antispamsniper.com

[tom60]

AntiSpam Sniper for The Bat has several filters turned on by default, including SpamNet and URIBL. I wonder what are the privacy implications of using these? For example, does the contents of my messages get sent to Cloudmark (the owner of SpamNet)? Or do the URLs contained in my messages get sent to the URIBL services? Are the connections encrypted?

I'm a happy user of a registered copy of AntiSpam Sniper, but I started to worry about the privacy of my messages.

[vetaltm]

The plug-in doesn't send anywhere the message contents.

- SHA1 digests are used instead of message text and attachments for searching SpamNet database. A digest is an encrypted short number, and it is not possible to restore any part of the original message from this number.

- The plug-in uses generic DNS queries for checking URIBL services. But it checks only domain names, not full URLs.

- The plug-in also checks the sender IPs via DNSBL services.

If the entities like IP addresses or domain names is a subject for privacy rules, it is possible to turn off the appropriate filtering methods.

[tom60]

Okay thank you, I'm satisfied with your explanation. As long as the text of my messages (or parts of it, like full URL addresses) and the contents of the attachments don't get sent anywhere, it's fine. SHA-1 hashes, IP addresses and domain names are fine for me. Perhaps there should be some short explanation in the window with settings for each plugin what it actually sends to external websites, as I guess more people might be concerned about these issues.

Thanks again and please continue the great work you're doing on AntiSpam Sniper.