Ban on 'spyware' is approved unanimously

With a unanimous vote, House members approved a bill Friday that would outlaw so-called "spyware" computer programs coming on to your machines without your approval.

Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, sponsor of HB323, said every laptop he'd inspected on the House floor had such spyware programs, and none of the legislators knew they were there or had downloaded them on purpose.

Spyware and related programs keep track of what the computer user is doing. Some of the information is non-critical. "If you travel a lot, it may report that and you get pop-up (advertisements) for travel agencies or car rentals."

But some spyware records every key stroke you make. And if you log in to an online banking account, it can send your log in, account number and password to anyone, he said. Or other programs infect your e-mail and can send out under your e-mail address all kinds of unpleasant e-mails to other people.

Spyware is really hurting businesses. 1-800 Contacts spends millions of dollars a year in legitimate advertising, but when a buyer is ready to purchase contacts online, an adware program (kin to spyware) may throw up a pop-up message right before the deal is made, offering a competitor's contact lens deal, he said.