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| Home >> Index Pages >> Informational Pages >> Discount Computer Systems >> News >> Collection of Essays from Scholarship 2007 >> |
Veronica Muo- by Veronica Muo In the past few years, spyware has become a very hot topic in the computer world. Spyware is a program that actually allows people, mainly companies, to monitor other people's computer habits. Although there are benevolent forms of spyware, such as those that parents use to track their children's Internet activities, there are also the more common ones that are notorious for causing computer instabilities and stealing personal information. Despite misleading assurances from companies that their forms of spyware are harmless, the fact remains that spyware is an invasion of privacy. Therefore, the American government must ban it immediately. Looking at the United States Constitution, one can see that our government grants us many fundamental rights: one of them is our right to privacy. However, spyware users have completely disregarded this fundamental right by imposing their intrusive programs onto our computers. These programs harvest our personal information, which are then sold to marketers for "customized computer advertising," in other words, annoying pop-ups. In defense, spyware users say things, such as: what's the big deal about spyware, it's just collecting harmless information. That's just like saying what's the big deal about phishing—it's just collecting some information. The fact remains that most Americans do not want their privacy invaded. Furthermore, it's a crime to trespass on someone else's property, so what makes it so different when this trespassing is done online? Besides these ethical issues surrounding spyware, there is also the fact spyware can ruin one's life with its acquisition of personal information. Many companies, such as Gain and Alexa, who use spyware claim that it is harmless and can do no more than collect innocuous information. But if this really were true, then why do these companies take great pains to keep their spyware programs secret? What do they have to hide? Furthermore, there have been numerous cases of people being victimized by spyware. An instance of this is James of Toledo, Ohio. James was charged $79.95 onto his credit card after a disreputable company's spyware obtained his account information. It took him years to get his Besides James, the list of Americans who have been subjected to some form of identity theft or credit card fraud due to spyware goes on and on. If the theft of personal information and the ethical issues surrounding spyware are not bad enough, then its destructive effects on computers are. Spyware is notorious for causing computer instabilities, such as slowness, crashes, and increased susceptibility to intruders. The most malicious forms of spyware "can [stealthily] record everything you type, read files on your hard drive, disable your anti-virus software," and assist hackers by leaving back doors in your system (The Safety Column 1). Usually, only a computer technician can remove this type of spyware, which can be very costly. Then, many advocators of spyware say things, such as: If you don’t want spyware, then don't visit spyware-infested websites nor download spyware-loaded programs. Although this is legitimate advice, the fact remains that it is almost impossible to know, beforehand, which programs or websites, are spyware-infested because most companies are secretive about this. Therefore, one may innocently visit a website without even knowing that the website is secretly installing harmful programs onto their machines. With this in mind, it is imperative that we, the American people, take action. What these companies are doing is nothing more than appalling way for them to make money by selling our private information, and any company who uses spyware is obviously a company with little integrity. As Americans, we posses the power the stop what they are doing if we speak out against it. It is only when we voice our concerns can the government hear us and can change be actualized. References: | Directron.com College Scholarship | Related Items: | Chris Covington | Cirrus Foroughi | Jack Salamanchuk | Jennifer Furtado | Jennifer Story-Salacup | Jie Li | Maria Khan | Paul Frederick | Shawna Harpole | Steven Li | |
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