Advertisers use spyware to collect your personal information, your shopping history, and even your Web browsing habits, giving them the ability to target you with personalized ads and offers based on their findings. Software developers may use it to ensure a program isn't being copied. These uses may be legal, but spyware is only ethically sound if the user is clearly and plainly told of the existence of spyware before the program is purchased and installed. Unfortunately, this informed consent doesn't happen often; either the spyware is truly hidden and the user is given no warning whatsoever, or the user is only told of it in vague terms hidden deep in the legal babble of the software license.

What makes spyware especially dangerous is that the collector may not be the only one who can access this information. Some programs store what they collect on insecure servers connected to the Net (such as Microsoft IIS). It's all too easy for crackers to steal collected information and use it to order credit cards in users' names, run up huge bills, and leave the innocent users holding the bag. Spyware also uses up valuable system resources in connecting to its home base, and in areas where users pay for Net access per call or per minute, it can actually cost the user money.

Ad-aware rids your system of unwanted adware and spyware by searching for programs, cookies and registry items that contain certain characteristics of spyware. It then provides you with a list of these programs. You can exclude any item you wish to keep on your system (adware you've agreed to view, for instance, or software update notifications you've asked for), then you can trash the rest. Ad-aware remembers the items you wish to exclude and will bypass them in future (although you can change the settings to remove the exclusions, if you change your mind). Version 5.0 allows the user to create backup copies of what will be deleted, just in case the user doesn't recognize a file and something important is accidentally removed.

(Paragraph added May 25, 2002)
Ad-aware now comes bundled with a utility called Ad-watch. At-watch runs in the background and deletes spyware from the usual suspects (e.g. Doubleclick) as soon as it's uploaded. This doesn't mean you should stop using Ad-Aware regularly; in my experience, Ad-watch only catches the most common forms of spyware.

Ad-aware has sped up my system, reduced the number of pop-ups I see, and given me a greater sense of security on the Net. It's also made me aware of not only how advertisers can target their product to consumers by collecting information, but also how criminals can steal that same information and use it for more nefarious purposes.

Some producers of hidden spyware claim that Ad-aware is a dangerous product that can cause your system to crash. I doubt this warning is meant in the spirit of altruism, as Ad-aware is a real danger to those who profit from stealing secrets. But there is a whisper of truth in their bleating; some programs are designed to run only if their associated spyware programs are also running. If such a program doesn't inform users that it has associated spyware, what is a user to think if suddenly the program won't start after Ad-aware is installed? I'm sure many users blame Ad-aware instead of realizing that the very programs Ad-aware may affect are those who are stealing personal information and broadcasting to who knows where.

Ad-aware is shareware, which of course means that you can try it before you buy it. If it's not to your taste, and if you don't mind the idea of your credit card numbers, Web browsing history, and even your social insurance number floating out there for theoretically anybody to see (your mother-in-law? your boss? the local gun nut?), you can uninstall it. But why would you?

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