Reviews mixed on legislation to protect consumers from spyware
Spyware legislation is expected to pass the House of Representatives this year. MedZilla asks privacy experts about whether the SPY Act, designed to “notify” you before spyware is loaded onto your computer might protect your computer and privacy or is doomed to fail.
For Immediate Release
Marysville, WA (PRWEB) July 2, 2004 --
Congresswoman Mary Bono’s (R-CA) legislation to protect consumers from invasive
and unsolicited spyware passed in the full House Energy and Commerce Committee
June 24 and is expected to go before the full House of Representatives this year
for final passage. Some say the legislation is a step in the right direction;
while other consumer privacy experts claim it’s doomed to fail.
H.R.
2929, the “Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act” (SPY Act)
proposes to protect you from unknowingly downloading spyware by requiring that
you receive a clear and conspicuous notice before downloading spyware. The bill
also includes provisions to inhibit unfair or deceptive behavior that could rob
you of your privacy or the ability to use your computer effectively, such as
key-stroke logging, computers highjacking and the display of advertisements that
cannot be closed, Bono claims in a June 24 press release about the
legislation.
Spyware is a terrible problem and it’s true that something
needs to be done about it, says Frank Heasley, PhD, president and CEO of
MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that
serves biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science.
“We’ve
seen, first-hand, what it can do when clients call and tell us that they are
having trouble using the MedZilla job board, when, in fact, their computers are
paralyzed because they’ve unknowingly downloaded spyware.”
Moving in the
right direction?
Jordana Beebe, communications director at the Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse, San Diego, Calif., says the legislation seems a good move
in that it requires your consent before spyware is loaded on your computers.
“One of the most problematic aspects of spyware right now is that people
don’t know when it’s on their hard drive and when it has been loaded. It’s also
difficult to locate once it is on your hard drive,” she says. “Definitely,
making that process more transparent and requiring some sort of express consent
before spyware can be downloaded is a step in the right
direction.”
However, Beebe says that by allowing consent, it means that
spyware has not been banned. “I don’t see where this makes spyware illegal,
which of course, I think many people would prefer,” she says.
To some
degree, some might say that this legislation legitimizes spyware by the very
fact that it allows spyware to still be downloaded on your computers, according
to Beebe. She says she is concerned that consumers might not understand the
terms they read on the notices or know that spyware can compromise their
computers’ security.
Or, doomed to fail?
Jim Harper, editor of
Pirvacilla.org, a privacy think-tank, thinks the legislation is doomed to fail.
According to a Privacilla press release, the spyware legislation would
not improve life for American consumers, and the act would only lamely attempt
to outlaw spyware, requiring “unworkable and unwanted privacy
notices.”
“Congress is poised to repeat some of its worst recent
failures,” Harper says. “Congress didn’t eliminate spam with the CAN-SPAM law.
Congress didn’t create privacy with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley law. But they’re at
it again with spyware.”
The SPY Act would outlaw 20 software practices
and require notice and consent procedures for information collection programs.
But the legislation is aimed at people who don’t care what the law is and people
who can’t be found, Harper says.
Dr. Heasley agrees. “The internet cannot
police itself due to legal penalties for retaliation. The net result is that
innocent users are at the mercy of those who break the laws because they do so
with the impunity in the knowledge that they will not be prosecuted, and that if
their victims fight back, it is the victims who will suffer at the hands of the
government.”
Harper suggests that the solution to the problem is in
technology. “Spyware is like spam. The people causing the problem can hide
themselves from law enforcement. So, technical solutions are going to be what
solves the spyware problem. The anti-virus companies are already adding
anti-spyware capabilities to their products. It’s a big challenge to sort out
spyware and other ‘malware’ from the good software, but they can do
it.”
About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the
original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and
employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare.
MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 13,000 resumes from
candidates actively seeking new positions and 71,000 archived
resumes.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb138223.htm