California sets fines for spyware
Hope the spyware writers in the USA read this. State of California vs Your Company will be a very difficult lawsuit to win.
BBC NEWS | Technology | California sets fines for spyware
"California sets fines for spyware"
The makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home PCs could face hefty fines in California.
From 1 January, a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware.
The legislation, which was approved by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is designed to safeguard people from hackers and help protect their personal information.
Spyware is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing PC users in the coming year.
The software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information.
At its worst, it has the ability to hijack personal data, like passwords, login details and credit card numbers.
The programs are so sophisticated they change frequently and become impossible to eradicate.
Ad onslaught
One form of spyware called adware has the ability to collect information on a computer user's web-surfing.
It can result in people being bombarded with pop-up ads that are hard to close.
In Washington, Congress has been debating four anti-spyware bills, but California is a step ahead.
The state's Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer.
It also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware.
Consumers are able to seek up to $1,000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software.
The new law marks a continuing trend in California towards tougher privacy rights.
A recent survey by Earthlink and Webroot found that 90% of PCs are infested with the surreptitious software and that, on average, each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs.
Currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as Spybot and Ad-Aware.
BBC NEWS | Technology | California sets fines for spyware
"California sets fines for spyware"
The makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home PCs could face hefty fines in California.
From 1 January, a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware.
The legislation, which was approved by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is designed to safeguard people from hackers and help protect their personal information.
Spyware is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing PC users in the coming year.
The software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information.
At its worst, it has the ability to hijack personal data, like passwords, login details and credit card numbers.
The programs are so sophisticated they change frequently and become impossible to eradicate.
Ad onslaught
One form of spyware called adware has the ability to collect information on a computer user's web-surfing.
It can result in people being bombarded with pop-up ads that are hard to close.
In Washington, Congress has been debating four anti-spyware bills, but California is a step ahead.
The state's Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer.
It also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware.
Consumers are able to seek up to $1,000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software.
The new law marks a continuing trend in California towards tougher privacy rights.
A recent survey by Earthlink and Webroot found that 90% of PCs are infested with the surreptitious software and that, on average, each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs.
Currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as Spybot and Ad-Aware.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 01, 2005 at 10:32 PM.
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7:10 PMWhat Is Wrong with so many Spy-Ware Tools that promise to do the job?
After installing you find out they use so much memory! They have to run in
the systems tray and always have to be run on a regular weekly bases!
And if thats not enough we find out we have to pay for the upgrade
so it will run in the background,But it still sucks up the memory!
Simple Solution you want a software that will kill that Spyware
and all the Gremlins on contact use the least memory and be a
Set & Forget Tool!
Grab it Now Free plus a how to Video w/ Xp Mini Course !
I have a slow computer troubleshooting
11:25 AM
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