Akismet

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Akismet or Automattic Kismet is a filter service against search engine spamming that was first published on October 25, 2005. This is being developed by Automattic , a company that employs many of the main developers of the WordPress blog platform . Akismet tries to filter link spam and trackback spam pings. The filter collects information about spam on all participating blogs. This information is then combined with one another and evaluated using spam protection rules. If a comment is classified as search engine spamming, it will be stored in a spam queue and automatically deleted after two weeks, unless the weblog operator manually frees it from the spam queue within this period. Akismet has protected WordPress blogs from over 7.8 billion spam comments and pings to date.

Akismet was originally developed as a plug-in for WordPress. As of version 2.0, it is delivered together with WordPress and is activated by default on all blogs hosted on WordPress.com . The Akismet client is licensed as free software under the GPL . It should be noted that the decisive algorithm in the code of the server program has not been approved.

The use of Akismet is free of charge for private individuals. In order to be able to use Akismet, it is necessary to register at wordpress.com and enter an API key in the options of the plugin.

Data protection problems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Akismet is researching a comment for possible spam. In order to accomplish this, this spam protection has to transmit some data to a server in the USA. Something of this kind may only be carried out if this procedure is explicitly referred to in the data protection declaration. If this is missing, the plug-in must be deactivated. This problem has now been confirmed by heise Online. After the WordPress Germany team had been aware of this problem for two years, a basic discussion has been held at WordPress Germany since March 1st, 2011. From version 3.1.1. WordPress is delivered with an adapted language file, which issues a warning message when activating Akismet during a new WordPress installation.

criticism

Many bloggers complain that their comments have been incorrectly marked as spam by Akismet. Once a commenter has been marked as a spammer , it can be difficult to take part in a discussion on a WordPress blog (which Akismet uses as a filter) , since comments that are waiting for activation or deletion from the blog operator can be can be overlooked.

Alternatives

Due to Akismet's data protection problems in German-speaking countries, alternatives to Akismet are mentioned in the FAQ article by WordPress Germany. Of these alternatives, AntiSpam Bee and Defensio should be mentioned at this point . Plugins that only allow comments to be made after a captcha has been solved are also a widespread alternative among bloggers.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stats Page . Akismet. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  2. ↑ Akismet is illegal in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . Datenwachschutz.de. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  3. ↑ Data protection on the Internet: tough line against website operators . heise online. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  4. ↑ WordPress and Akismet . darkangst.org. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Use of Akismet in Germany legally questionable - consequences? . WordPress Germany blog. Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  6. ↑ Akismet and data protection: consent via opt-in required . WordPress Germany blog. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ PHSDL vs. Akismet Complaint ( Memento from April 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ FAQ - Frequently asked questions . FAQ from WordPress Germany. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2019.