It doesn't make your system particularly vulnerable because what you're
viewing is not data that has been retrieved by that server then transmitted
to you.  You can achieve the same results by typing the following URL into
your browser: file:///c:\.  It's purely a client-side action.

Part of downloading the IE4 software is executing an installation program.
That program checks your computer to see what components are installed.
BEFORE it executes, however, it offers you a license agreement to complete.
Your acceptance of that license agreement includes consent to the check.  If
you don't want the program to check your computer, don't install the
software.  Bluntly, I'd say that it is not a violation of your privacy.

Broadly speaking, if you are concerned with privacy issues, you need to
protect your computer from prying network eyes.  The most secure way to do
that is to not use the Internet or a network.  Short of that, protect files
that you don't want disclosed by storing them on removeable media and remove
that media when it's not in use and/or when you're using the network.

As far as privacy advice goes, I suspect that the most accurate advice would
come from an attorney specializing in computer security issues.

Drew Dunn
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]


Hello all, I came across a site and it raised an issue of security in my
mind. If you take a look at the site (the url below) you wll see at the
bottom right of the page that you can view the entire contents of your
HardDrive. The question I have is how vunerable does this make the people
accessing the site and can your HD be viewed by other people without your
knowledge? If you go to the Microsoft IE page to dowmload IE4 or an add on
it tells you that it intends to check what is installed, does this also
violate your privacy? Thank you Tony Jones
http://www.datacomm.ch/~cao/main.html

 DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at Yahoo! Mail.