A report at MSNBC.com indicates that it has been discovered that when you download a music file from iTunes, the file contains personal information about you. Details are unclear, but your name and email address are specifically mentioned in the partial audio of the report that I managed to access.

This means that if you download an iTunes file, and subsequently allow anyone else to have access to it, they have whatever information is imbedded – and that iTunes will be able to trace the file back to you as the source for any "questionable" file sharing.

I don't know how many here are iTunes users, or whether this bit of spying will be of any concern to those who are; but it seems like something people should know about and appears NOT TO HAVE BEEN REVEALED VOLUNTARILY BY iTUNES.

Note – in case anyone's really interested:

This is a video report that I cannot view with my current setup. I have a 12-page email from MSNBC recommending changes I "have to make" to be able to view their videos, but in my opinion more than 50% of the "necessary changes" would compromise my browsing safety and it's unlikely that my dial-up connection will support their delivery even if I make the changes, so I'm delaying making the hookup "pending my further review."

So far as I can tell, the easiest way to view this report, for those set up for video, is at the link, hover on the "index" at the left, at "Tech/Science." On the flyout menu that appears, slide down and hover over the "Security" listing, and then click on the "Personal data imbedded in iTunes Files" article to execute the Jscript link that opens the video.

If the report is true, I would expect reports from the real world to appear soon.

John