Pop-up ads invade Department of Homeland Security

[Gasping4Truth]

Among the appointees to the department's 20 member "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee" is D. Reed Freeman, the "chief privacy officer" of Claria Corporation.

That's the company formerly known as Gator, infamous for its software, a.k.a. GAIN, which stands for Gator Advertising Information Network. It's sadly familiar to many frustrated Web surfers, who have been surprised to discover it mysteriously installed on their desktops serving them extra helpings of ads.

The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Dow Jones Company sued Gator back in 2002 for the way its ads appeared as parasites on their sites. But even though the original Gator software can be considered one of the original plague carriers of the spyware blight -- be careful about calling it that. The company has repeatedly threatened its critics with libel lawsuits for dubbing it "spyware."

The fact that a "privacy officer" for a company that made its name sneaking onto computers all over the word is now helping to determine what should be done with data collected by the Department of Homeland Security might be alarming to some people. But is it really all that shocking? The D.H.S.'s own chief privacy officer is no stranger to the ins and outs of interactive marketing either. She used to work for the online marketing firm, DoubleClick.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html#gator

See also:
Adware maker joins federal privacy board (news.com)

[SpiralHawk]

1. Move along. There's nothing to see here.

The Republican Federal Monopoly (RFM) herby orders you to turn your attention to ESPN and catch up on the Barry Bonds saga.

And remember, Big BushCo loves you.

Homeland, Homeland, rah rah rah !

[aden_nak]

2. Homeland Security having trouble with SPYWARE. Classic.

[B3Nut]

3. Why am I not surprised?

Par for the course for this gang. Surprised they haven't hired spam kings as well. Oh well...job security for those of us in IT who have to clean up after these subhuman sociopathic parasites' crapware has infested a user's machine...

Todd in Beerbratistan

[havocmom]

4. Being paranoid does not innoculate you from attacks.

They really are out to get us.

[President Jesus]

5. D Reed Freeman's campaign contributions (take a guess!)

Another shady partisan hack: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?last=Freeman&first=D+Reed

[Roland99]

6. He was a partner in Collier Shannon Scott which is also a huge PAC

Previous info on Freeman
http://www.delcreo.com/delcreo/blogs/ermPeople/archives/2004_04_01_ermpeople_archive.html
Names D. Reed Freeman, Jr. as Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs

Redwood City, CA—(PRNewswire)—April 20, 2004—“Claria Corporation (www.claria.com) today announced that D. Reed Freeman, Jr. will assume the position of Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs for the company. Mr. Freeman, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, will spearhead Claria's continued commitment to industry-leading online advertising privacy practices. He will also represent Claria's interests both in Washington and internationally, coordinating Claria's efforts on policy matters.”

DelCreo, Inc. Enterprise Risk Management Team
1.866.335.2736
001.801.756.4180
[e-mail]

Collier Shannon Scott is also a PAC:
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/collier_shannon_scott_pllc_political_action_committee.asp
Name COLLIER, SHANNON, SCOTT, PLLC POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Connected Organization Name NONE
Address 3050 K STREET NW SUITE 400
WASHINGTON, DC 20007
Interest Group Category --
Affiliated Party --
Affilitated Candidate --

Total Receipts 130,191
Transfers From Affiliates 0
Contributions From Individuals 127,191
Contributions From Other Political Committees 0
Total Loans Received 0
Total Disbursements 127,764
Transfers To Affiliates 0
Refunds To Individuals 0
Refunds to Committees 0
Loan Repayments 0
Beginning Cash 6,235
Ending Cash 4,791
Debts Owed By 0
Nonfederal Transfers Received 0
Contributions Made To Other Committees 126,374
Independent Expenditures Made 0
Party Coordinated Expenditures Made 0
Nonfederal Share of Expenditures 0

And it's split pretty evenly between Dem candidates and Rep.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/fec/?commid=C00301929

[The Minus World]

7. Total Information Awareness?

That is actually rather disconcerting. The "is it really all that shocking?" sentence should have alleviated my fear, but rather it added to it - many Windows users have, or have had, Gator/Claria and DoubleClick installed on their computers.

All it takes is a little dip into your registry to see if you've been infected by the Chief Privacy Officer of Homeland Security.

[Megahurtz]

8. Lol!

That's funny!