Web Service Covertly Tracks E-mail
June 18, 2004 -- In this week's Cybershake, we take a look at a new Web service that lets users track their own e-mails to see where they end up. Plus, we note how the U.S. Army tries to bring an important event at home closer to its soldiers in Iraq.
Telltale E-mail
With billions and billions of e-mails — undoubtedly many of them junk messages, or spam — winding its way around the Internet, do you know if your messages reached their correct destination?
There are plenty of reasons why an e-mail might get lost. Messages over the Internet have to pass through many computers as they travel from sender to receiver. And just like postal letters, e-mail can get hung up at any one of those stops.
What's more, as the amount of spam grows, more users and Internet service providers are turning toward software that filters out messages based on various rules.
"People don't know if their e-mail has gone through," said Alistair Rampell, chief executive officer of Rampell Software.
That's why his company created a new Web service called DidTheyReadIt.com.
The service allows members to track the e-mail they send to anyone. DidTheyReadIt will not only tell members when recipients got the message, but also when it was opened, how long it was kept open, how many times it was viewed, if it was forwarded to others and if those other recipients read the message, too.
Once a user has signed up for an account, they merely add "didtheyreadit.com" to the end of any address — "anyuser@anyisp.net" becomes anyuser@anyisp.net.didtheyreadit.com. That allows messages to be routed through Rampell's e-mail computers, which provide the tracking functions and information.
There are similar message tracking features offered by other services. America Online's e-mail system can tell its users when other members have opened messages. And Microsoft's Outlook mail program has a "return receipt" feature, which works only if the other party is also using Outlook.
Rampell says DidTheyReadIt.com, however, will work with almost any ISP or e-mail service — including Web-based e-mail services such as Yahoo! and Hotmail.
What's more, the tracking features are totally invisible to the recipient. Only the sender will know and have access to the e-mail tracking information.
While that may cause some concern among privacy advocates, Rampell says the intent of DidTheyReadIt is strictly to provider users with a sense of confidence in their personal electronic communications.
"This is really important if you're applying for a job, if you're sending out important documents," said Rampell. "You really want to know if the receiving party is receiving them. "
And while the technology could be open to abuse by some, the company says it would be prohibitively expensive for mass e-mailers hoping to spy on those they blast with spam.
Membership plans for DidTheyReadIt.com vary. A $25 quarterly subscription provides tracking services for up to 500 messages per month for three months. A $50 annual plan allows members to track 750 messages per month. Users can also try the service out for free for 10 e-mails.
— Karen Chase, ABC News
Virtual 'Pomp and Circumstance'
High school graduation is a proud moment for any student and parent. And when the high school class of 2004 from the military town of Killeen, Texas, walked the stage, the U.S. Army made sure that parents serving in Iraq could still be a part of that once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Using a high-speed digital telephone service called ISDN, the Army was able to establish a video link between Killeen and a U.S. military base in Baghdad.
"We're transmitting and receiving over the [digital line] between here and Three Corps headquarters at Fort Hood," said Army Spc. Keith Dames. "And then there's a couple other stops before it gets to Baghdad."
The virtual graduation was the brainchild of 1st Cavalry Division commander Pete Chiarelli, who is also deployed in Iraq.
"Proud mothers and fathers join together to share this experience with their sons and daughters in Texas," Chiarelli said at the start of the teleconferenced commencement. "It is our hope that this video link helps close the gap, if only slightly, for students and parents alike."
"I'm still mad he's gone," said graduating senior Victor Rogers of his father, an Army colonel currently serving in Iraq. "But I'm happy that he's still able to see me graduate. Letting him see my graduation is a really big thing, because … I know that he's excited about it, as well."
"You can't say enough about the morale boost that the soldiers in theater are getting from this," said Col. Robert Forrester. "You can see the elation, you can see the excitement."
— Jim Ryan, ABC News
Cybershake is produced for ABCNEWS Radio by Andrea J. Smith.