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Support Main Page > Is WeatherBug spyware or adware? >
WeatherBug is a safe and secure desktop application that delivers live local weather and life saving alerts to millions of people a month. WeatherBug does not have, and never has had, the capability to track surfing habits or “spy” on its users.
A desktop application allows you to build a relationship with your audience. All desktop applications serve a purpose of bringing valuable content to customers, pushing out pertinent information, and eliminating the time-consuming “search” aspect of the Web. In this way, people are better able to stay informed of the world around them.
Why does WeatherBug have advertising?
It is the advertising sponsors that keep WeatherBug free. WeatherBug found a unique way to make an ad- support ed application “relevant” to each user by allowing them to choose the type of advertising they see every day within the clearly specified limits of the WeatherBug advertising platform. In addition, an “ad-free” version of WeatherBug, called WeatherBug Plus, is available to users for only $19.95 a year. For this price, consumers get all the great features of the free application plus additional premium features in an ad-free environment.
Isn't an application that serves ads “Adware?”
One of the big problems with the term “adware” is the lack of a standard definition. We believe that the proper definition of adware is any p rogram that secretly gathers personal information through the Internet and relays it back to another computer, generally for advertising purposes. This is often accomplished by tracking information related to Internet browser usage or habits.
WeatherBug is not “Adware.” WeatherBug's is incapable of tracking the trends of its customers' Web use or deciphering anything on customers' local or hard drives. WeatherBug does not “snoop” on its users, nor does it have functionality to determine what users were doing, where they were before WeatherBug was opened or where they go after using WeatherBug.
Are desktop applications Safe?
The frequency of Internet desktop applications has increased dramatically in the last five years in many categories, including instant messengers, weather applications, rich media players (e.g., Real Player and Windows Media Player), and so on. Many of these products are free, support ed by advertising, and developed by trusted brands. Unfortunately, the frequency of Internet properties that are not trustworthy or forthright in their objectives has also increased in recent years. Because of this, protecting the rights and privacy of our consumer and business users has become a top priority at WeatherBug.
We at WeatherBug are scrupulously careful about the inalienable rights of our millions of consumer and business users, and adhere to the strictest standards relating to meaningful notice, informed consent and user control. Read our Bill of Rights; it's the strongest in the industry, by far.
We require any software that is integrated with WeatherBug, including the WeatherBug Browser Companion powered by My Search, to be spyware- and adware-free, too.
In order to insure that your computer is free from spyware and other problem applications, we recommend downloading and running a detection program. While WeatherBug does not endorse any specific detection product, here are links to companies with which we are familiar. The developers of these products advertise them as reliable and effective programs for detecting spyware.
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