iTunes DRM-free tracks contain your email

Robert Hallock 13 Jan, 2009 at 9:52am ET Article published in Tech

giantapple While Apple may be taking the chains off of its tracks, recent investigation shows that they still fall under the shadow of The Man. CNet UK research shows that the email registered with an iTunes account is automagically embedded in the wall of machine code viewable when a track is opened in Notepad.

If you’re interested in an easy way to check your own files, find an iTunes Plus file on your computer. Then choose to open it with a text editor (Windows Notepad works fine). It’ll take a while to open and will appear to be full of nonsense text, but if you choose the ‘Find’ option and type in the email address you have registered with the iTunes Store, you’ll find that your DRM-free music is not personal information-free.

Comments

13 Jan 2009 ~ 10:23am Gate28 I don't see a problem. How would someone (besides Apple) get my music, let alone the email embedded in it?
13 Jan 2009 ~ 11:41am MiracleManS I think the implication is with file sharing. Its easy to identify who the file came from that way and isn't available for people to remove in the interest of privacy.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 11:45am DrLiam I'm not sure if I'm OK with this. :/

Almost makes you want to create a fake email account that you only use for Apple.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 12:11pm GnomeQueen This definitely isn't cool. Apple is such a control freak. This is another reason why I don't use itunes.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 12:13pm Colgere Sad, yet not surprising.....
13 Jan 2009 ~ 12:19pm Thrax I'm 99.99999999999999999999999999999999% ambivalent. The tracks are going to you, and only you, so it doesn't matter if they contain your email.

From a principled perspective on privacy, however, it does bother me. I can envision scenarios where someone gets busted because their buddy stole their tracks, or the computer was stolen or whatever. Murphy's Law never goes away.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 12:19pm Linc This has been true since iTunes Plus launched in May 2007.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 12:20pm MiracleManS Yes, it's been true, but now ALL songs are iTunes Plus.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 2:11pm mas0n If it bothers you, just re-encode the files.

Or stop giving Apple your money.
13 Jan 2009 ~ 11:56pm CB

mas0n wrote:

stop giving Apple your money.

this
14 Jan 2009 ~ 12:44am jared Amazon MP3 store. You'll never look back.
14 Jan 2009 ~ 10:53am the_technocrat ^^ this

And wifi-enabled devices with Pandora
14 Jan 2009 ~ 3:10pm DrLiam

the_technocrat wrote:

And wifi-enabled devices with Pandora

Pandora used to be great but it's only available in the States now. :[

LastFM is a great alternative imho.