Danger #6: Adware and Spyware

We are probably going too far by describing these as a "dangers", but nevertheless advertisement-supported software (also known as adware), spyware and "special interest" toolbars can cause serious problems, and may also compromise your privacy.

Basically you may sometimes find that after downloading and installing some apparently useful software, or potentially after visiting a website that is, shall we say, "off the beaten track", when browsing the internet your screen may suddenly fill up with pop-up ads from all over the place, some of which may be "unsavoury". In addition your Favourites menu may suddenly be filled with sites you've never heard of. And your homepage may suddenly change. And all of these may resist all efforts to do anything about them.

What has probably happened is that you have downloaded "ad supported software", or possibly installed what was claimed to be a special toolbar that would help you find a particular subject matter ("top shelf" type) more easily.

Ad supported software ("adware") is simply software that is provided to you for free, but in return for which you must allow yourself to be bombarded with advertisements of various sorts. Such software may also track your movements across the internet -- what sites you visit, how long you spend there and so on. There are also programs that only track your movements - invisibly, in the background - without making ads pop-up. This type of software is known as Spyware.

You may not realise that what you are downloading and installing is adware or spyware until it is too late. However, the software license that you must agree to when you install the software almost certainly has such a warning hidden in it somewhere, which means that you can't really complain to the companies that produce it.

The special "toolbars" that effectively take over your browser which we mentioned previously are similar in nature to "adware", but the companies that provide them to you are normally even less scrupulous, and probably won't warn you of the consequences of installing their software.

In both cases it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of all traces of the adware or spyware program or toolbar yourself. So if you are affected by such things you may therefore need to download a special program that will help you get rid of them. Lavasoft's AdAware (available free from www.lavasoftusa.com) is one such program. AdAware also removes other types of problem program and helps reduce various types of privacy risks too.

PLEASE NOTE: A number of reputable companies offer free toolbars that you can install on your PC, and these are generally harmless and actually very useful. Google, for example, offers a very useful toolbar. If configured in a certain way, it can collect data on the sites you visit on the Internet, but not in a personally identifiable way. So don't assume that ALL toolbars will cause you problems - in general it is only toolbars you might download from sites that are off the beaten track that can be troublesome. And if in doubt about a particular program or toolbar, carefully read the terms and conditions of the associated software licence before installing it.

On the next page we will talk about Cookies and your options for dealing with them. Click on the Go on to next page link below to read about this, or click on the View Internet Security Index link to go back to the index page

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NOTE: What we describe on these pages is merely our opinion of what the most important things you need to know and do in order to keep your Internet experience as safe as possible. You should therefore not treat it as a definitive text on Internet security, nor as being necessarily 100% accurate, but instead simply as a general guide.