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Dave M said:From DoxDesk http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/definitions.html
Adware
Unsolicited commercial software that shows advertising materials to its user.
(Often this means pop-up adverts appearing during web browsing that were not
opened by the site being browsed, or pop-ups during general desktop use, but
there are other models of adding advertising to the web and desktop.)
Adware may also be used by some people to cover any software that shows ads,
including programs like the free version of Opera, that have advertising built
into their interfaces. DOXdesk does not cover this kind of 'adware' and does not
consider it harmful, as it is not 'unsolicited', and does not run independently
of its host program.
Spyware
Unsolicited commercial software that silently leaks information to a third
party, that, when collated, might constitute an invasion of privacy.
(This includes parasites which sends the URL of pages viewed to its controlling
server along with a unique ID of some sort which allows a person's web usage
patterns to be tracked, but not parasites that just send URLs without tracking
ID/cookies to tie together browsing sessions.)
Spyware, however, has as many meanings are there are people who use the term.
The above is DOXdesk's long-standing definition. But for some it refers to
keypress-logging tools and usage monitors installed by employers; for some it is
any software that sends information to a third party. Many people use it as a
pejorative catch-all term for any kind of undesirable software; meanwhile
companies that distribute parasites tend to craft their own meaning for the term
to explicitly exclude their own software from the definition.
For this reason, I prefer to avoid using the word 'spyware'.
Spyware, however, has as many meanings are there are people who use the term.
The above is DOXdesk's long-standing definition. But for some it refers to
keypress-logging tools and usage monitors installed by employers; for some it
is any software that sends information to a third party. Many people use it
as a pejorative catch-all term for any kind of undesirable software;
meanwhile companies that distribute parasites tend to craft their own meaning
for the term to explicitly exclude their own software from the definition.
Dave M said:Adware may also be used by some people to cover any software that shows ads,
including programs like the free version of Opera, that have advertising built
into their interfaces.
Bill Sanderson said: