Sears.com and Kmart.com Install Spyware
Visiting Sears.com (and Kmart.com) a few weeks ago, I was offered a chance to join My SHC Community, for free, but what I received was, from a privacy perspective, very costly. Sears.com is distributing spyware that tracks all your Internet usage – including banking logins, email, and all other forms of Internet usage – all in the name of “community participation.” Every website visitor that joins the Sears community installs software that acts as a proxy to every web transaction made on the compromised computer. In other words, if you have installed Sears software (“the proxy”) on your system, all data transmitted to and from your system will be intercepted. This extreme level of user tracking is done with little and inconspicuous notice about the true nature of the software. In fact, while registering to join the “community,” very little mention is made of software or tracking. Furthermore, after the software is installed, there is no indication on the desktop that the proxy exists on the system, so users are tracked silently. An interesting note, the spyware Sears distributes is “genetically” related to software CA Anti-Spyware has detected for a few years by the name of MarketScore (and other aliases) and distributed by other websites.
From a marketing perspective, this is a horrible move, and not even the old cliche “bad press is better than no press” can save it. Theres no honesty or authenticity here whatsoever.
Why do this? What’s the sales pitch that convinces Sears and Kmart brass that this is a good idea? Are the execs really that clueless when it comes to web culture? Do they not understand the social nature of the web? Do they not grok that the web is a conversation?
Unreal.
It’s telling that Sears and Kmart think they can fool the community by hiding behind jargon-filled EULAs. Nothing screams “detached from reality” louder than this. How many examples do we need of a watchful community busting a corporation dead in its tracks?
Shameful. Sears and Kmart deserve all the heat they take for this. Then again, both companies are trainwrecks (Kmart moreso than Sears), so I suppose I should quit acting all surprised.
If either of these were my companies, and assuming I had no prior knowledge, the executive responsible for making a decision to pursue something like this would expire immediately.
[Via DF]
Bad press = John Stuart mocking your new ad campaign, not this. This is spying and reprehensible behaviour, if it’s true.
Shame! *makes archaic shaming hand gesture*
Maybe it was a project designed to find all the best porn sites on the Web.
Nonetheless, this tells me that Sears has no honor and therefore, they will not receive my money anymore. I do not reward companies with shifty practices with my dollars. I hope others will put their money where their mouth is.
If this is really true and you have proof (you didn’t tell us how you found this out…wanna put some screen shots or other documentation?), I bet folks would greatly appreciate it if you published this post in many places — including those community boards Sears and Kmart has, if possible.
Great job.
Harold: click the first link in my post. It links directly to CA’s website and technical discussion of this issue.
Also very interesting is Sears’ managemyhome.com site. After becoming a registered user, you can search what products anyone you know (name, address, phone number) has bought at Sears.
Easy to boycott. Their products suck and cost more. OK, I bought a gas grill, 4 garage door openers, weedwacker, and refrigerator from them in the past 7 yrs. Oops, I bought a diamond necklace for the wife too. But who needs them? Comparison shop on line can find better quality and prices. Maybe they will follow CompUSA’s fate.