WSJ article on spyware

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 12:26:11 -0400
> From: Tim Finin <finin () cs umbc edu>
> Subject: WSJ article on spyware
> To: dave () farber net
>
> The WSJ has an article today on spyware, mostly
> focusing on Gator.
>
> --
>
> The Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2003
>
> A New Battleground In Web Privacy War: Ads That Can Snoop Software
> Programs Track Where Users Go On Net, Then Target Them With Pop-Ups
>
> By JAMES R. HAGERTY and DENNIS K. BERMAN
> Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
> PLAINFIELD, N.J. -- Meg Kolaya, a librarian who lives in this
> prosperous suburb, recently found herself in the midst of the latest
> war over online privacy.
>
> Each time she switched on her home computer, a software program
> silently flickered into action, keeping track of the Web sites she
> clicked on and the ones she used to make a purchase. Later, when she
> went to certain other Web sites, the program would go to work and show
> "pop up" ads. But these weren't typical pop-up ads, which are
> generated by the visited Web site itself, and which are the same for
> every user. Instead, these ads were tailored to Ms. Kolaya's
> particular interests, based on a database of her Web-surfing history
> that the program had been keeping.
>
> Ms. Kolaya was appalled when a technician detected the snooping
> software on her PC. Figuring that one of her children had
> inadvertently downloaded the program while wandering the Web,
> Ms. Kolaya told the technician to erase that "nasty thing" from her
> hard drive.
>
> Marketers are perfecting novel ways to implant their own software into
> other people's computers, then peppering them with carefully targeted
> advertising. This software, dubbed "spyware," often installs itself on
> people's computers when they download free programs -- such as those
> that provide weather information or facilitate the swapping of
> recorded music. But consumers are gradually catching on, and many of
> them are angry.
>
> ...
> http://cryptome.org/spy-ads.htm
> ...

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