Claria Spyware Controversy
One company that has been
at the center of the spyware controversy for years is Claria Corporation, well
known for serving targeted advertisements to more than 40 million computer users. Critics have stated that this vendor does not
fully disclose to users that data is being collected and how it is to be
used. Many of these issues were found in
the Kazaa file sharing program, an application that includes the Claria
software. In this article, we will
overview the Claria program and touch on a few of the characteristics that
constitute spyware.
Installation
Upon installing the
program, the installation wizard states that Claria will display advertisements
based on the sites a user visits on the internet. The wizard does not state that it will
monitor every site a user visits and report that data back to the vendor's
database as long as the software is functioning. However, this information is clarified in a
detailed EULA (End-User License Agreement), which is read by very few
users. The EULA gives Claria the right
to track and report back information regarding all of the programs on your
computer, along with the first four digits of your credit card number, allowing
them to know what institution you bank at.
The installation wizard does not disclose the fact that the monitoring
function of the application may also run when the useful part of the program is
shutdown or disabled.
Another huge concern of
the public was the fact that the users were forbidden to remove Claria software
with anti-virus or anti-spyware software.
According to the EULA, the only way a user was permitted to remove the
program was by using the "Add/Remove Programs" utility in the Microsoft Windows
operating system.
Additionally, the EULA
does not fully disclose as to what data the Claria Corporation actually
collects. Many users were outraged that
the program captured sensitive data that could be potentially used to commit
internet crimes. Scott Eagle, the
company's Chief Marketing Officer, claims that the only information Claria
collects now is behavior of "commercial intent" - referring to product research
and shopping online. Eagle went on to
claim that the data is filed by an anonymous computer identification number and
does not collect email addresses, usernames, zipcodes or complete credit card
numbers.
Removal of Claria
Like many types of
spyware and adware, the Claria software doesn't completely uninstall after
using the "Add/Remove programs" utility.
It leaves behind various files and programs such as GAIN, that lead back
to the company's network, along with several fragments that can only be cleaned
up by a registry cleaning application.
Scott Eagle states that GAIN is a separate add-delivery program that
only collects non-personal user data and automatically uninstalls itself after
all traces of Claria are completely removed.
Claria Today
Once coined as the king
of spyware, Claria exited the adware business in 2006, putting an end to it's
pop-up ad campaign. PersonalWeb and
Axon, Claria's new products, offer personalized web pages to users while
providing them with advertisements and relative content based on searching
habits and web browsing behavior. While
the company stresses a huge difference in how these programs collect data, they
sound rather similar to the spyware that stirred up major concerns. In order to reduce the chance of having your
personal data collected, the best advice is to stay away from products by the
Claria Corporation.
