Randall Twede
11:30
Article Presentation
05-20-02
The Online Personal Privacy Act
Before talking about the new law proposed by Senator Hollings, I would like to explain what spyware is, why consumers are upset about it, why online businesses who don't stoop to these tactics are upset about it, and what can already be done about it. This will make it easier to understand the proposed law.
The term spyware refers to programs, installed on your computer without your knowledge, that serve up advertisements, track Web-surfing activity, and otherwise cause mischief. They often come bundled with useful free software that you download and install. As I personally found out though, uninstalling the original program does not get rid of them. The article I read introduced me to a new breed of spyware that goes one step further. "A company called Brilliant Digital had surreptitiously installed software in computers running KaZaA. Once activated, the software would set up a distributed computing network, allowing Brilliant to hijack the resources of thousands of personal computers to serve the needs of its own customers. Brilliant's plan is to use the computer processing power generated by the network to serve technologically advanced advertisements and track how users react to those ads."1
Consumers expect and deserve privacy but they are not getting it. Businesses want to make a profit. The current situation is bad for both parties. "Consumers fear there's too little privacy online and too much sharing of sensitive personal information among the business elite. Up to a third of them have been submitting bogus data about themselves in an attempt to protect their privacy, and 'tens of billions of dollars in e-commerce' have been lost due to privacy fears, the bill warns."2
Completely by coincidence, I was in a chat room last Monday and they were talking about a new, free program called "Ad Aware". I got the url and downloaded it. When I installed and ran it the next day, it found 148 different spyware components on my computer.
All I had to do was check each one and they are now gone. One called "Gator" (actually it was more than one file) I remember came bundled with another program I had gotten in the past. I didn't like it so I uninstalled it, but obviously it did not completely uninstall. Ad Aware is one of the ten most popular downloads on the Internet right now for good reason. Ironically KaZaA is currently the number one download.
Senator Hollings has recently introduced a new bill, called the Online Personal Privacy Act, which addresses this problem. While masquerading as pro-consumer, in fact it is pro-business. "For while it talks a good game about protecting 'sensitive' information, the truth is that it would place a congressional stamp of approval on precisely the kinds of practices that purveyors of spyware are eager to engage in. The new legislation is similar to laws passed in Europe that divide your personal information into two types. The first is 'sensitive' information, such as your financial and medical history, race, lifestyle, religion, political affiliation, and sex life. The second is 'non-sensitive' information, and among that will include your name, address, and records of anything you buy or surf on the Internet. Under the act, business can't collect or divulge the sensitive bits without your express consent, but anything classified as non-sensitive can be freely collected and sold at will. But the non-sensitive clause is a huge gaping loophole through which business will ride roughshod. Never mind that part about 'sensitive' information being forbidden. Most things that businesses want to know about us can be inferred just by examining the things we buy, read and click on. If they can put that information together with our names, which the bill allows, then any concept of 'privacy' protection is rendered meaningless. The Online Personal Privacy Act legitimizes the kind of intrusive spyware program activity that is currently proliferating."3
As you can guess from my previous article reviews, I am opposed to this legislation. If our government knew anything about business, we wouldn't be trillions of dollars in debt. We are not a society of helpless children. One remedy to this problem already exists and is free for anyone that wants it. You can download Ad Aware from http://www.lavasoft.nu/. This article is related to this class because it deals with business ethics.
1
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2002/04/26/hollings_spyware/index.html
2
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2002/04/26/hollings_spyware/index.html
3
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2002/04/26/hollings_spyware/index.html
