Occasionally (in fact probably more often than most people think) someone - normally by means of a website or download will install a piece of software on your computer that will enable the perpetrator to "Spy" on your on (or off) line activity.

This is bad for a number of reasons, firstly its almost always an invasion of privacy - why should they collect data about your online activity? Seconly, this is done without your knowledge, so you are "giving" them something and gettgin nothing in return. And thirdly and probably most annoyingly this activity is often assosiated with SPAMMERS! They see what sites you like to visit and then SPAM you with hudreds of loosly related emails, hoping that something will catch your eye.

Top Tip:

Ewido offer a great product called AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5 This is not a free program, it costs $40 US, but comes highly reccomended. It is easy to use and very effective. From their Site "The efficient solution against the new generation of threats spreading over the internet. Secure your data and protect your privacy against sypware, adware, trojans, dialer, keylogger and worms. We offer you advanced scanning and detection methods and state-of-the-art technology behind an easy to use interface."

They have a free trial download, so try it out - You may well be surprised at what it finds on your machine.

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Good advice - especially for those of us like me who dont keep up to date with these things.

Is it illegal for companies to put spyware on to your computer? Its illegal to sneak into my house and bug my kitchen so I wondered if this was the same

Great question cooksta, as I understand it there are no specific "Spyware" laws (either in the UK or US). Nowhere in the statutes does it say "Producing, distributing and being in the possesion of spyware is illegal".

However - that doesn't mean that we are defenseless. Spyware comes in many forms, some are very aggressive - like keystroke loggers - these record every keystroke on your keyboard, and thus "spying" on every word that you type (including your passwords). This is clearly a gross invation of privacy and should fall under exsisting business laws that prohibit "Deceptive acts and practices" and (in the US at least) a law that defines "Trespass to chattels" as a crime. "Chattels" are someone's personal property, something that is movable, such as a computer, or paper files (I can't find information about equivalent law in the UK, but I guess that something exists - maybe someone can let us know?).

Other forms of Spyware are less aggressive, some are so passive that their classification as spyware is often difficult or even controversial. (This leads to a lack of a solid definition and in turm leads to difficulty passing laws againt it. If you can't define it, how can you ban it?) For example "Tracking Cookies", cookies are small pieces of information written to your computer by a website that hold information about your activity on that website. This means that if you leave a website and return the website knows who has returned, thus enabling you to remain logged in, or the like.

However sometimes cookies are used to log your activity futher than you may like (or realise), for example they may log which adverts you click on, which specific pages of a site you look at, or what terms you search for. Just how much information is it ethical to track? I doubt very much whether these tracking cookies would be enough to form a case for legal action, and any case would certainly be very hard to win. (It is also good to note that often this information is actually burried in a websites terms and conditions of use - so in some cases you may actually be "agreeing" to this happening simply by using a website.)

So - the answer it all this? Well thats easy! Simply keep you computer clean of all potential "Spyware" at all times! Use a good spyware cleaner like the one mentioned in my origional post.

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Top Tips Forum - Friendly Help and Advice
Technology, your Computer, the Environment, Money and Finance, Sports, Health and Fitness and Much More.