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Description:
Bonzi buddy is a downloaded 'helper' application for the Bonzi site which tracks your online
activities to deliver 'relevant' content (ie. advertising) to your PC. You may remember Bonzi Buddy from
his earlier days as a talking green parrot before he morphed into a purple ape. The program features
this ape who talks, tells jokes and learns all about you. The program also prompts users for personal
information, tracks usage, adds icons and programs to the PC and often resets the browser homepage to
BONZI.COM without asking permission.
How do you get
it?
Bonzi Buddy is actively distributed from Bonzi.com. Bonzi Buddy is installed on your computer when choosing to
install him.
Details:
Bonzi Buddy delivers contextual advertising to the end user. It is displayed on your PC based on a
profile it builds about your surfing habits that is collected and stored on a file on your computer
while you browse the internet. The Bonzi program gradually builds incentives and pressure to join the
'Bonzi' site featuring advertisements highlighting membership and 'add-ons' (for a fee of course).
Installation begins easily enough with a simple download from the Bonzi site which offers the program for
free. Naturally, the first question when installation begins is whether you would like to make the
Bonzi site your homepage which allows the use of all of Bonzi's 'cool' features. Although I'm not sure
why exactly the Bonzi homepage needs to be set as the default to use some of these features I chose
'yes' during the install. (hmmm...)
Ok, now here comes the good part - the License agreement from Bonzi. The beginning of the agreement is
pretty standard fare, but section number 4, the Privacy section is a mouthful. Here is an excerpt from
the Bonzi Buddy EULA :
4. PRIVACY
- From time to time, the Software will send information to and receive information from servers
maintained by Bonzi Software.
- When you engage in certain activities with the Software, such as registration, or ordering product,
the Software may prompt you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting
an online form.
- the Software may prompt you to provide personal information such as your first and last name,
mailing address, e-mail address, and other personal identifying information. When ordering products or
services, you may be asked to provide a credit card number.
An updated version of the Bonzi Software Privacy Policy may always be found at http://www.bonzi.com/privacypolicy.htm.
Ok, so we know that our dear Bonzi friend is sending our information back and forth over the internet.
Actually, he's also admitted that it could be credit card numbers and personal identifying information
but the important part about that is what exactly he does with it. The section on the information
collected and how it is used is long. Here are the highlights from the EULA:
Information Collected and How It Is Used
- We collect two types of information: (1) "Personally Identifiable Information" (such as name and
e-mail address) and (2) "Anonymous Statistical Information" (such as how many users visited our web site
last month). "Personally Identifiable Information" is non-anonymous information such as your name, phone
number, credit card information, address or e-mail address -- anything that could identify you
personally.
-
We use your e-mail address to send registration reminders and to notify you of new software releases,
updates, special offers, and news.Separately, we send service notifications via e-mail to keep you
informed about the status of your service and to provide updates and technical notices.
-
We maintain log files of the traffic that visits our website. We do not link the information gathered in
these log files to personally identifiable information. Log files are used to manage traffic loads and
information technology requirements for providing reliable service. Information collected includes IP
addresses, browser types, operating systems, domain names, access times, and referring Web site
addresses.
-
The information we collect with cookies is not sold, rented, or shared with any outside parties. We only
use cookies to remember user preferences, maximize performance of our services, and deliver more
relevant content to you.
Sharing Information with Third Parties
-
We may share "Anonymous Statistical Information" with third parties.
-
We may from time to time send promotional messages on behalf of other companies. If we do this, we will
not provide them with your personal information.
Considering all of the above, Bonzi Buddy doesn't seem to be that bad. The information collected and
how it is used is very specific when you read the EULA... so I clicked "I agree to the terms" and
proceeded on with the install.
It should be smooth sailing from here on in.. whoa.. wait a sec, what is this? I've just been presented
with 'companion programs'. Hmmm.. "Save Now", "Clock Sync" and "Weather Cast" - what are these?
Ok, I've found them, hidden in a tiny little screen that is barely readable on the bottom left:
- WeatherCast brings your current local weather conditions and 5-day forecast to your desktop at
all times. If your Internet connection is active, your WeatherCast system tray icon temperature will be
updated every half hour.
- SaveNow shows you relevant coupon offers, contextual information and services as you surf the Web.
SaveNow attempts to display offers at the moment when they are most relevant to you. Offers and
information are displayed in the form of interstitials ("pop-up ads") and various other ad formats.
The SaveNow software selects which ads and offers to display to individual users based on several
factors, including: URLs associated with web pages visited by the user, search terms typed by the user
into search engines, HTML content of the web pages viewed by the user and the local zip code of the user
. SaveNow ads and offers are delivered in a separate, independent window controlled by WhenU.com, are
not endorsed or affiliated with anyone other than WhenU.com and may in fact be competitive with some of
the sites visited by the user while online.
Ummm... hmm.. this isn't exactly what I had in mind with a nice talking purple ape. Bombarded by
advertisements?? To their credit it does appear that you can install Bonzi Buddy without SaveNow but
then again this is set as a default so I've left it checked. I'll just explore some of the companion
EULA:
PRIVACY STATEMENT
- ClockSync does not store personally-identifiable information required or collected in order to use the
software.
- WeatherCast does store your zip code or city on your desktop in order to provide you with your local
weather, however, there is NO personally-identifiable information required or collected in order to use
the software.
- By downloading the SaveNow software, you give permission to WhenU.com to display relevant contextual
information and offers. The SaveNow software selects which ads and offers to display to individual users
based on several factors, including: URLs associated with web pages visited by the user, search terms
typed by the user into search engines, HTML content of the web pages viewed by the user and the local
zip code of the user.
The software protects users' privacy by uploading a database of content in small chunks to individual
desktops and then determining on the desktop whether or not to retrieve information from WhenU.com
or third-party servers. To protect user privacy, the same database of content is sent to all desktops.
Decisions regarding which ads to retrieve to an individual desktop are all processed on the user's
desktop - and isolated from WhenU.com servers.
Ok wait a sec here.. SaveNow is going to use my computer?
(There is a section here on how WhenU doesn't collect any personally identifiable information..
)
- Each individual desktop is assigned an anonymous, unique machine ID. This machine ID is used ONLY to
enable WhenU.com to count unique, active desktops in the network. The machine ID is NOT used to
determine which ads to serve individual users or to create browsing profiles of users. When ads are
displayed by the software, impressions and clickthroughs are reported to WhenU.com servers. To protect
user privacy and prevent WhenU.com or any third party from assembling user profiles, the unique machine
ID is NOT included in the impression and clickthrough reports sent by the desktop to WhenU.com servers.
- SaveNow does NOT place any cookies on your desktop. It is possible that a third party advertising on our
network might place a cookie on your desktop. If you wish to opt-out from third party cookies, please
click on the following link and follow the instructions:http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.a
sp
- WhenU.com may update privacy statements for the SaveNow software at any time. A current version of the
SaveNow privacy statement is available at http://www.whenu.com/about_savenow.html
Ok, so my purple friend has just been installed. Not that I'm complaining, I did install this program
but things aren't exactly looking good. Bonzi Buddy just informed me that he has a "Ton of connections
on the Internet and can save me a ton of money on all the products that I love." I have had him
installed for all of about two minutes. There is also a new browser window open advertising that I can
"Access my computer from anywhere".
(Apparently while writing this my new friend got tired - he just
informed me hes going to get some 'shut eye', I think I'll click on his icon on the desktop to see what
exactly he does.)
Hmmm.. Bonzi Buddy is going to make some 'suggestions' about where I should go on
the Internet - he also wants to know how I connect to it. Ok, I've told him, now he's opened up a
browser window and taken me to Bonzi.com. I've also listened to a full advertising spiel on how
wonderful Bonzi.com is. This was followed by a pop-up asking me to set it as a default page and now a
regsitration for Bonzi Buddy rapidly followed by a 'personality tab' where I can set how talkative I'd
like this increasingly annoying purple ape to be. Considering his default is set closer to the 'less'
and and he's barely stopped jabbering on I'd hate to see the 'more'. I just clicked on the "email"
settings and was forwarded to the membership page (of course the whole time I'm typing this Bonzi Buddy
is advertising himself and he's not exactly cheap):
For a limited time, you can become a BonziBUDDY GOLD Member and receive ALL of Bonzi's add-ons plus
Premium Gold Technical Support for only $49!
Ok, I'm convinced, this program is more advertising on my PC than I have had in a very long time. Every
thing Bonzi Buddy has done so far has been accompanied by some promotion of some kind. He's been on my
computer for all of a few minutes and and he'll be coming right off of it.
Hidden by this annoying cute ape I am suspicious of a very intrusive program with the constant popups or
confirmation windows for one thing or another. It could be because this is an inital setup but I am
positive it won't get much better from here.
As a matter of fact, running a scan with AdAware has
revealed not one or even ten new scumware components but 168 new items. Hold on a 168?! Yes, on my
previously scum free computer I now have 4 processes, 101 Registry keys, 11 Registry Values, 46 files
and 6 folders!
I knew it was going to be bad but I didn't think it would be that bad. UGH!
How does it Violate
Privacy?
To display an advertisement to a user the program(s) match the profiles built
as you surf the internet with advertisers within the database. The sites that are visited and the
keywords that are entered can be tracked with cookies and through the software programs themselves.
Bonzi indicates they do not collect any personally identifiable information but go on to state that they
have no control over the third party companies they work with. Supplying things such as your email
address during a 'registration' could be passed through to other companies.
Are
there any known security issues?
Bonzi Buddy and its companions are capable of automatically self updating, installing
software and services on your computer and collecting personal information as well as aggregate
information about your surfing habits. Bonzi Buddy has been known to install other software such as
ClickTilUWin without consent.
Bonzi also offers a potential security risk with the transmission of user supplied email address and demographic
information that is shared with third parties.
Stability
problems:
There are no known stability
problems at this time, other than a decrease in performance related to the programs installed and how
they are used.
Terminating Bonzi Buddy:
Removing Bonzi Buddy isn't as simple as it might first sound. Since Bonzi Buddy is
installed with 'optional components' removing your little buddy with the Uninstall feature of the
program won't get rid of everything.
- First you need to close the Bonzi Buddy program. Click on Bonzi and say
"Goodbye" to end the program. Next, right click on the dollar sign icon next to your clock to close the
SaveNow program and choose "Exit".
- Click on START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL > ADD/REMOVE
PROGRAMS. Click "OK" to start the removal process. Select Bonzi Buddy and click "Remove". While you
are removing Bonzi Buddy, you will also have to remove the 'companion' features that were installed with
him. Find and remove ClockSync, SaveNow and WeatherCast. Note that both ClockSync and WeatherCast
issue popup's to confirm that you 'really' want to remove them.
- Exit the Remove/Install Programs feature in Windows and restart your computer.
- Finish the uninstall by running a program such as AdAware. To detect remnant
files, registry keys and cookies.
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