Survey of State Anti-Spyware Legislation
Elizabeth Bowles · 2016
Spyware, generally understood to be programs deposited on a user's computer that send information to the program's creator or to third parties without the user's knowledge, is an increasing problem for many computer users.1 Some spyware programs are specifically designed to transmit personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank account information, logins, and passwords to third parties for the purpose of fraud or identity theft.2 Other spyware programs are designed to turn the user's computer into a zombie for the purpose of sending out spam or viruses.3 Yet other, ostensibly innocent spyware applications, track surfing patterns in order to garner marketing information for the purpose of sending targeted pop-ups or spam to users.4 This latter form of spyware is also known as adware.5