Platte and privacy: user accounts and bills

Why did your software display your bill on my computer after I had terminated my membership, owing you nothing? And why did it do so across all the user accounts on a shared computer?

(a) Sometimes the software requires synchronizing after a cancellation to ensure that the license on the user machine has been updated. To do this the user should either call customer services or open the platte utility and select the "synchronize" option.
(b) When you install the software it installs across all user accounts on the pc. This is because it is the pc owner that is responsible for the account.

Once again, a response from Platte that requires some analysis. Sometimes the software requires synchronising...? I used Platte's downloaded utility to terminate my membership (I took the online option rather than dealing with it by phone). So why on earth didn't their cancellation tool synchronise the software? Actually there's a bigger question - why didn't it do the uninstall at the same time?

It's the (b) part of the answer that's of particular interest though. Firstly, I don't think it's clear whether the PC owner is responsible for the account, or whether it's the person who entered into the agreement. I'm inclined to think it's the latter and I'm not altogether sure that Platte are entirely certain. But it's singularly disingenious to claim that the software 'installs across all user accounts on the PC'. It doesn't. It installs to the user account of the person who installed it, where the 'Get Films Now' icon displays on the desktop and 'Platte Media' shows in the 'Start' menu. In the other accounts, there is no trace of Platte to be found whatever. So it doesn't install to all user accounts at all, but what it does do is bill to all user accounts (and display that wretched 'Platte' desktop icon as well) when the software thinks that money is owing.

All this has very serious implications for the privacy of those who sign up for Platte's service. Consider this scenario: A married couple share an account on their computer, and it's password protected. Their young children have separate accounts and are not able to access their parents'account. One weekend the parents decide, long after their offspring have retired for the night, to try the 'Get Films Now' service. They're quite cautious since they obviously don't want the children to be able to access that sort of material, so after installing the software they go into their childrens accounts to check that it is not accessible in any of them. It isn't, so they don't worry. They are not that impressed with what they find Platte has to offer so they cancel their membership online later that night. The next thing they know is when their children are the first ones to get the pop-up bills; even worse, the children have Googled 'Platte Media' and know that their parents signed up to an online porn service.

Platte are big on privacy. They make much of the privacy that comes with paying by Postal Order. They have a 'Privacy Policy'. Unfortunately that 'policy' has nothing whatever to say about privacy, or the total lack of it, between user accounts on the PC, although there is a catch-all that seems to fit. Platte International Limited (company no.1391058) is committed to preserving the privacy of all visitors to www.plattemedia.com. Committed? Not that committed by the look of things. It's not as if they even bother to warn you about this when you sign up.


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