• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, January 3, 2008

Online research company comScore came under attack this week, as spyware researcher Ben Edelman charged that the company's tracking software is being installed without adequate notice to users.

In a report Edelman published Tuesday, he accused retail giant Sears Holdings--which installs comScore's software on some Sears.com users--of burying crucial information about comScore's program in fine print that many people never see.

"[T]he limited notice provided falls far short of the standards the FTC has established," Edelman said in his report, which confirmed earlier findings by a Computer Associates researcher.

Sears denied that accusation. Larry Costello, director of public relations and communications, said the company fully explains the nature of the tracking to the Sears.com users it invites to join comScore's panel. "Clear notice appears in the invitation. It also appears on the first signup page, in the privacy policy and user licensing agreement," he said. "We provide additional notice of the tracking feature in the form of a welcome email that is sent to everyone after they become a member."

comScore did not respond to requests for comment.

comScore conducts market research by tracking Web users as they surf the Web but, unlike some of the more notorious companies to use tracking software, comScore also does not serve users pop-up ads based on their online history or slow down their computers.

Still, some advocates say that comScore's tracking activity is so intrusive that comScore should have to follow the same requirements as adware companies. "Certainly most people would be concerned if they knew what was happening," says Eric Howes, director of malware research at Sunbelt Software. "It's incredibly invasive, privacy-wise."

In settlements with the FTC, adware companies Zango and Direct Revenue agreed not to install their software without first providing clear and prominent notice that the programs will trail users around the Web and serve them ads.

This isn't the first time that comScore has been accused of improper installations. In July, the privacy organization TRUSTe removed the company from its whitelist for allegedly using exploits to surreptitiously install software.

Edelman said the root problem is that comScore doesn't make serving on its panel worthwhile to consumers. "The basic challenge is that users don't want comScore software," Edelman said in his report. "comScore offers users nothing sufficiently valuable to compensate them for the serious privacy invasion comScore's software entails."