oDesk.com from the start
Recently I registered into oDesk.com and was looking for some manpower for a future plan I have.
Everything was fine until one of the guys at my company came to me asking If I know that someone is tracking my steps.
We opened Wire Shark to investigate it a little further only to find out that oDesk is the one that following my steps.
Now, I think it is important to mention I am working for a security company so I know things, more then that is the fact we have a product just for issues like this, to look for Malware, Viruses and other bad guy’s applications.
I will not say the name of my company or what is our product because I am not coming to advertise.
I came out of respect to my community and to warn others.
oDesk.com registered user
So in case you are oDesk registered user, please read some pages which explain how to identify this specific malware called- iesnaer and of course how to remove it and prevent it from downloading again.
After I read the above site I did a simple Google search and found that I am not the first one to complain about oDesk.com spying, see this-
What they are doing with my data
One thing important to write is that I don’t know why oDesk.com is doing that and what they intend to do with the data they collect.
They may do it out of a good and innocent reason.
But I know for sure they didn’t ask my permission for such an act and I know that I don’t like being followed by strangers.
In case you have more input on that case and would like to share with others, be my guest.
Update – Dec/1 2012
I got the following response from oDesk.com today:
Thank you for sharing your concerns about the use of iesnare. Our privacy policy addresses your concern and is set forth in detail in Section 2.13 of oDesk’s User Agreement.
As stated in the first paragraph, “oDesk reserves the right to use the general data (not personally identifiable) it obtains from Users’ use of the system, including all statistical information. You acknowledge that such data belongs to oDesk and that oDesk shall have the right to use such general data as it determines in its sole discretion.” The device id assigned by iesnare is not associated with personally identifiable information, and the use of the device identifier can accordingly be used at our discretion–such as to detect possible instances of fraud or attempted breaches of security.
Additionally, Section 2.13.5 of the User Agreement explains, “We also collect IP address and other system information for purposes of statistical analysis and to maintain the trust and security of the oDesk Platform.” An example: oDesk uses the system information it collects to detect situations in which a user may be violating other sections of the oDesk User Agreement, such as the requirement that each user have only one oDesk account, and that each oDesk account be used by only one user. In this way, oDesk protects the integrity of our marketplace and strives to provide a higher quality experience to our users.
We believe that our practices are reasonable and that our disclosure of them is sufficient under applicable law. We recognize, however, that your opinions on these matters may differ, and we respect your right to terminate your use of oDesk, if you so choose.
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Respectfully,
Michael
oDesk
Thank you for sharing your concerns about the use of iesnare. Our privacy policy addresses your concern and is set forth in detail in Section 2.13 of oDesk’s User Agreement.
As stated in the first paragraph, “oDesk reserves the right to use the general data (not personally identifiable) it obtains from Users’ use of the system, including all statistical information. You acknowledge that such data belongs to oDesk and that oDesk shall have the right to use such general data as it determines in its sole discretion.” The device id assigned by iesnare is not associated with personally identifiable information, and the use of the device identifier can accordingly be used at our discretion–such as to detect possible instances of fraud or attempted breaches of security.
Additionally, Section 2.13.5 of the User Agreement explains, “We also collect IP address and other system information for purposes of statistical analysis and to maintain the trust and security of the oDesk Platform.” An example: oDesk uses the system information it collects to detect situations in which a user may be violating other sections of the oDesk User Agreement, such as the requirement that each user have only one oDesk account, and that each oDesk account be used by only one user. In this way, oDesk protects the integrity of our marketplace and strives to provide a higher quality experience to our users.
We believe that our practices are reasonable and that our disclosure of them is sufficient under applicable law. We recognize, however, that your opinions on these matters may differ, and we respect your right to terminate your use of oDesk, if you so choose.
—
Respectfully,
Michael
oDesk