San Francisco, CA — Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (‘EFF’) released logfinder, a software tool to help people reduce the unnecessary collection of personal information about computer users. Often computer network servers automatically log information about who has visited a website and when, or who has sent and received email. Such data tells a lot about users’ browsing and email habits and could be used in privacy-invasive ways. Moreover, log data must be turned over to government entities with court orders and can be subpoenaed by opposing sides in court cases.

You can download the software, euphemistically known as LogFinder, here. Of course, I think the question everybody is asking is whether this utility itself keeps a log of what it deletes! Or perhaps more importantly, could regular and automated usage of this tool be considered wilful destruction of evidence or comprise an attempt to pervert the course of justice?

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation