EchoMetrix - Kid protection software turns out to be spyware.

The original story is posted here :

http://hosted2.ap.org/HIHON/229cea0feec5482f81543bdaad3ec66c/Articl...

Summarized as : Web-monitoring software gathers data on kid chats

After reading the article, in essence it sounds lke the very product that is supposed to protect the kids, is in fact being used to spy on them and market products to them.
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"To get the marketing data, companies put in keywords, such as the name of a new product, and specify a date range. They get a "word cloud" display of the most commonly used words, as well as snippets of actual chats. The EchoMetrix system can slice data by age groups, region and even the instant-messaging program used.

Greene, the EchoMetrix CEO, said the company complies with U.S. privacy laws.
"We never know the name of the kid — it's bobby37 on the house computer," he said.

What the system will reveal is how "bobby37" and other teens feel about upcoming movies, computer games or clothing trends. Such information can help advertisers craft their marketing messages as buzz builds about a product.

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Just instills my confidence ! How about you ?