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."

Comments

Depends...

[LewsTherinKinslayer]

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.

Re:Depends...

[pete6677]

Most importantly, is it overly difficult to remove? If the software was either carelessly created or intentionally designed to resist uninstallation, it could cause problems for the user and should be avoided.

Re:Gendericator

[mfh]

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.

spyware (noun)

[weighn]

any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes - http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spyware

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.

No...

[damiangerous]

Unless it starts getting buried as part of other installs, it's not spyware. They're very upfront about what they do. There's very little text on the linked page, and one paragraph (of three) reads in the same size type as the other text:

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).

Macs

[Johnny Mnemonic]

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.

Re:Well, doh!

[StikyPad]

It takes information without my knowing or permission and steals my bandwidth to send it somewhere.

I know it's not hip to RTFA, but it doesn't install without your knowing or permission. It clearly states that you will allow the program to monitor your internet usage in exchange for the free antivirus software. It's easy to uninstall and doesn't leave its hooks all over the OS.

Stealing your bandwidth? If you consent to installing it, that hardly constitutes theft.

Re:What's to think about?

[damiangerous]

It doesn't at all meet the commonly accepted definition of spyware. If it were bundled as part of some other software and you didn't know about it, sure, that's very spyware and scummy. But to get this program you have to explicitly go to their web site and choose to install this one program that's very explicit about what it does. If you're not tricked, lied to or treated in any way dishonestly, there's no way you can consider it spyware. Go look at the page and tell me how they "trick" you. There are seven sentences of normal size type in the body of that page (and three headers) and one of those seven sentences explicitly states:

"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.

of course they say its spyware

[indy_Muad'Dib]

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.

Re:of course they say its spyware

[vga_init]

Well, what is spyware? In my mind, it's a piece of software that harvests data from your computer and sends it to someone else for their own personal uses without your explicit knowledge or consent.

By my definition, that makes the program in the article spyware.

You're right in suggesting that Symantec may have an ulterior motive, but there exists (what appears to me) the unfortunate fact that the software actually is spyware. It may be a coincidence, or Symantec may have checked specifically on competing software, but they aren't misreporting anything.

Black (because I like the color red and black seems more appropriate) flags would go up if a) Symantec lied about the software being spyware, or b) Symantec held a policy that only classified that software as spyware because it was competing with them, letting similar, non-competing programs go by unchecked.