| Spyware is Internet
jargon for Advertising
Supported software (Adware).
It is a way for shareware
authors to make money from a
product, other than by selling
it to the users. There are
several large media companies
that offer them to place banner
ads in their products in
exchange for a portion of the
revenue from banner sales. This
way, you don't have to pay for
the software and the developers
are still getting paid. If you
find the banners annoying, there
is usually an option to remove
them, by paying the regular
licensing fee.
Why is it called "Spyware"
?
While this may be a great
concept, the downside is that
the advertising companies also
install additional tracking
software on your system, which
is continuously "calling home",
using your Internet connection
and reports statistical data to
the "mothership". While
according to the privacy
policies of the companies, there
will be no sensitive or
identifying data collected from
your system and you shall remain
anonymous, it still remains the
fact, that you have a "live"
server sitting on your PC that
is sending information about you
and your surfing habits to a
remote location.....
Are all Adware products "Spyware"?
No, but the majority are. There
are also products that do
display advertising but do not
install any tracking mechanism
on your system. These products
are not indexed in our database.
Is Spyware illegal?
Even though the name may
indicate so, Spyware is not an
illegal type of software in any
way. However there are certain
issues that a privacy oriented
user may object to and therefore
prefer not to use the product.
This usually involves the
tracking and sending of data and
statistics via a server
installed on the user's PC and
the use of your Internet
connection in the background.
What's the hype about?
While legitimate adware
companies will disclose the
nature of data that is collected
and transmitted in their privacy
statement (linked from our
database), there is almost no
way for the user to actually
control what data is being sent.
The fact is that the technology
is in theory capable of sending
much more than just banner
statistics - and this is why
many people feel uncomfortable
with the idea.
On the other hand...
Millions of people are using
advertising supported "spyware"
products and could not care less
about the privacy hype..., in
fact some "Spyware" programs are
among the most popular downloads
on the Internet.
Real spyware...
There are also many PC
surveillance tools that allow a
user to monitor all kinds of
activity on a computer, ranging
from keystroke capture,
snapshots, email logging, chat
logging and just about
everything else. These tools are
often designed for parents,
businesses and similar
environments, but can be easily
abused if they are installed on
your computer without your
knowledge.
These tools are perfectly legal
in most places, but, just like
an ordinary tape recorder, if
they are abused, they can
seriously violate your privacy.
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