Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Adware
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Definitions of spyware, consent and ethics == In the view of [[Federal Trade Commission]] staff,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/os/2005/03/050307spywarerpt.pdf|title=FTC Staff Report. Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software|last=Majoras|first=Deborah Platt|date=March 2005|publisher=Federal Trade Commission|access-date=4 April 2005}}</ref> there appears to be general agreement that software should be considered "[[spyware]]" only if it is downloaded or installed on a computer without the user's knowledge and consent. Unresolved issues remain concerning how, what and when consumers need to be told about software installed on their computers. For instance, distributors often disclose in an [[EULA|end-user license agreement]] that there is additional software bundled with primary software, but some participants did not view such disclosure as sufficient to infer consent. Much of the discussion on the topic involves the idea of [[informed consent]], the assumption being that this standard eliminates any ethical issues with any given software's behavior. If a majority of important software, websites and devices were to adopt similar behavior and only the standard of informed consent is used, then logically a user's only recourse against that behavior would become not using a computer. The contract would become an [[ultimatum]]—agree or be [[social ostracism|ostracized]] from the modern world. This is a form of [[Coercion#Psychological|psychological coercion]] and presents an ethical problem with using implied or inferred consent as a standard. There are notable similarities between this situation and binding [[arbitration]] clauses which have become inevitable in contracts in the United States. Furthermore, certain forms and strategies of advertising have been shown to lead to psychological harm, especially in children. One example is childhood eating disorders—several studies have reported a positive association between exposure to beauty and fashion magazines and an increased level of weight concerns or eating disorder symptoms in girls.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The impact of the media on eating disorders in children and adolescents|first1=Anne M|last1=Morris|first2=Debra K|last2=Katzman|date=5 September 2003|journal=Paediatrics & Child Health|volume=8|issue=5|pages=287–289|doi=10.1093/pch/8.5.287|pmid=20020030|pmc=2792687}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)