Slashdot Mirror
Spyware or Researchware?
prostoalex writes "When the story of Firefox Web site visitors being predominantly male was published, many questioned the methodology used to acquire such research data. This MSNBC article talks about another research company, ComScore Networks, using a free antivirus utility to lure the Web users into downloading a small utility to their hard drives. The catch? The software watches not only sites visited, but even locations of the mouse clicks. ComScore swears the final data does not contain any personal information, but, as the article states, anti-spyware utility manufacturers are still thinking whether to include it on their list."
The difference between Spyware and Usage Statistics pretty simple: is it clearly stated to the End User and is optionable. Essentially, its not spyware if you know about it up front and have the ability to (actually,) turn it off.
To find out the gender of a visitor, just create a site which requires visitors to hold one key while moving the mouse.
Or you can ask... most people are honest about their gender unless they are in a chat room. But without any social interaction nobody has a reason to lie.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
The software watches not only sites visited, but even locations of the mouse clicks.
add the use of the word "lure" and it makes me think that this is, indeed, spyware.
Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
It takes information without my knowing or permission and steals my bandwidth to send it somewhere. It's spyware. Next question?
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
How would this not be spyware, exactly? It's not like this "research" will cure cancer.
If it's not curing cancer it's not research? I'm not sure about that...might want to check your sources.
Marketscore is part of an online market research community with over 2 million members worldwide. Marketscore relies on its members to gain valuable insight into Internet trends and behavior. In exchange for having their Internet browsing and purchasing activity observed, members have access to free email virus scanning and other benefits.
You have to draw the line of reasonableness somewhere. If that site isn't clear enough for you to understand what they do, you probably shouldn't be on the Internet (or at least not from a computer configuration you could hurt yourself with).
This tool then is cutting out the Mac and Linux users from their tracked demographic; together those users represent about 5-10% of the market. And they represent many early adopters of tech, too.
I would think that the use of a tool of this kind would be enough to skew their information, causing any results to be not credible. I certainly wouldn't use them to research products that I would sell, as I would want to be able to target Mac and Linux users as well.
--
$tar -xvf
"In exchange for having their Internet browsing and purchasing activity observed, members have access to free email virus scanning and other benefits."
If that page "tricked" you, turn off your computer now and back away.
What shall it be?
Mcaffee.. no
Norton.. no
AVG..no
Oh, wait! Here's one! Marketscore! That sounds reputable! I've never heard of them before, so they must be good, because they stay out of the "eviil media".
--end scathing sarcasm--
The people "lured" into downloading this utility should probably also have their right to vote restricted for lack of ability to critically process information.
And, by the way, if you've feel vicitmized by this software, I have news for you.. they've recently changed the definition of gullible in the dictionary.Interpret that however you please.
quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck, then it must be...spyware seriously, people how cn you record where the mouse is clicked on my screen, and what sites I am visiting without being spyware. Saying that there is no personal information logged sounds like splitting hairs to me. This program should definitely be on the spyware list.
Symantec, for example, designates the program as spyware on its Web site.
A major antivirus company saying a free anitvirus program is spyware, that should raise a few red flags right there.
Anyone remember that common example of bad stats? Some survey was taken by calling people randomly. What's wrong with it? You're excluding everyone without a phone (which is now rare, but the poor didn't have them when this survey was done). Isn't this exactly the same? You're excluding everyone without spyware. Hey, maybe males are more likely to get spyware on their computers than females?
oh well, then they should try to make the best of their invalid data. their right to valid data can't trump their subjects' right to privacy, period.
... whether people who voluntarily install their program understand that they are agreeing never to shop or bank online with decent security ever again?
It's one thing to warn someone "If you install our software, we'll monitor your net behavior".
It's entirely another thing to say "If you install our software, you'll be relying on us never to collect your credit card number, bank password, or the birthdate/mother's name information we'd need to empty your bank account ... and you're relying on us never to be hacked."
--- Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers & Families -
in either case your stats will be skewed.
