[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
@MartyHulskemper -

First - I made it very obvious that while I'm *personally* not concerned about these "privacy" issues (aka I don't care), I also stated that I would love to get to the bottom of these accusations. I am able to look at factual information and accept it, even if I don't really care about it personally! Remember, this whole thing "started" based off of the post that called both Dolphin and Boat "basically spyware" apps - that's what I was replying to - let's not lose sight of that! :)

Second - thanks for the informational links - only problem is that they were all written about a year ago! As others have eluded too, Dolphin has supposedly resolved those issues long ago (but again, I don't know if that's true or not - I don't use Dolphin and haven't personally checked yet).

Regarding the "screw me once, shame on you - screw me twice, shame on me" attitude (sorry, I couldn't remember your exact analogy), how come that doesn't also apply to Google (and thereby Android itself?). We *all* know of the privacy issues that Google has had in the past, yet I don't see everyone up in arms in regards to running *Google* Android... Why does this logic only seem to apply to web browsers?

Again, I never said that browsers don't collect personal information - my point was simply that collecting personal information does not constitute these browsers being labeled as "basically spyware", as the one user put it. In my opinion, their intentions are not to "spy" (I hate that word!) on anyone and that they collect this information for the purpose of making the browser experience a more pleasurable one.

So, just to recap, just so we understand each other:

1. My first post on the matter was a direct reply to the user that labeled Dolphin and Boat as "spyware apps" - and I still disagree 100% with that statement. You can't make that kind of accusation without *any* further information as to why (which is exactly what they did).

2. Do you have any *current* information on the *current* versions of Dolphin (or Boat) that these issues still exist?

3. Why is it that Google seems to "get a pass" for past privacy issues, but these small-time browser developers continue to get prosecuted for things they've done in the past, even if it's not an issue in current versions?

4. Regardless of whether personal information is being collected or not (like I said, I'm sure it is), my point was that I don't believe that they are actually using this information for anything other than enhancing the browsing experience.

It's pretty obvious that we'll never agree on this subject, and that completely fine - but let's not start rumors based on old, outdated information either. Regardless of how I feel personally, I'm still interested in knowing what kind of personal information is collected by these apps, if for no other reason than letting in be known when I recommend these apps (Boat in my case). I realize that not everyone is as "relaxed" as I when it comes to privacy issues, so I would like to present current, factual information about these products when I recommend them and not just rule them out for something that happened long ago and has possibly been corrected.

In the end, they really are great browsers, so let's find out if they *really* still have issues or not and then let the user decide if they still want to use them based on that current information and not some year old information. A year is a long time in computer software terms! :)

Great conversation though! It's refreshing when we can actually debate thing in a mature, constructive manner! :)