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Stopping "PattyMail" Email Bugs

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the quit-bugging-me dept.

An anonymous reader writes, "In the U.S. Congressional Inquiry into the HP spy scandal, it was revealed that HP used Web bugs to track the source of leaks. HP's Fred Adler considers them a useful investigative tool which HP will keep using. Since dubbed PattyMail after HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn, Web bugs have been around for a while. But it turns out the vulnerability they represent is far worse than first thought. Microsoft Outlook won't have a patch until 2007. The company at the center of the scandal claims they've done nothing wrong. But could repressive governments use them to track down critics? Can anything be done to stop Web bugs?"

1 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. So, is it spyware? by BigDogCH · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wikipedia explains web bugs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_bugs

    So, is this spyware, or not? I would say yes. The website is spyware, as it is tracking where it's user comes from....but then isn't all of the internet spyware?

    The ZDnet article asks it best......"Phoning home? Deception? It must be spyware. Right? At least if you're a politician that's not well steeped in technology, it must be. Or is that the case? Maybe it is spyware after all. And maybe all HTML-based e-mail should visibly disclose that the page contains "tracking" elements with links back to more information on what those elements do and what the privacy policy of the sender is. Does PattyMail qualify as spyware and should the senders of HTML-based e-mail disclose their use of trackable graphical elements in the e-mail itself? Feel free to answer below."