toolbar addon and provider spying

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Sant
  • Start date Start date
J

Jim Sant

Hi,

I have been playing around with some of the available toolbars out there
(Google, Yahoo, AdvancedToobar) and am very suspicious that somehow they are
spying on my surfing history. What do you know about the spying activities
of these and other toolbars?

I like the Google toolbar, especially how it can be customized but they tell
you upfront there is some type of spying they will be doing. Is there
someway to eliminate the spying and still use the toolbars?

What is your favorite toolbar?

Jim
 
Jim Sant said:
Hi,

I have been playing around with some of the available toolbars out there
(Google, Yahoo, AdvancedToobar) and am very suspicious that somehow they
are spying on my surfing history. What do you know about the spying
activities of these and other toolbars?

I like the Google toolbar, especially how it can be customized but they
tell you upfront there is some type of spying they will be doing. Is
there someway to eliminate the spying and still use the toolbars?

What is your favorite toolbar?

Jim
Click to expand...

Simply choose the option to send no information to Google. That's the basic
option, not the advanced. You do this when you first set up the Google
Toolbar. I would only use Google. I don't like the Yahoo! or MSN toolbars.
 
Kevin said:
Simply choose the option to send no information to Google. That's the
basic option, not the advanced. You do this when you first set up the
Google Toolbar. I would only use Google. I don't like the Yahoo! or MSN
toolbars.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kevin. I am currently using Google and I have left the "Send Info to
Google" box unchecked. What is the advanced option?

Jim
 
Hello Jim,

I am the developer of the Quero Toolbar and want to comment on the privacy
practices of the Google Toolbar as an "insider".

1 The first and foremost intention of the Google Toolbar was to bind
customers to Google and to collect usage data "to improve the quality of
Toolbar and other Google services", i.e. to log every Web page the user
visits.

2 Even if you do not opt-in to voluntarily send your usage data to Google,
the Google Toolbar can easily become spyware when you use any of the
following (advanced) features: Google Suggest, PageRank, SpellCheck,
AutoLink, WordTranslator, AutoUpdate, ...

3 Quote from the new privacy policy (dated March 28, 2006):
http://www.google.com/support/toolbar/?quick=privacy&v=2.0f&hlrm=en
* Your copy of Google Toolbar includes a unique application number. When you
install Google Toolbar, this number and a message indicating whether the
installation succeeded are sent back to Google. Also, when Google Toolbar
automatically checks to see if a new version is available, the current
version number and the unique application number are sent to Google. The
unique application number is required for Google Toolbar to work and cannot
be disabled.
[...]
* The Google Toolbar contacts our servers periodically to obtain automatic
updates to the latest version, or as part of the uninstall process.

4 In combination with your unique google.com cookie, Google is able to fully
track your surfing behavior. Additionally, your data can easily become
personally identifiable if you are using any of the great Google services
that require a Google(.com) Account.

5 Usage data is precious so it is worthwhile to give the Google Toolbar away
for free. Google even pays 1 US $ to Web publishers for every referred
download of Firefox with the Google Toolbar installed. See also
http://explorerdestroyer.com/
I consider such commercial compaigns funded by Google to be unfair.

I would welcome your comments.

Viktor
http://www.quero.at/
The New Web Experience
 
Hi Viktor,

This is amazing. Yes, I know quite a lot of people don't even read the
license agreement or the privacy policy...
1 The first and foremost intention of the Google Toolbar was to bind
customers to Google and to collect usage data "to improve the quality of
Toolbar and other Google services", i.e. to log every Web page the user
visits.
Click to expand...

It seems normal to me that the toolbar is used to bind customers. It's a
nice toolbar and it's a nice search engine. No problem there.

As for logging all pages one visits: this is spying.

* The Google Toolbar contacts our servers periodically to obtain automatic
updates to the latest version, or as part of the uninstall process.
Click to expand...

No problem with that. It's a way to make sure software is up to date.
5 Usage data is precious so it is worthwhile to give the Google Toolbar away
for free. Google even pays 1 US $ to Web publishers for every referred
download of Firefox with the Google Toolbar installed. See also
http://explorerdestroyer.com/
I consider such commercial compaigns funded by Google to be unfair.
Click to expand...

I have a serious problem with this kind of nearly religious warfare
against IE. I can imagine that someone prefers IE (I do) and someone else
FF or a different browser. No problem with that. If a software doesn' suit
your needs or expectations, don't use it. But this kind of considerations
has nothing to do with quality of software.

Kind regards

Hans
 
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