[Infowarrior] - Comscore, Website Data Tracker, Sued for Alleged Secret Software Installs

[Richard Forno]

Comscore, Website Data Tracker, Sued for Alleged Secret Software Installs

By Andrew Harris - Aug 24, 2011 12:01 AM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-23/comscore-website-data-tracker-sued-for-alleged-secret-software-installs.html


Comscore Inc. (SCOR), a company that measures website traffic, was accused in a lawsuit by two Internet users of surreptitiously installing data-mining software on their computers.

The company’s secret installation of the programs, which come bundled with free screen-saver software and other applications, violates Illinois and U.S. laws including the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, according to a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in Chicago.

“The scope and breadth of data that Comscore collects from unsuspecting customers is terrifying,” Californian Jeff Dunstan and Illinois resident Mike Harris said in their complaint.

Comscore, based in Reston, Virginia, compiles Internet traffic data from about 2 million consumers in 170 countries and then markets the information to financial analysts, advertising agencies and other businesses, according to its own website.

Harris and Dunstan said the company’s software collects user names and passwords, credit card numbers, and prices paid for consumer goods purchased on line, in addition to logging the sites consumers visited and ads they’ve clicked on.

“We have reviewed the lawsuit and find it to be without merit and full of factual inaccuracies,” Andrew Lipsman, a Comscore vice president, said in an e-mailed statement. “Comscore intends to aggressively defend itself against these claims.”

The plaintiffs seek a class action, or group, status to sue on behalf of anyone who had Comscore surveillance software installed without their permission and on behalf of anyone who, like Dunstan, paid to have it professionally uninstalled.

They also asked for a court order barring the company from continuing its allegedly unlawful practices.

The case is Harris v. Comscore Inc., 11cv5807, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Chicago at aharris16 at bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha at bloomberg.net