Debating what is spyware

Vendors and other observers say sorting out spyware from harmless programs will remain challenging, even with the use of anti-spyware software.

They suggest that users closely monitor use of peer-to-peer programs such as Grokster as potential sources. An underground spyware maker dubbed CoolWebSearch also is notorious for sneaking its software into computers via security holes, says Ben Edelman, a Harvard Law School student and Ph.D. candidate in economics, who has applied his analytical skills to understanding spyware.

Meanwhile, many ad-marketing companies, including Claria, are striving to dispel any qualms about their activities.

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Vendors and other observers say sorting out spyware from harmless programs will remain challenging, even with the use of anti-spyware software.

They suggest that users closely monitor use of peer-to-peer programs such as Grokster as potential sources. An underground spyware maker dubbed CoolWebSearch also is notorious for sneaking its software into computers via security holes, says Ben Edelman, a Harvard Law School student and Ph.D. candidate in economics, who has applied his analytical skills to understanding spyware.

Meanwhile, many ad-marketing companies, including Claria, are striving to dispel any qualms about their activities.

Claria makes the Gator eWallet, software for holding passwords that's offered to users for free in return for accepting advertising based on where the user goes on the Web. Reed Freeman, chief privacy officer at Claria, says this behavior-based marketing is done by keeping the user's identity anonymous, though the user's Web history is stored in a database.

Freeman says Claria lobbies anti-spyware vendors to convince them that it has legitimate practices. However, note most anti-spyware software still offers the option to nix Gator. What miffs Freeman is that when some of these tools attempt to delete Claria's software they don't do a very good job. "In some cases tools will remove the free software but not the ad surfer, so consumers think they've uninstalled it but they haven't and they still get ads," Freeman says.

Freeman says Claria supports the development of laws and technical standards related to adware.

Yet, the company's methods continue to come under fire.

Edelman says Claria's licensing agreement, which is about 6,000 words, contains a number of objectionable statements that users might not fully understand. One is that users agree not to use a "packet sniffer or other device" to intercept data between their desktops and Claria. Edelman says this would appear to prohibit research he's been doing to see what Claria software transmits.

Claria notes that this clause has never been enforced in his case.

Read more about security in Network World's Security section.