Article Detail - World of Warcraft News

WoW scans your IE browser history... uh-oh...

Posted Nov 25, 2006 at 10:33PM by Chris L. Listed in: Off Topic Tags: Blizzard, Firefox, Digg

Flukes submitted this JPEG screencap to Digg which could be funny, freaky, or downright furiously worrisome, depending on where you stand in the online privacy debate. Here's what Flukes has to say:

The linked screenshot provides proof that WoW developer Blizzard is actively scanning players' browsing history and cookies. Early speculation is that this is a countermeasure against cheaters, but players are arguing that Blizzard has no right to access this highly private data.

(You will note with great trepidation that the next thing the program checks after the temp files is the Cookies folder)

Not knowing what Blizzard's reasons are for checking your computer's internet history, all everyone at Digg and here can do is speculate. Beyond jokes of (and we quote) "Worried about Blizz finding out about your (just use the sickest imagination you've got) pr0n collection?", there are some very serious repercussions from this.

One theory being strung out at Digg is that the game's actively looking for the computer having visited sites Blizzard frowns on for one reason or another. A more benign reason is that WoW could simply be saving cache files from the news ticker, or from the program's launcher, which is why it's accessing the temp folder. Could be an anti-scam thing, too. Of course, those are the benign reasons - who wants to speculate on the more overtly provocative ones?

But again, no one knows why, and Blizzard didn't say anything about this before. And a lot of people in Digg are seriously miffed and are, not to mention, switching to Firefox - unless WoW's designed to look in there, too.

[Via Digg] Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Digg It!

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by bigp (Unregistered) - 2006-11-25

» invasion of privacy

thats invasion of privacy. you could sue them for that, so i would call em up and b1tch em out =)

by Snowspot.net (Unregistered) - 2006-11-25

» Disturbing...

Hmm... I never thought any company besides Sony was trying to do this..but low and behold, one of the most popular games on the internet is doing it behind everyone's back! This should make you question all three of the next-gen competitors. What kind of personal information of yours will they hold? The wii has a browser, do you think Nintendo is able to see your history on there too? Can MS see everything you do on the 360? I don't even want to know the safety precautions Sony took...

It's a sad trend that people don't mind giving up their privacy, it's going to get scary in the future as technology develops! :-X

by James (Unregistered) - 2006-11-25

» ...

"Can MS see everything you do on the 360?" That was a dumb comment... MS owns your computer, MS owns your console.. what CAN'T they see? -.-

by Advertising -

by Gimlyly - 2006-11-26

» Aha!

Yet another reason to get Firefox!!!

by Diabl020 (Unregistered) - 2006-11-27

» IS this for real?

If this is for real, it raises major concerns.
Does the EULA for WoW allow for this clearly? As I recall, most, in fact all major companies inform you VERY clearly of what data they collect from your system before or during a program installation. Everything from Winamp to MS software to even opensource guys mention clearly if they are collecting ANY information from your PC for their own use.
THey can't hide stuff like this deep into the EULA.

This looks like a BIG lawsuit to me...

Re: Bryan (Unregistered) - 2006-12-06

» EULA

People seem to think that just because they click through a EULA, they're bound by all the conditions therein. Fact is, much of what's in there would be thrown out as unconscionable by a judge. That's why EVERY EULA has a severability clause: When the judge disallows one clause, the whole contract isn't necessarily validated.

Also, as far as contracts of adhesion (as opposed to negotiated contracts) are concerned, usually, the expectations of the consumer govern.

by irishlad78 (Unregistered) - 2006-11-27

» Put your tinfoil hats away

The Warden program is nothing new. You agree to the access it uses everytime you verify the EULA and TOS. If you're uncomfortable with what it does, then don't play the game, plain & simple.

Re: Akamar (Unregistered) - 2006-11-27

» Yeah?

Likely so.

I am curious as to what they're looking for, though..

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