Iowa Senate Proposes Making Spyware A Crime

Cooked Chicken writes "Iowa State Senator Keith Kreiman (D) is proposing Senate File 2200, an act making the distribution of Spyware without notice an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine of at least $500 but not more than $5,000. The proposed bill also provides victims and county attorneys with the ability to file a civil cause of action for relief from conduct constituting the crime of unauthorized collection and disclosure of personal information by computer."

Comments

Ashcraft is

[Anonymous Coward]

moving his money to Brazil as we speak . . . he is so sued.

I am skeptical

[MobyDisk]

This is a step in the right direction. We need this type of legislation ASAP. However, I should point out:

This bill establishes a criminal offense of unauthorized collection and disclosure

The problem is that much spyware explicitly tells the user what it is going to do: in the EULA. But how many users read the EULAs? How many people understand them? As a computer repairman for lots of moms, granny's, and kids, I can tell you that these people won't read the licenses even if I explain to them the importance.

the crime...by making available or providing access to computer software or an interactive computer service that collects identifying personal information and discloses such identifying personal information to persons other than the user without first giving the user notice.

Some interesting stuff

• It's legal if you disclose it in the EULA
• Making the software available is the crime: So hosting providers better watch out.
• Malware and adware are still okay
• "anonymous" usage info is still okay.

We privacy freaks now understand that "anonymous" usage information tied to "unidentifyable" facts like my sex, birthdate, and zip-code are sufficient to identify me when partnered with other databases.

Re:I'm all for it.

[Bishop]

Agreed. I hate spyware. I hate programs that call home with file listings from harddrives. But a nasty law like this is not the solution. There are even enough clauses in section 3 that would allow most spyware as legal. (Read 3a and 3b.) Similar to anti-spam laws this law is not going to stop the sleaze balls. There are already laws on the books now that could be used to punish spyware.

Worst this is the kind of law that will be used as a trump card to make a criminal out of some kid who causes a little mischief like loading a key logger on someone else's computer. While such an act of mischief should not go unpunnished it is not an aggravated misdemeanor. On of the biggest threats to American freedom is the huge number of laws that can be thrown at someone when prosecutors decide that that someone must be punished.