The Right Spin on Spyware

I know some of you think I'm being a tad hysterical. That's why I'm going to pass the ball to Steve Gibson when it comes to the subject of spyware. For those of you who don't know, Steve is the founder of Gibson Research and the inventor of SpinRite, the most trusted and widely used disk utility ever written for mass storage data maintenance and recovery. Rated number one since 1988, SpinRite is Gibson's masterpiece, but over the years his name has become synonymous with so much more. Gibson is considered by many to be the first Netizen of the Internet, as well as the conscience of technology. He's the kind of guy who would rather give it away than make you pay. Profits from SpinRite allowed Gibson to develop dozens of free utilities for the masses. There's one more thing you should know: Steve Gibson holds others to his ethical standards!

A few years ago, while assembling a site to help consumers opt out, Gibson encountered something chilling ”Web sites that use consumer profiling and tracking technology to invade your privacy! Gibson spoke out (rather publicly , as usual), and because of his standing in the tech community, he rattled a lot of cages. Shortly thereafter, Gibson received the following e-mail from the vice president of marketing for a large streaming-media company that shall remain nameless.

Figure 9.11: Gibson Research Corporation Web site

 Steve,      Would love to chat with you. What is a phone number and a good time      to chat? We spend a lot of time on the privacy issue and want to be      sure we understand all concerns. You have very little to fear from      our technology. While we may be able to suggest you might like      Miles Davis, we have no idea of any personally identifiable infor-      mation (e.g. don't know your name, email address, city, state, age,      gender, etc.). 

Several things about this note rubbed Gibson the wrong way. Since his thoughts had recently been crystallizing about these issues, he took the opportunity to frame his concerns more coherently.

 Hi [name withheld],      I am somewhat surprised by the depth, strength, and passion of my      own reactions when I'm told that your company, with which I've      never had any explicit, deliberate, or overt contact, might be able      to tell me that the person typing here at this keyboard likes Miles      Davis. Can't you see that the fact that you don't know my name is      totally irrelevant to the breach of personal privacy you are      defending, and from which you are profiting?      Without my knowledge or permission, you quietly monitor and surveil      my activities and the choices I make as I move across the Internet.      You compile a secret dossier describing my habits, my personal      preferences, my search engine queries, my past purchases and spend-      ing, and even the contents of many Web forms I have filled out and      submitted. Then, having compiled a secret dossier on me-specifically      and uniquely me-you deliberately seek to influence me in order to      profit from that influence which you now have gained over me.      For the past 25 years I have been an active participant in the      creation of the technology we are all using today. I know how it      all works, I've had my hands in it, I love it, and I have respect      for it.      You don't.      You came along and stole it. You have usurped, raped, and twisted      this fundamentally beautiful technology for your own profiteering      ends. And in doing so, you have spoiled something wonderful for the      rest of us.      I don't want YOU to know ANYTHING about ME, yet you can profile me      on a whim, and you see nothing wrong with doing that. Game theo-      rists understand the notion of a zero-sum game: For every winner      there's a loser. Physicists understand conservation of macroscopic      properties like energy. In both cases they mean that you cannot      create something from nothing.      So, if your knowing that I prefer Miles Davis is valuable to you or      your clients, from where did that value derive? Value is not creat-      ed out of thin air. I believe that you have stolen something valu-      able from me without asking, without my knowledge, and certainly      without my permission. You have stolen my unique identity and codi-      fied it inside your databases. You have invaded my privacy for your      own profit, and what you have taken diminishes me.   and you want me to say that's okay?      If you are able to "deliver tailored ads to my desktop" for the      purpose of increasing the likelihood that I will purchase your      client's products instead of someone else's, that's tantamount to      seduction through subliminal persuasion. And it is quite properly      against the law.   and you want me to say that's okay?      When I read billboards while driving my car down the freeway, I      encounter the same billboards as everyone else. The signage is not      "per driver." When I flip through the pages of a magazine, I      encounter the same ads as everyone else. The magazine knows nothing      about me, and I don't want it to.      When I watch television with my family, I see the same commercials      as the rest of my family. But imagine for a moment that your online      profiles for my family were able to individually tailor the televi-      sion commercials we each received, and that everyone had their own      televisions in the living room-which we could all see at once.      Wouldn't we be curious to see which commercials we each received      based upon your Internet profiles of us? Wouldn't some eyebrows be      raised in voyeuristic curiosity? And wouldn't that be a fundamental      violation of our individual rights to privacy? Yet, isn't this pre-      cisely what you're doing and defending, and from which you are      profiting?      I believe that what you're doing by "customizing," "targeting,"      "tailoring," and "identifying" the nameless Internet consumer is      fundamentally different from anything that has come before. And I      believe that doing this secretly and without my permission is fun-      damentally wrong, unethical, and evil.   and I won't say it's okay. I'm going to do everything within my      power to explain to consumers exactly what's going on and what's      being stolen from us without our knowledge or permission. Then I'm      going to create new technology to give them the choice that you      have deliberately denied them. I'm going to give them the power to      opt out, and to disappear from your radar screens forever.      You wrote, "We spend a lot of time on the privacy issue and want to      be sure we understand all concerns." But I don't believe you for a      moment. I don't think you have any respect for me or my rights      whatsoever. You're profiting from my seduction. How is that good      for me?      You wrote, "You have very little to fear from our technology." It      is not your technology I fear. I created that technology. It is      wonderful and ethically neutral. It is technology in the hands of      those who are abusing it that worries me greatly.      Being spied on, being placed under surveillance and tracked around the      Internet is not what the technology was designed for. You have taken      something wonderful and turned it against us all. That is not okay.      Steve Gibson