How to Avoid Being Labeled As Spyware

Posted By Hollis Thomases on Jan 6th, 2005

Spyware was certainly one of the buzz words in 2004. (The number one buzz word was “blog,” by the way.) Legislatively, spyware certainly got a lot of attention — a handful of bills and laws have either been passed or are in the process of being passed in order to alleviate spyware problems.

Webopedia.com defines spyware as “any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge.” Usually unknowingly installed, spyware can monitor user activity and can even gather important private information like email passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware can significantly hamper a computer’s performance and has led to computer system crashes.

Anti-spyware legislation attempts to deal with these issues, but sometimes the legislative definitions of spyware and WHO is a spyware company are fuzzy. Are those parental control monitoring software programs spyware? What software that collects sales report data? Should they be dubbed spyware? In most cases, no. But what if your company is mistakingly labeled as spyware? How do you avoid both the financial and legal repurcussions?

To help prevent your company from being associated with spyware (and the accompanying legal issues), follow a few simple steps:

The user must be given the option to download your product/tool/software. It should not be automatically downloaded with another software without the user’s choice to refuse it.
Make it clear to the user what your product/tool/software/company is or does before s/he downloads it. Avoid listing this information in small, fine print. You want it easily read.
Let people know that you comply with all known anti-spyware rules and regulations (which you, yourself, must first know). For instance, let them know that any personal information inadvertently collected will be discarded. More importantly, if you are INTENTIONALLY collecting user information, let that be known, as well.
Give clear instructions on how to uninstall the download even before the download occurs. Of course, the uninstall must be a legitimate one and one in which the downloaded contents do not remain on a user’s computer after the uninstall.
Disclose your company information, as well as any third party’s, to the user before downloading. Give a mailing address and a live email address. Users are more apt to feel comfortable with the download process if they know that they actually CAN contact you with questions or concerns.
Encourage users to read all user agreements before they download ANYTHING to their computers. And while many user agreements are filled with legal jargon, if you can say what you need to say in short, plain and simple English, you’ll likely capture your user’s trust more easily. Google’s Toolbar Privacy Policy does a nice job of speaking in simple English.

Neither the Federal Trade Commission nor Congress have set clear, identifiable regulations against spyware. There are, however, some state laws already in effect and possible violations of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 USC Section 1030. It is wise to prepare now for possible legal restrictions in the future because, if nothing else, you do not want your company associated with something so negative as spyware. The best defense is a good offense, and the above steps should help you get started.