I was reading through the current iTunes Terms of Service because I was curious about they were handling the issues surrounding the new Match service. I thought the section relating to their collection of data from users' media libraries and the privacy policy covering that were interesting:
"When you use iTunes Match, Genius will begin associating information about the media in your iTunes library with your Account; the association with your Account will continue for a period of time after your subscription ends. Apple will otherwise use this information as described in the Privacy Section of this Agreement. You will not be able to disable Genius while using iTunes Match, so if you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not use iTunes Match.
You hereby agree to use iTunes Match only for lawfully acquired content. Any use for illegitimate content infringes the rights of others and may subject you to civil and criminal penalties, including possible monetary damages, for copyright infringement."
[emphasis added]
From the Privacy section just below that:
"When you opt in to the Genius feature, Apple will, from time to time, automatically collect information that can be used to identify media in your iTunes library on this computer, such as your play history and playlists. This includes media purchased through iTunes and media obtained from other sources. This information will be stored anonymously and will not be associated with your name or Account. When you use the Genius feature, Apple will use this information and the contents of your iTunes library, as well as other information, to give personalized recommendations to you."
[emphasis added]
So to use their cloud locker service you have to agree to leave Genius on and let them collect the meta-data from your library, which isn't terribly surprising. But it seems disingenuous to say information collected by Genius will be stored anonymously because in order to make genius playlists and media buying suggestions to you they have to associate that information with your account some how. Since dropping DRM on music sold through iTunes, Apple embeds watermarks in each music file associating it with the user who owns the account used to purchase it. Because of that, people (bad, bad people) who have received mix CD's from friends which include songs bought by those friends through iTunes, and who use Genius and/or Match, may be exposing themselves or their friends to risk of litigation. I realize the recording industry has backed off of such lawsuits, and that unlike file-sharing sites, no one in this example has posted a music file for downloading by the general public. Further I don't think Apple would consider any such litigations to be in its best interests. But on the other hand, while it was difficult for the RIAA to pin infringing activity to a specific person (not just an IP address) , here the link should be very easy to prove.
I certainly don't condone the flaunting of copyright law, but I at the same time I don't think the general public is aware that some of the activities they take for granted are exposing them to the risk of litigation. Anyways, thought I'd bring it to your attention for the class blog.
Best,
Tariqa
p.s. Here's a link to the full ToS: http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html
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