The FTC has released a report detailing an invasion of privacy by Sears. In short, Sears enticed users with $10 in order to have them downloaded software to assist in consumer research. This software then collected an insane amount of web-surfing data. [via LibraryLaw Blog]
Sears now has to cease the operation and delete all collected data. I wonder if lawsuits are on the horizon or if the agreement keeps Sears safe. For the most part, no one reads software license agreements (not that most of us could make sense of the legalese anyway). Either Sears really gets the Internet and how to manipulate it or they are a bunch of goombas. At any rate, users need to be better educated on WWWdangers, especially potential offers from “trusted” companies.
