Most internet users want to access their favorite websites with just a click of the mouse -- no tapping in a user name, no remembering a password. So they grudgingly put up with cookies, a device that websites as diverse as nytimes.com and amazon.com use to store information about an internet user on his or her own computer.
But some websites are putting more than just routine cookies on internet surfers' computers. They're installing "spyware" or "adware," programs that surreptitiously collect personal data and web activity and send the information back to a third party or put it somewhere else on your computer. "Cookies can be benevolent or malicious," says Stu Sjowerman, founder and chief operating officer of Sunbelt Software, a Clearwater company that markets products such as PestPatrol and iHateSpam. "The furthest this could go, you're talking about identity theft."
Unlike viruses, spyware programs typically are installed on a computer by downloading applications, not by opening e-mail attachments. Sjowerman calls them "nasty pieces of code." Companies such as Aureate Media, Gator and Comet Systems (maker of the popular custom cursors) and many others that are not as well known have been labeled spyware -- although they often deny that is what they are.
So how do companies get away with snooping for personal information? The answer is surprising. "They have the user agree to it" in the license agreement, says Sam Lewis, an attorney with Feldman Gale & Weber in Fort Lauderdale and an adjunct professor of computer law at Nova Southeastern University. Licensing agreements, which many people don't read when they download applications, can give the company providing the download the right to gather and sell information to third parties. So once users agree to the licensing agreement, they have very little legal room to complain about the data collection.
Seeking protection
Spyware is used to collect web-surfing activity, passwords and personal identification data, among other uses. Adware typically puts advertising messages on the machine that has been infiltrated -- often in the form of pop-up ads.
For now, spyware isn't a key concern for large businesses. "It's one of the things that are bubbling beneath the surface," says Graeme Payne, a security and technology expert at Ernst & Young in Atlanta. "A lot of these things get blocked at the company's firewall," he says.
Many individuals and small businesses, however, don't have firewalls, and a number of software programs are available to help them identify and eliminate spyware. A popular free program is Ad-Aware(www.lavasoftusa.com). Other low-cost programs are PestPatrol ($29.95 for home users, pestpatrol.com) and BPS Spyware/Adware Remover ($29, bulletproofsoft.com).
Most internet users are aware of the dangers of viruses. Spyware is less well known but can be just as dangerous. Says Lewis, "Once the tools are there, there's nothing to prevent them from trying to harvest information."
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Famous Movie Locations
famouslocations.com
For an interesting look at where classic movies were filmed, check out famouslocations.com. This British website lets you search by movie name, location, actor and other criteria. You'll discover, for example, that Casablanca's Rick and Ilsa parted ways at none other than the Van Nuys Airport in California. And Hogsmeade Station, where Harry Potter arrived on the Hogwarts Express, is really Goathland Station in Yorkshire, England.