Over the course of several weeks, Aluria not only admitted WhenU into its “Spyware SAFE Certification Program” and removed it from being detected by Aluria software, but also entered into an agreement to take over control of WhenU’s Ucontrol program, a set of desktop scanning software that removes unwanted spyware.
“WhenU is the first and only provider of software-based advertising to receive such a certification,” said Bill Day, WhenU CEO and former CEO of About.com. “Frankly it surprised many people because of a commonly held misperception that all competitors in this space are essentially the same. Simply put, they aren’t; WhenU standards are higher and they are validated by the Aluria certification.”
According to a statement issued by WhenU, the company’s software received certification only after it made full disclosure of the software installation process, consumer control over WhenU software, and branding on WhenU ads. The company also had to submit its WhenU privacy policy and privacy protective technology architecture to a review by Aluria.
“Aluria is committed to protecting and educating consumers by ensuring that the places they visit and download are free from spyware,” said Rick Carlson, president of Aluria Software. “We are pleased to be a part of WhenU’s efforts to differentiate itself in the contextual advertising marketplace.”
However, other members of the anti-spyware community look on the certification with skepticism.
“Aluria has gone almost immediately from targeting WhenU as spyware to the next day having a partnership,” Mike Healan, editor of SpywareInfo.com, told eWeek.
Healan delisted Aluria from its list of reputable anti-spyware programs.
“What we have here is a case of utter hypocrisy,” said Eric Howes, owner of privacy and security websites. “At bottom, the conflicts of interest here are so serious that Aluria’s trustworthiness as an anti-spyware vendor is completely and utterly compromised.”
“If you’re in the anti-spyware business, you shouldn’t be exploiting that model yourself,” he said. “You shouldn’t be in a position to remove potential competitors from consumers’ desktops.”