Quote from Patch Message - July 10th, 2003 :

You will soon notice a new dialogue box appear when you log in (it appears after logging in three times to prevent spam for new players). We are asking you to let us gather a bit of information about your computer that will help us build the future of EverQuest.

The important thing here is that you can say no and we won't gather any information.

If you do accept, we'll gather CPU, RAM and video card information to help us evaluate and improve EverQuest. If you agree and then change your mind later, you can disable the feature under the Options tab (Alt-O) and then the General tab in game.
Wonder if this only means CPU, RAM and video card or is it just a method to get permission to snoop any 'information' they need to improve EQ and get rid of 3rd party program users?