AOL/Netscape spies on surfers

Search queries are transmitted

Not only does Netscape log who downloads what files from the Internet, the search feature of the Netscape Browser even takes the whole story one step further. So here Netscape even records how surfers have searched for interesting offers - and what they were looking for in the web.

The "Search" button of the Netscape Browser hides a mechanism that is similar to the one employed by "SmartDownload". As soon as the user clicks this button, a Netscape web page with a search screen is displayed. Anything users enter in this search screen is automatically fed by Netscape not only to several search engines but also to Netscape's own operations.

The same mechanism we already know from SmartDownload is used to send a data packet to "cgi.netscape.com" in conjunction with the search request. As the Sniffer has shown here, too, this data packet does not only include the search words but also the user's e-mail address.

The combination of logging the downloads and spying on users' search requests turns users into transparent surfers under the eye of the Netscape Browser for good: whatever users are looking for in the web, whatever files users ultimately download to their own computers - it is all eagerly recorded by Netscape.

The fact that the "Smart Browsing" feature, which is also allocated a button of its own in the "What's related" Netscape dialog box, produces the same side effects merely rounds off the picture. However, users can at least switch off this feature via the "Edit/Preferences" menu.