Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Legislative Issues
Protecting Your Privacy
Inslee Spyware Resource Center
Millions of computer users have been affected by spyware. If you are one of them, I hope you can use the resources here to help protect your privacy and maintain control over your computer.
If you know of anyone who may have spyware on their computer, I encourage you to share this web page with them. One of the best weapons we have against spyware is education, so we need to get the word out about this growing problem!
In the meantime, I will continue my efforts in Congress to get tough on spyware distributors. I encourage you to learn more about my legislation, the Computer Software Privacy and Control Act, H.R. 4255.
Spyware Symptoms:
- Change of Your Default Homepage This tactic is used to automatically change your Web browser's default or start-up homepage. This is the Web page that appears when you start your browser or click the "home" button.
- Unauthorized 1 (900) Number Charges If your phone bill charges you for 1 (900) phone calls you didn't make, you may have fallen victim to a particularly devious form of spyware. These programs will hang-up your normal Internet connection and instruct your computer to dial a 1 (900) number silently.
- Slow Computer If you've noticed that your PC has had a serious drop in its responsiveness lately it could mean that spyware is draining its computing power.
- New Favorites Spyware will often add "favorites" of its own to your browser's favorites' folder. If you notice an unusual amount of new favorites and are not sure how they got there, spyware may be to blame.
- Strange or Excessive Pop-Up Ads Many legitimate Web sites provide pop-up ads in exchange for free services or software that you use. In many cases pop-ups from spyware software is designed to appear to be served up by the Web site you're visiting. So, you may not recognize them as a symptom. There's no way to be sure but if the content of the ads seem strange, they may be from spyware. But if you're getting pop-up ads when you're not surfing the Internet, or when you visit websites you know do not use pop-ups, it's very likely that they are being served up by spyware software.
Spyware Prevention Tips:
- Be skeptical about installing strange or free software. Many free programs, such as screensavers, file sharing programs, weather monitors, or some toolbars, come bundled with spyware.
- Pay attention to Security Warning screens.
- Properly adjust your Web browser security or privacy settings. The major web browser programs, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, allow you to put these settings somewhere between "high" or "low." You should not leave your settings at the lowest level, but raising the setting to "high," however, can make some Web sites less usable. Try to strike a balance, and choose a setting that warns you before programs are downloaded onto your computer.
- Install software only from websites you trust.
- Read the "fine print" in the End User Licensing Agreement or the Privacy Policy when downloading software. Be careful! Many spyware distributors may not tell you everything about the software they are installing, or will even deceive you. In some cases, clicking "no" will simply install the software anyway. My legislation requires these notifications and prohibits deceptive downloads so that you can make a better-educated decision to install.
- Use anti-spyware software tools. Be careful! Some deceptive spyware distributors have started tricking consumers into installing fake anti-spyware programs, only to install more of the bad spyware. Some of the tactics include displaying a pop-up claiming to have scanned your PC and found spyware or opening your disk drive, then tricking you into buying or downloading their software.
- Use anti-virus software, firewalls, and keep your software up-to-date with security patches.
- Know the symptoms of spyware and use tools to remove it from your computer.
Spyware Scanning and Removal Tools:
A number of companies provide software to find and remove spyware from your computer. The programs below are provided free, and are widely used by information technology professionals. You may also purchase a variety of programs if you wish, but the programs below are generally sufficient.
These programs will scan your computer for spyware, and after the scan is complete, you can choose to remove everything that was encountered, or selectively remove certain pieces of spyware. Generally, my office chooses to remove everything found by these programs without any problem. However, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with any software you install on your computer before using it. (These links are provided as a resource for interested parties. U.S. Rep Jay Inslee does not assume responsibility for any software downloaded from the following companies, nor does he endorse these products.)
It is important to use these programs regularly or if you start noticing more spyware symptoms again.
Note: Keep your spyware removal software up to date. These and many other programs have update functions that you should use before scanning your computer.