Good morning (GMT+1). I just started my trial of Parallels For Mac to use with Debian and Kali. I am quite worried about the fact that I had to create an account to even begin testing, and then adding the Parallels Tools which I have no insight into yet. I kindly ask for information pertaining this setup, as I have no interest in sharing my VM:s, it's data or anything else about me with either the support of Parallels or the business as such. What exactly is sent? The tools have a good impact on the screen resolution, but I can live without that. The license I am thinking about buying is a personal one, meaning that I have even less interest in being bound to some online service. Do I have to monitor the traffic of the installed tools on Debian/Kali in order to be calm? Thank you, R
Hi R, Parallels Account is needed to make your journey with Parallels safe and convenient: To make sure you can manage your licenses/subscriptions To make sure you can reach Parallels Support even during trial period To secure our business from software piracy. When registering an account at Parallels you have to agree with the terms of use, you may take a look at it - https://www.parallels.com/about/legal/terms/. In short, yes we do store your personal information (name, address, phone number) but also guarantee its confidentiality. We use two-factor authentication for accessing Parallels Account, so no one can access your account until you confirm via your registered email. Apart from that, we have a Customer Experience Program (CEP) which is usual for software, you may review it's terms here - https://www.parallels.com/support/pcep/. CEP does not collect any private information or information that can be used to contact you. More details on how Parallels protects your privacy are provided here - https://www.parallels.com/support/pcep/privacy/. As for the software itself and Parallels Tools, there is no data being transferred from your virtual machines to Parallels. Parallels Tools is a bundle with drivers and software to give you seamless experience with our virtual machine. The only upload traffic that is being transferred from a VM is the one that guest OS sends to Internet. Whether you purchase a permanent license or a subscription, you are not bound to our online services except of product activation, which is obviously done online due to anti-piracy concerns.
Thank you very much, you have been extremely helpful. I'll setup a new account and buy the license I'm interested in. Also, thanks for making great software!