The scene is such:

• Friend's dad installs an email program
• Friend's dad can't use web-based email service with his ISP anymore
• Friend is called in to help dad
• Friend calculates that the proximity, the fact that the email program was installed right before the webmail problem occurs, that therefor the email program broke the webmail service
• Friend uninstalls email program, hoping his dad can now check his email through Firefox, on dad's internet service provider's web-based email service
• Friend's dad still can't check his webmail, because it's still broken (yes, we're talking about a web page basically that has stopped working)
• Friend eventually clears the "private information," AKA cache to those more technical folks by going through [tools], [options], [privacy], [clear now] so that he clears this "private information" which includes cookies, cache, web browsing history, etc.
• Webmail starts working again
• Friend thinks the combination and concatenation solved the problem
• I challenge the logic as an example and deal with other flaws in public perceptions as it relates to both software and system design

So, what lesson can we learn from these events. I know, some of you wonder what email program he installed and whether you should avoid it. No, it's a red herring most likely. It's the logic you need to address.

It's possible, and often is the case, that applications mess up our computer. Everything is so interwoven that an email program can damage our browser, change its settings, etc. I have no idea, for example, why I'll install software to pull files from my digital camera that will change the way my PC collects data from my scanner. But, that happens. It's laziness and deserves a painful slap on the wrist: bad software company. But, we need to look at problems first singly, then in the environment.

I uninstalled the program and reinstalled the program and problem still existed. Then I cleared the cache and that did the trick. When you uninstall it you have the option of "deleting private data" or not. I first did it without deleting private data and that didn't work so then I did with delete private data option and it still didn't work. Keep in mind that this is Firefox. The thing that comes to my mind is why do people design this stuff where you cannot get rid of it? Hackers, including our government and other government spies know how to access this stuff.

Let's first not conflate the three independent issues I intend to address. He throws them all into a big pile of complaint. But, each has its own place in his experience.

He suggests the software vendor (that sold the email program) should be ethically concerned about the ramifications of leaving trash on his dad's PC when he uninstalls their product. That's an interesting argument, but not one that conveys cash to their bottom line. They sell a product (or give it away for other revenue models), and the buyer uses it, then uninstalls it. If one uninstalls it, their revenue model -- whatever it may be -- is trashed. They can't sell ads, collect information, or expect more revenues when the user upgrades to the next version. Why would they concern themselves with making other products on this PC work better after their product is uninstalled?

Leaving trash on the user's PC isn't good citizenship. But, it's not a compelling problem for the software vendor unless they're concerned about public relations (which is the only reason anyone offers a clean removal tool). Many smaller software vendors just aren't big enough to concern themselves with that level of public relations.

Now, my friend deals with issue #2: security.

It really is a national security issue because there is personal information stored in these programs and present on hard drives that somebody can retrieve and the individual doesn't even know it is there...

I could tell a thousand people that they have personal data stored within their web browser that internet hacks and others can access that information whenever they please and maybe one in a thousand would get it or be alarmed by it. I was one of the morons not paying attention. You have told me of this in the past and I honestly thought you were being paranoid. Well, Mel Gibson said it best "Are you paranoid enough?"

It was a character in Strange Days who said that. It's something I like to quote.

But, I'm not paranoid for paranoia sake. I have first hand knowledge of these security vulnerabilities. Why do people always think I'm lying when I tell them I /KNOW/ about such security vulnerability? What would my reason be to fabricate this information? I don't charge people for cleaning out the alleged boogie men. I just tell them to behave more cautiously.

On security, there are good reasons not to store your personal banking information, personal account information, passwords, etc. on your PC. Most folks just don't keep their PC clean enough to trust it. Passing your credit card over the encrypted connection (a web form) to a server that has millions invested in security isn't that unsafe. Keeping all your banking information on a PC in your home that is run by someone who is unlearned about IT security is quite a bit more risky. Check out more articles on computer security (link in tags) if you're so inclined. I could lecture for hours about where and why people expose sensitive data to professional criminals. I wish they would stop.

My goal here was to crystallize the broken logic in his assessment. And, there is one giant flaming example here of flawed logic that is so evident in anyone I know when it comes to their PC (even Macs), regardless of education or background (but for the IT specialists with security experience).

My friend determined that the email program his dad installed was the cause of his problems with Firefox. I contend that this perception is possible, but not scientific. He uninstalled the program, and the problem persisted. He cleared his cache in Firefox and the problem went away. It is as likely that the problem was unrelated to the program he installed.

It's coincidence. It's not factually evident that there's a causal relationship. It's likely the cache was the problem all the time. In other words, it's highly likely all you needed to do was clear the cache in Firefox in the first place.