (spam_from_boost_dev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-02-14 16:09:50

Hi Vinnie,

Vinnie Falco wrote:
> I have looked
> online for a suitable policy that is not loaded to the gills with
> unintelligible legal jargon. Do you perhaps have a policy we might use, or
> point us to one that we can copy?

Before worrying about the legal jargon, the important thing is to decide
what your privacy policy actually is. The simplest privacy policy is
"we don't record any personal information". It's not difficult to
translate that from plain English to legal jargon.

There are a couple of issues that make it a bit more complicated in
this case. First, you're embedding YouTube videos on the site. YouTube
is undoubtedly doing its best to "monetize" site visitors through those;
I honestly don't know to what extent the site's privacy policy needs
to reflect what third parties like YouTube are doing. I've always
tried to keep my sites self-contained for this reason.

The second issue is the login. If I understand correctly, the forum
is not yet active. If that's the case, I suggest that language to address
that can be added later. What does the "sign up" form currently do?

If there is anything else that you are planning to do that involves
personal information, please tell us!

> It really sucks what governments have done to the Internet that we need
> these almost completely illegible documents just to publish information
> legally.

No, you really don't need these documents "just to publish information
legally". You need these documents if you plan to invade the privacy of
site visitors. I guess it suits the business models of sites like termly
(and even much of the legal profession) if you think you need to pay them
money...

There were a couple of questions I asked before which I don't think
have been answered yet. Firstly, whose site is it? Does it belong to
Boost, or to C++ Alliance? (In legal terms, who is the "data controller"?)
If it belongs to Boost, then I think someone representing Boost really
needs to sign off these documents. Secondly, why is Google Analytics
on the site?

Louis Tatta wrote:
> I believe it is now fixed. Here are the links to the updated Privacy 
> Policy and TOS Preview:

In what sense "fixed"? For example, the TOS still bans under-18s unless
supervised. I'm not going to read through the whole thing. Please post
a summary of what issues you believe are resolved by this update.

Regards, Phil.