There are strict disclosure rules that psychologists have to follow before they can do a test with human subjects. It doesn't matter if your results will be skewed by warning them that they will be dumped in a vat of maggots, you still have to tell them. The rights of people to choose is more important than your right to gather information about them.
This is going to nuke my karma to all Hell, but what the hey...
/. to stop them? If you're concerned about web privacy, don't download it, but it's not like they're trying to trick anyone here.
A lot of Slashdotters are, as usual, not RTFA/web page in question and assuming that this is the usual spyware trick of clandestinely trojanised software pretending to be a legitimate tool - allow me to explain;
The word 'lure' used in the summary is a loaded term - it implies (in the context the editors used) that they are somehow using this free AntiVirus tool as a means of covertly installing spyware - This company is simply offering a free antivirus product if you accept the *up front agreement* that their little utility can spy on your web browsing habits - they're not doing anything clandestine here, they're just offering their service to you for free, so they can sell the results on to advertisers to recoup costs;
From the company's website:
In exchange for having their Internet browsing and purchasing activity observed, members have access to free email virus scanning and other benefits.
This is just a new way of offering a product - "here, you can have this for free, but in exchange you've got to give us stuff we can sell to our avertisers" (though they promise not to sell personal info, so presumably they'll just be selling 'web trends' data) or rather, it's the same way that a lot of so-called 'adware' operates, only they're rarely this up-front.
Sure, it's spyware, but the text above is located right on their front page, is in easily-understandable English, and is not hidden, obscured of obfusicated in any way - if people want to give their permission for Marketscore to monitor their browsing in exchange for free software, who are
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
Knowing the type of people that won't participate in such an experiment is just as important as the final reactions of the people who will participate.
Thats what makes the difference between a good psych project and "just a bunch of wierdo's dunking people in nasty gunk"
Excellent point. People who would install and use this software are (I hope) a non-representative subset of all computer users. I'd like to believe that more people have a clue than not, and the fact that these guys only have about 1 million members is kinda encouraging - when you think about how many Internet users there are.
I hope.
"I have no problem with optional programs that record data to be used in a study. My wife also participates in allgery studies. So?"
Did your wife's allergy study also reveal how many times she had sex and with who?
Did it reveal your bank account information?
Did she have to tell the allergy researchers everywhere she drove?
My guess is that there were limits to what the Allergy Research people asked, and even if they asked something untowards ("Excuse me ma'am, what is your breast size?"), she could say "I'd rather not tell you".
You aren't given that choice with this bit of spyware. Its not value for value because you don't get the ability to not reveal certain information about what you're doing.
Why people put their privacy at risk for $20 of value should be another study, but that's not what's at issue here.
I eat pork chops. I eat steak. I treat my wife with respect. I do all of these things in public. Why the hell should anyone cower before the commandments of a religion that is not their own? Don't assume that Christians are the majority on /.
Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
I know most people don't make an issue of it, but it _is_ still a commandment, and it _is_ distressing for some of us to see.
First of all, *if* god gave us free will, who gave you the right to complain about how and when we use that free will? If he wants to use god's name in vain then that's his god-given right. Get over it. If you don't want to see things that offend you, maybe you should stick to Christian Safe sites. Don't try to force us to curb our speech/actions based YOUR beliefs.
Secondly, where is the commandment that says not to use the word god/God? Oh I see, you mean this one: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain".
I hate to have to be the one to tell you this but 'God' isn't god's name. 'God/the Lord' is the substitute that the translators of the bible used to keep people from saying god's name, which is actually 'Yaweh'. They could have just as easily used "snickerdoodle".
If you are going to follow the faith of a pointless mythology, you might as well learn it properly. Sheesh.
Ender-
PS. Thank you for instigating my first ever religious flame/troll post in 14 years of BBS/Internet useage. Too bad you're anonymous.
Nothing to see here
I consider my computer usage habits (i.e. where I click, and what I look at) PERSONAL INFORMATION! A rose is a rose, and spyware is spyware!
If it can go wrong it wnetscape: Segmentation Fault, Core dumped