The Australian Democrats have today introduced legislation to deal with the increasing problem of Spyware, 'cookies' and malicious ware, (known as 'malware'), found with common computer use.
Democrats IT spokesperson, Senator Brian Greig, says the rapid growth of IT and use of the Internet has brought with it, increased IT and Internet-based crime and new threats to privacy.
"Like Spam, this new generation of malware has the potential to cost business in both economic and social terms, so laws are needed to address it," Senator Greig said.
Senator Greig describes Spyware as being like 'electronic limpets', which attach themselves to computers without the knowledge of the PC user, and then reports to the sender of the Spyware details of which websites people are accessing.
"This data-mining can be used by companies for demographic and advertising purposes, and currently this happens without the consent or knowledge of the PC user," Senator Greig said.
"Our legislation does not ban Spyware, it merely requires that companies which use and send it must seek the permission of the PC user to obtain and send information, and explain what information is being recorded and to what end purpose it will be used," Senator Greig said.
"Spyware comes in many forms, some of which is already illegal, but many are deemed illegal only because of the circumstances in which they are used. The law needs to cover such circumstances.
"Laws in the past have tended to prohibit specific actions, but now laws are required to proscribe for the methods under which an action can be taken. In the case of Spyware, it is not the existence of it which is deemed illegal, but whether its existence was authorised," Senator Greig said.
The Democrats were at the forefront of introducing laws against Spam, and are again the leaders in laws against Spyware.
"The Democrats Spyware Bill 2005 is an important addition to necessary IT laws against malicious or unsolicited Spam, and will provide greater security for the ever increasing number of private and commercial Internet users," Senator Greig said.
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