Read Any Good EULAs?
Imagine
my surprise when I found out I had given an Internet, dot-com company
the right to read and transmit data from my hard drive to their
database every time I logged on to the Internet!
I was
really upset my "firewall" program had failed to protect my
PC when I first discovered data from my PC being transmitted to an
unknown collector of my personal data. I thought I was safe from
this invasion of privacy. After all, I had installed not only the
latest anti-virus program, but the latest Internet Firewall Program
as well.
In
addition, I subscribe to an update service which regularly installs
the latest changes to both programs. How then. did this company gain
access to read and collect data from my hard drive? Simple! I gave
it to them.
I did
it when I failed to read the EULA, or End Users License Agreement,
that is included in practically every software program you'll ever
install on a personal computer. Oh, you don't read the fine print on
the software "I agree" page during software installation?
Neither did I. After giving the usually standard EULA page a cursory
glance, I usually click on the agree button to get the installation
process rolling. The EULA usually states the same basic rights of
ownership and non-copying provisions that arc similar to all
programs.
Surprise!
Surprise! Read all of them from now on, things are changing in the
software world. As most people know, you don't
buy software, you lease it. You do not own the programs you buy, you
simply have the right to use them. If you did own the software. you
could alter a program or rename it and sell it as a product of your
own. You specifically agree not to do that when you click on
the "agree button," or in some cases, when you open the
container the software was shipped in. You don't
own the right to a song on an audio tape or a CD; likewise, you don't
own the programs on the diskettes or CD, either.
The problem is hidden
deep in the many pages of fine print most people
skip when installing software. My agreement to allow the authors of
the software program 1 bought to have access to my data was in a
paragraph buried deep in the EULA that I assumed was harmless. I
tried to print it out, but only small pieces of text can he printed
at any given time. making it difficult to print out for a legal
review.
Basically,
the paragraph I agreed to said they could compile information they
wanted and forward it at their discretion. This had nothing to do
with the now famous cookies that practically every Web site posts on
everyone's hard drives. The software routines that collected my data
had nothing to do with the program I had installed, even though the
program was related to Internet and Web page usage. I immediately
uninstalled the program, but they had left a hook requiring me to
reload my browser. and eventually reload Windows 98 before I was
clear of the unwanted program.
I'm
not sure how they avoided my firewall program, but I'm sure from now
on I'll read the fine print!
George Mindling ©
2001
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