Microsoft denies cuddling up to spyware

SOFTWARE GIANT MICROSOFT has denied that it has adjusted its anti-spyware scanner so it can let a company called Claria install software onto punter's computers.

Vole, which apparently is more than a little interested in buying Claria, changed its scanner's response from delete to warn and ignore. In the past, Microsoft AntiSpyware recommended that users quarantine several products from Claria.

However, according to a communiqué from the spinsters of the Volehill, the downgrade in threat level merely represents an effort to be "fair and consistent with how Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) handles similar software from other vendors."

For those who came in late, Claria was once known as Gator and was branded as one of the most commercially available bits of spyware. In the new statement Vole says: "All software is reviewed under the same objective criteria, detection policies, and analysis process. Absolutely no exceptions were made for Claria.

"Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) continues to notify our users when Claria software is found on a computer, and it offers our users the option to remove the software if they desire. We firmly believe that people should have complete control over what runs on their computers."

To be fair to Vole, Claria has changed a bit since its Gator days. It's data collection policies are completely different. Even Macaffe does not consider them much of a threat according to this.

Claria has also been speaking at forums on Anti-Spyware Initiatives and pushing a privacy policy that stresses user consent and anonymity. This fits into what Vole wants to allow past its scanners, which can be seen here. µ