Google Toolbar is Spyware?

The simple act of collecting client information does not designate a service as "spyware". Selling or otherwise distributing it without clear & concise permission does. Google uses the info they collect for their & your enhancement of service.

Some thoughts:
1. Not being spyware is not _the_ appropriate criteria for determining whether software can be allowed in an organization. The value of information is context dependent; there are times when simply knowing the sites visited by a competator's employees provides a competative advantage.
2. Given the new data security, recovery, and corporate governance laws (GLBA, HIPPA, SOX, FACTA, PAS56, ISO7799, etc.), it is best to block any software not specifically approved by corporate officers (or the legal department).
3. "Good" companies provide a way for employees to get software approved...
4. Standardizing software reduces support and licensing costs. (It also speeds recovery.)
5. Your work system belongs to your company; it has the right to specify what you run on it. It is stuck with the consiquences of your choices.

These are corporate governance and liability issues. Its easy to forget their impact on your ability to install software on "your" (work) system.

"In order to automatically update this display for each page you visit, the Toolbar sends information about the page you are viewing to the Google servers. Google, Inc. does not collect information that directly identifies you (e.g., your name, email address) and will not sell or provide personally identifiable information to any third parties. We strongly encourage you to read our privacy policy for more information on this topic."

Translating this doublespeak, Google most certainly DOES collect information about you, though it doesn't collect personal info such as your name or e-mail address. What it does collect is a tag that identifies your computer, so that your browsing habits can be tracked. So long as the toolbar is installed you're tracked, evfen if you delete all your cookies, for with the toolbar cookies aren't needed to track you. Look at the toolbar as something like a GPS ankle bracelet that your probation officer provides you with. The Yahoo! toolbar is no different, and ditto for thye Alexa (Altavista) toolbar. When your browser's wearing the "bracelet," participating ad agencies can track you with the help of Google's servers that store all kinds of browsing info.

Never in the history of business has the corporate sleeze factor been as high as it is today. Forget about toolbars, smileys, and all that other garbage that's designed for one purpose: to get you to transfer your money out of your bank account and into someone else's bank account ASAP!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Your claim that "participating ad agencies can track you with the help of Google's servers" is bad-faith speculation... unless you can back up such a claim, it's better not to make it.

I am looking forward to writing about toolbars = spyware on my blog soon, but thought i should let you know this right now!

A program/code that is capable of sending your personal information such as the sites you visit etc which may be after you have used their certain features, the program/code is by the definition of spyware - it really is!

So, enjoy surfing the old days way. No toolbar, no spyware! They are spyware, go read their terms and conditions and see what kind of information they are sending to them and why ? Why can you not have a toolbar for FREE ? perhaps we will get a toolbar that you can BUY?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry, but you can't make up your own definition of spyware and declare all toolbars guilty. There are plenty of free toolbars that are quite benign and useful. And I'm sure there are some paid-for toolbars that do nasty things.

Seems that most folks have lost sight of a core issue.... your computer at work (and it's associated network connections) is NOT your personal property to do with as you see fit. It, and all the associated resources are the property of the employer. That means it is not ok to do what you want with your assigned tools... you can't install toolbars, or screensavers, or games, or music downloaders, or anything else... et al, ad nauseum. If you want that stuff, put it on your computer at home.

Work computers are configured for ease of administration, and to comply with copyright and other licensing requirements, as well as for required applications to perform assigned tasks, while maintaining the efficiency and integrity of the network. Too bad that there's so many folks who think they are above their employers' rules, and hide behind the mantra of "Invasion of Privacy" or "I'm an adult and I should be trusted to do what I want" to justify their actions. Whether or not Google, or any toolbar is spyware is irrelevant... if the corporate system has determined that such applications are not to be installed on corporate owned equipment, then that should be the end of it.

It also means that you should not expect "personal privacy" when on a corporate computer on a corporate network... so don't do your banking, or send that cute suggestive email to your partner or spouse on an office computer... someone can, and likely will be aware of what you are doing. It is called maintaining "Corporate Security". And, malicious or not, if an application "phones home" for any reason, that's enough to classify it as spyware in my humble opinion.

FYI, I have had my web history recorded onto another person's google account inadvertantly and without my knowledge. Another person logged onto google from my computer unknown to me and left their account logged in. I then used the computer and had my activity recorded into their google history. That's spyware if you ask me.

I detected the incident sometime later and only by chance was able to change their password and purge their web history.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Okay, but that has nothing to do with the Google Toolbar.

There is a Google Toolbar immitation and it is SPYWARE. If you get infected with Spybot you also get "VistaAntiVirusPro" which embeds itself in the WINDOWS EXPLORER system. You also get "Registry Helper" and "Disk Cleaner" all courtesy of the Spybot programmers. You also get a highjacked version of the Google Toolbar which AUTOMATICALLY takes you into never never land with advertising rammed down your throats. For the disbelievers, go stick your head in the sand and hope that you don't get this one.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm assuming you DO NOT mean "Spybot Search & Destroy" which is a well-known anti-spyware app.

I am the Director of IT at my organization and we have a tight policy of NOT allowing programs such as Google Desktop or toolbar to be downloaded onto network computers. The reason for this is that it does relay uncontrolled information outside of the network. The debate about whether or not this information is "personally identifiable" has no concern to me. Rather, it is the fact that it is an uncontrolled information security breach that is the concern. Even "benign" information can come back to haunt an organization.

EDITOR'S NOTE: What sort of "uncontrolled information" are you concerned about?

You're a complete idiot if you don't realize the sort of "uncontrolled information" a typical corporate user has access to. Take a typical user in a financial organization dealing with EFTs. If that user has access to PCI DSS sensitive info, then some random toolbar the user finds useful also has that access. I don't think you'd be so cavalier in trying to defend a novelty toolbar if you really understood anything about computer security. If an authorized user has access to information any software they run has the same privileges, if not more.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've worked in corporate settings, and have dealt with sensitive information. But this article is dealing specifically with the question of the Google Toolbar -- not ALL random novelty toolbars. I'll agree that some are a huge risk, perhaps even malware. But do we have ANY evidence to support a claim that Google Toolbar is doing anything evil?

Spyware simply means collecting information on the user. It means software to spy with. Google is just that. Disclosing that they are going to spy on you (because everyone reads the fine print right?) does not negate the type of software that it is or its purpose. GOOGLE IS SPYWARE 100%. Stop misleading people and just call it what it is.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You're welcome to your *opinion* of course, but you can't make up your own facts. By that definition, then EVERY SINGLE website qualifies as a spyware operation. When you visit a website, certain things are logged on the remote web server. This includes your IP address, the date and time, the pages you visit, which browser you use, and the site/page that referred you.