Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
What the hell is OpenCandy?
Renegade:
...while the software installed may not be adware or spyware, the OC powered installer is.
-app103 (April 02, 2011, 03:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
I can see some kind of confusion over adware, but "spyware" is so far off-base, it's not in the same solar system. It's so radically different that it's just not possible to make that confusion if you know what the two are. Instead, it's libelous.
Spyware:
Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer. Sometimes, however, spywares such as keyloggers are installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer on purpose in order to secretly monitor other users.
--- End quote ---
Reading that, it's simply not possible to confuse OC with spyware.
It's like understanding what different kinds of email sofware do, and then confusing "The Bat" with "postfix". One is a client and the other is a server. They are worlds apart.
Defamation:
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
--- End quote ---
app103:
It's not defamation unless it is false. I believe my statement to be true.
Spyware:
spyware (computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent) -http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=spyware
--- End quote ---
What percentage of users installing software from an OC powered installer gave their informed consent and know that information will be sent back to OC, even if they refuse the recommendation?
spyware
1. (Internet) programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user.
-http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spyware
--- End quote ---
That describes exactly what OC does.
Spyware: Computer programs that typically track your use and report this information to a remote location. The more malicious spyware programs may capture and report keystrokes, revealing passwords and personal information. Users are often tricked into installing spyware programs without their knowledge. Spyware is sometimes referred to as adware. -http://its.ucsc.edu/security/policies/glossary.php
--- End quote ---
Emphasis mine. And that is exactly what OC does. It doesn't have to do the rest to be spyware.
Spyware Software that uses an internet connection without the permission of its owner, in order to 'listen' to confidential data and transmit them to third parties-http://www.binarysec.com/cms/docs/resources/glossary/p-s.html
--- End quote ---
What percentage of users installing software from an OC powered installer gave their informed consent and know that information will be sent back to OC, even if they refuse the recommendation?
The Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC) defines "spyware and other potentially unwanted technologies as technologies deployed without appropriate user consent and/or implemented in ways that impair user control over:
- Material changes that affect their user experience, privacy or system security;
- Use of their system resources, including what programs are installed on their computers; and/or
- Collection, use and distribution of their personal or other sensitive information."
See: Recognizing Spyware -http://www.michigan.gov/cybersecurity/0,1607,7-217-34415---,00.html
--- End quote ---
If it is phoning home with info about a user, without their informed consent, it has done this and is spyware. OC is spyware.
Spyware
Software that gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. Not all shareware and freeware applications come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. -http://newsletter.blizzardinternet.com/toolbox/tech-glossary/
--- End quote ---
Emphasis mine, because that is exactly what OC does. What percentage of users installing software from an OC powered installer gave their informed consent and know that information will be sent back to OC, even if they refuse the recommendation?
Spyware
Spyware is software that literally spies on the activities of the user of the computer where it is installed. All possible personal data is gathered and then sent to the author of the Spyware.-http://www.soft-anti-malware.com/knowledgebase/security_terms
--- End quote ---
The author is OC and information is sent back to OC.
While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habits and sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software and redirecting Web browser activity. Spyware is known to change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and/or loss of Internet or functionality of other programs. In an attempt to increase the understanding of spyware, a more formal classification of its included software types is captured under the term privacy-invasive software.”
That’s certainly not anything that OpenCandy enables or would EVER take part in! (I wouldn’t work for a company that did… I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.)
OpenCandy’s Analytics
This is probably a good time to address the analytics side of the OpenCandy network. The analytics that we provide back to our publishers (those who recommend other software using OpenCandy) includes NON-PERSONALLY identifiable information such as the user’s country, operating system, operating system version, operating system language, and when the software is installed (and optionally, if it is uninstalled). This information is aggregated in daily intervals and individuals are NOT identifiable (see more below). That’s it.
-drapps (May 13, 2009, 02:52 PM)
--- End quote ---
I love how he essentially contradicted himself there, explains how even though that is what OC does, collecting information, it's not spyware.
I will ask one more time:
What percentage of users installing software from an OC powered installer gave their informed consent and know that information will be sent back to OC, even if they refuse the recommendation? And do they know what information?
Unless OC is getting informed consent to collect that information, it's spyware, plain and simple.
It doesn't matter if you think the information it is collecting is benign...it is still collecting information without the user's informed consent.
Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and future consequences of an action. In order to give informed consent, the individual concerned must have adequate reasoning faculties and be in possession of all relevant facts at the time consent is given.-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent
--- End quote ---
wraith808:
^ So... I take it adobe flash is spyware? How about iTunes? Or Java? I could keep naming software- there's quite a few pieces of software that do the same in a benign way, then after the fact inform you that they did and would you like to install this update or that update. Microsoft used to do it with Windows update. Websites do it without ever telling you.
Yes, but you're far from the only person using OpenCandy, and now that I know what it looks like I realize it's been used in lots of software I've installed recently. I would have liked to know so I could learn more and make a more informed decision. Lack of full disclosure by software authors is my remaining concern.
-JavaJones (April 02, 2011, 03:26 AM)
--- End quote ---
So... I use other DLLs from third-parties in my software sometimes; does that mean that I need to inform you so that you can be made aware of exactly what software I'm using? Where does it end?
app103:
^ So... I take it adobe flash is spyware? How about iTunes? Or Java? I could keep naming software- there's quite a few pieces of software that do the same in a benign way, then after the fact inform you that they did and would you like to install this update or that update. Microsoft used to do it with Windows update. Websites do it without ever telling you.
-wraith808 (April 02, 2011, 11:28 PM)
--- End quote ---
Bingo!
Yes, but you're far from the only person using OpenCandy, and now that I know what it looks like I realize it's been used in lots of software I've installed recently. I would have liked to know so I could learn more and make a more informed decision. Lack of full disclosure by software authors is my remaining concern.
-JavaJones (April 02, 2011, 03:26 AM)
--- End quote ---
Looks like a user that didn't give informed consent for the information that was collected and sent back to OC.
So... I use other DLLs from third-parties in my software sometimes; does that mean that I need to inform you so that you can be made aware of exactly what software I'm using? Where does it end?
--- End quote ---
Do those 3rd party DLLs collect user information and send it out to someone over the internet? If they do, then you should inform the user and get his permission before any information is collected.
40hz:
...while the software installed may not be adware or spyware, the OC powered installer is.
-app103 (April 02, 2011, 03:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
I can see some kind of confusion over adware, but "spyware" is so far off-base, it's not in the same solar system. It's so radically different that it's just not possible to make that confusion if you know what the two are. Instead, it's libelous.
*
*
*
Defamation:
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
--- End quote ---
-Renegade (April 02, 2011, 10:05 PM)
--- End quote ---
Interesting comment.
Sounds very much like a threat.
Is some sort of legal threat being made here?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version