Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 22 May 2019 15:58:04 -0400 | From | Konstantin Ryabitsev <> | Subject | Re: PSA: Do not use "Reported-By" without reporter's approval |
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On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 12:45:06PM -0700, Joe Perches wrote: >> It is common courtesy to include this tagline when submitting >> patches: >> >> Reported-By: J. Doe <jdoe@example.com> >> >> Please ask the reporter's permission before doing so (even if they'd >> submitted a public bugzilla report or sent a report to the mailing >> list). > >I disagree with this. > >If the report is public, and lists like vger are public, >then using a Reported-by: and/or a Link: are simply useful >history and tracking information.
I'm perfectly fine with Link:, however Reported-By: usually has the person's name and email address (i.e. PII data per GDPR definition). If that person submitted the bug report via bugzilla.kernel.org or a similar resource, their expectation is that they can delete their account should they choose to to do so. However, if the patch containing Reported-By is committed to git, their PII becomes permanently and immutably recorded for any reasonable meaning of the word "forever."
Now, I'm pretty sure that a request to rebase git history to edit a commit message would be considered "unreasonable" under GDPR provisions, but a) it still eats up valuable time handling such requests and b) it's a consequence reporters are not aware of when they submit bug reports. So, my request to ask for permission before using "Reported-By" is not coming from any legal position, but from the perspective of courtesy to people submitting those reports.
-K
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