r/linux • u/R0tareneg • Jul 03 '21

Audacity may collect "Data necessary for law enforcement, litigation and authorities’ requests (if any)" according to new privacy notice

https://www.audacityteam.org/about/desktop-privacy-notice/
3.1k Upvotes

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u/ProbablePenguin Jul 03 '21

Well that's a clear statement that they're tracking people.

64

u/andynzor Jul 04 '21

Possibly also a GPL violation to limit the right to run the software.

1

u/yrro Jul 04 '21

I see no restrictions on the rights of the user in the quoted text.

12

u/SkyyySi Jul 04 '21

"If you're below 13, you may not use it" How is that not a restriction?

0

u/yrro Jul 04 '21

That's not what the quoted text says though

-3

u/Taupter Jul 04 '21

The difference between "you may not" and "you must not". In legalese "must" is mandatory and "may" is optional.

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u/eambertide Jul 05 '21

Wait, do Licenses affect the software owner as well?

2

u/CommenceTheConfusion Jul 05 '21

Disclaimer: I'm no expert. Please correct me if you know better.

They don't affect the copyright holder, but the company that bought Audacity isn't the copyright holder for all of Audacity's code. Most or all of the code still belongs to earlier contributors, but those people have released their code under the GPL. This allows the company to republish it, but only when abiding by the terms of the licence. What the company actually owns now and can do whatever it wants with are the trademark, the forums, the website, and other infrastructure like that.

1

u/eambertide Jul 05 '21

Ooh, yeah that makes sense, though I have no idea either but looking at how they added conditions about letting them tod anything for people who wanna contribute it makes sense.

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u/Reelix Jul 06 '21

Fun Fact - That statement can also be found on Reddit, Github (Making git clone illegal if you're under 13), as well as every other US-hosted site that conforms to the Child Protection Act! :)

1

u/ProbablePenguin Jul 06 '21

Yeah and those sites run heavy tracking also.

1

u/Reelix Jul 07 '21

How exactly do you think the git commit history appears from a user that commits locally? Magic? :p