Warning: Software May be Hazardous to your Privacy!

Abstract:     
Spyware poses a serious threat of privacy infringement to unassuming internet users across the globe. Existing European legislation attempts to protect end-users from unethical processing of their personal data. Spyware technologies, however, are skirting these laws and often times breaking them entirely. Outlawing the technology used in spyware and strengthening the legal consent requirement to mine data are statutory solutions that can prevent spyware users from skirting the law. An internationally standardized technology education system for the judiciaries in Europe and the U.S. can help ensure that when spyware users do break the law, they cannot hide by escaping from one nation to another without being held accountable. Transnational improvements are necessary to remedy the global spyware epidemic.

Keywords: Spyware, parsiteware, data protection, framework decision on attacks against information systems

JEL Classification: K20, K21, k22, k23,k00, k30

Accepted Paper Series