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An Apology and an Update

slackhq.com

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Re: An Apology and an Update

#51

Post by nimbius »

mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

>We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity.

Okay, so how did you block them?

>As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks.

So, you blocked users based on their nationality.

>We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users.

you clearly possess enough information about the nationality of your users to block them based on it, which was your intent. You backpedaled when people who were not the target nationality began to complain.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#52

Post by abrowne »

nimbius wrote: post #51
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

>We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity. Okay, so how did you block them? >As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks. So, you blocked users based on their nationality. >We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users. you clear…

I was in London last month but that doesn't make me British.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#53

Post by p1esk »

nimbius wrote: post #51
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

>We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity. Okay, so how did you block them? >As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks. So, you blocked users based on their nationality. >We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users. you clear…

No, they blocked users based on location. I'm currently located in California, and this has nothing to do with my nationality.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#54

Post by [deleted] »

nimbius wrote: post #51
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

>We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity. Okay, so how did you block them? >As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks. So, you blocked users based on their nationality. >We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users. you clear…

[deleted]

Re: An Apology and an Update

#55

Post by martincmartin »

nimbius wrote: post #51
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

>We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity. Okay, so how did you block them? >As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks. So, you blocked users based on their nationality. >We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users. you clear…

I'm Canadian, but live in Boston. My IP address shows where I live, not my nationality.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#56

Post by roblabla »

dylan604 wrote: post #41
morpheuskafka wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought embargoes didn't apply to information anyway? You're still allowed to text someone in Cuba or even call North Korea, so how come Slack is banned?

Texts/SMS/voice calls etc are not encrypted. The NSA slurps that data up like a sponge wrapped in Brawny wrapped in a ShamWow. There's a huge list of why we can't export/sale things to certain countries, but encryption is one of them. Things that seem "innocent" enough like a hardware video box might qualify as embargoed because it has the ability to decode SSL network traffic. Can't let that tech get in the hands of…

Encryption is not considered ammo since forever now. And slack doesn't have E2E encryption, and is an american company. The NSA can just knock on the front door and ask for the data, same as they would for an ISP.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#57

Post by pvg »

pyrophane wrote: post #11

This is yet another good reason to prefer decentralized networks. When Slack or Facebook or whomever agrees to block someone there is no resolution other than appealing to a company with a closed decision making process, something I don't think any of us really want.

What are the decentralized networks one should give preference to?

Re: An Apology and an Update

#58

Post by aaomidi »

da_chicken wrote: post #25
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #22

> We will soon begin blocking access to our service from IP addresses associated with an embargoed country. Users who travel to a sanctioned country may not be able to access Slack while they remain in that country. Is Slack legally required to do this? As long as they aren't knowingly accepting payment from these countries, shouldn't they be in the clear? How are other tech companies dealing with this? Does Google b…

> Is Slack legally required to do this? Yes, absolutely. Breaking sanctions is not just illegal, it's a criminal offense . There have been sanctions against Iran since roughly when Trump withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [1] in May of this year. The CFO of Huawei was arrested in Canada per a request by the US because of their dealings with Iran [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_C…

The CFO was arrested in relation to Iran but not because of it. She was arrested because she lied to banks and sold American made technology to Iran.

Slack is actually not required to do this as IM applications are exempt from sanctions.

Re: An Apology and an Update

#59

Post by geofft »

azhenley wrote: post #50
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

This apology seems very generic and sterile to me. People are boycotting their product so they apologized. They should have communicated with their users to begin with before taking such harsh actions.

Are people actually boycotting their product? They very clearly see their free users as their non-primary market (no automatic invites, no tools for individuals to block individuals because your HR department is supposed to deal with it, limited archives, etc.) and I'm not sure a "boycott" of a free service even counts anyway. And a paying customer is not going to be able to drop Slack on one day's notice any more than they could drop email on one day's notice. Were there actually paying / potentially paying customers who cited this as a reason to stop using Slack?

Re: An Apology and an Update

#60

Post by tlb »

azhenley wrote: post #50
mabbo wrote: post #40

I'm a big fan and critic of apologies. This one is pretty good. They admit the mistake was theirs and they take responsibility for it. They say sorry. They explain what they're going to do to fix the situation. They say they're going to learn from this and not have similar mistakes in the future. Pretty solid. The only thing that is missing, in my view, is personalization. Tell me who you are, speaking for the organi…

This apology seems very generic and sterile to me. People are boycotting their product so they apologized. They should have communicated with their users to begin with before taking such harsh actions.

Saying "they should have acted differently to begin with" isn't a valid criticism of an apology, or it would apply to all apologies.
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