A software manufacturer often wants to know who has purchased its products so it can alert users to problems or update them about new goodies. Most companies say they do not seek out information that would identify a person by name. Further, they say the information is not disseminated publicly, but only used for internal corporate purposes. Privacy advocates, though, equate the programs to taps on phone lines. The security programs typically alert users with warning messages whenever an unauthorized program is attempting to send information out into the Internet.
Many users quickly discover how vulnerable they are.
Last winter, a Seattle company called RealNetworks Inc. came under fire after customers discovered its music player was collecting information about users' listening habits in order to personalize its services. The company has since stopped the practice and apologized. Intuit, meanwhile, has acknowledged using the tracking programs to target ads. And a few weeks ago, after parent complaints, Mattel Inc. officials apologized for adding a data-gathering program to more than 100 titles of its Learning Co. unit's educational programs for children. Simson Garfinkel remembers that he was 40,000 feet in the air on a plane from London to Boston in May when he noticed that his laptop kept trying to connect to the Internet.