If we uncheck the third-party McAfee offer, why is a McAfee folder still installed on our computer?

Question

The folder in ProgramData is titled "McAfee" and the next folder under that directory is title "MCLOGS" folder, so there can be no doubt that is a third-party folder.  Why is it installed after we have requested no third-party installation?
And, possibly more importantly, where in the Adobe agreements we click acceptance of does it state we have authorized Adobe to install a third-party folder on our computer?

Answer 1

I have an update from the discussion at McAfee that is related to this matter here at Adobe.
I do not know what the precedent might be for this manner of posting, but what is given to us at McAfee obviously carries weight with matters related to this here at Adobe.  There is no way to separate the two.
x x x Response from Mark at McAfee Consumer Support to my last question x x x
Feb 5, 2014 6:04 PM
Hello geomg,
This is a good question with many layers, I don't have sufficient information to answer them.
Will this update arrive with the next update to Java unlikely. Java updates are for the Oracle product.
The change will likely take place when MSS+ is updated. I don't have a time line for this.
How the change will be release and to whom again I am not sure. This is an odd situation as there isn't a product on the systems to update. One would have to remove the Oracle app to trigger the offer to install MSS+ again.
As for the use of the term product update cycle it is a standard development term. It refers to the time period in the life of an applications when it is actively updated. According to the comment from the MSS+ team the change should occur with the next release of the MSS+ product.
x x x My Response to Mark at McAfee x x x
Thank you for your continued assistance in this matter, Mark.
If I may, I'd like to focus attention on a particular sentence from your last response:
"This is an odd situation as there isn't a product on the systems to update."
No product because we opted out, but there is a folder placed on our system that is directly related to the offer of the McAfee product, MSS+. And it is a folder placed there without any agreement documentation related to that folder. I think most computer owners feel the standard protocol is that any company that wishes to place a folder on their computer has to ask permission through some sort of agreement documentation.
Mark, who owns that McAfee folder that is placed in our ProgramData folder?
It has the McAfee name, but did McAfee sign an agreement with Oracle and Adobe to do what they please with that folder?
I ask the question in that manner because there is a Mr. Roger Lewis at Oracle who is publicly stating this is all going to be taken care of at Oracle with a bug report handled at Oracle and he indicated something about the McAfee folder was going into the wrong location on our computers and it should be going into a temporary folder.
That seems to indicate that Oracle owns the folder and can do as they please with it, and this rookie in such matters, me, finds that a little strange, if you don't mind my making that personal observation.
So I am now able to ask you, Mark, as a senior member of consumer support, because the crux of the issue is why we don't see McAfee asking us permission to place that folder on our computer. On top of that, it's being placed in a hidden folder — Vista, by the way (two units). I haven't checked and tested my Windows 7 computer. But we do have reports from people using Windows 7 and having the issue arise from an Adobe installation.
I hope I'll be forgiven for highlighting the irony of this affair, in that your company is in the business of stopping odd folders being installed on our computers without our permission. To my knowledge, I never gave anyone permission over the past 12 months or so to place a McAfee folder on my computer, unless it is actually an Oracle or Adobe folder which is incorrectly named. Except there is also the matter of the MCLOGS folder being in there, too. And that is obviously from McAfee. Plus Mr. Lewis at Oracle did not indicate there was a problem with the name of the folder.
Unfortunately, there has not yet been an employee response from Adobe. I don't know what their view is of this matter.
And for any new readers here that may not wish to go back and read three months of posts about this affair, we are not referring to a situation where we did not see the opt-out box. This is a situation where we unchecked the box to not receive the McAfee product, yet a McAfee folder is still installed on our computer.
And let me thank you, Mark, for your patience. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen at Adobe, I contend this issue also requires feedback from your company. A lack of employee feedback in this thread has some believing there may be something you feel needs to remain out of the public view. I'm not of that opinion. I just think you haven't had enough time to fully acquaint yourselves with the facts of the case. Am I correct?