 gwionwild colonial boyPremium,ExMod 2001-08
join:2000-12-28
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1 | A weird semantic, too... note... I've seen more than one use of the phrase, "malevolant spyware," in some of the recent discussions. he use of this "qualifier" disturbs me immensely. It seems there's some effort to suggest that there's "good" spyware and "bad" spyware, and that this offering is looking for "bad" spyware. Hell... I sort of agree, I guess... in this context:
GOOD (or at least neutral) spyware: Spyware you install manually on your system through a bona-fide installer app, that explains in detail exactly what it is, exactly what it does, exactly how it does it, exactly what information it will collect, and precisely to whom it's sending the data, and how; it will also have a complete and working uninstaller, or furnish detailed, specific manual uninstall instructions.
BAD spyware: Anything else. Anything that loads from any website, anywhere, through a misleading ActiveX control, anything that's bundled secretly or without explicit, easily seen and understood notice, anything that can't be fully uninstalled, anything that changes any of your system settings without first asking you, anything that tries to in any deliberate way mislead you, or conceal who made it, and who is using it, why, and how, what it did in your system, how that can all be undone ... ... in other words,
IF
NOT "A"
THEN
"B"
Period. 
--
Semper Eadem
- ... his original destination's just another story that he loves to tell. |
