What happened?
The popular PC cleanup tool CCleaner has been forced to step back from changes that meddled with user privacy. An update to version 5.45 of the software introduced controversial new data-monitoring features that were designed to help the developers improve the product CCleaner is developed by Piriform. which was recently bought by security company Avast. Piriform didn't offer much detail on the change in the release notes. only saying it had "added more detailed reporting". Users noticed that if they turned cff the data collection. it re-enabled itself next time the software started. Also. it's difficult to completely turn off CCleaner: clicking the 'X' in the top-right corner doesn't fully close the program - it only minimizes and continues to run in the background.
Following complaints from CCleaner forum users, Piriform withdrew the update and explained in a post (brtiy/ piriforin456) that the information is collected under a system it calls Heartbeat. This is anonymous and designed to spot bugs. identify poor interface design and help the developer decide which features to focus its efforts on. It also admitted that it had added the new data-collection system to the existing Active Monitoring feature, which watches for 'junk data' that accumulates on your PC to help keep it clean. But combining the two features made it impossible to use one and nct the other. Nov. CCleaner will separate Active Monitoring (the junk file hunter) and Heartbeat (the data collection for pro duct improvement) into two separate systems.so users can enable ether option or both.and disable one if they don't want to use it. These choices are remembered when the software is closed. Piriforrn also said it would rename Advanced Monitoring, noting that the "scary name" may be alarming people and preventing them from using a key feature. The privacy uproar comes a year after the PC•cleaning software was hijacked and used by hackers to infect computers, potentially getting access to sensibve data. That was embarrassing for Avast. the security company that had bought CCleaners maker Piriform only a few months before.
How will it affect you?
If you use CCleaner. check which version you're running and disable any features - snooping or otherwise - that you aren't happy with. If you're on a version before 5.05, it may be worth avoiding updating to the newer edition that's fraught with these privacy issues. If you're on 5.05 already. Piriform has promised a new version in the next few weeks, though it hasn't specifically said when it will be released. If you're nervous about your data being collected in the meantime, it may be worth temporarily uninstalling the software or not running it until the new version arrives. But remember that clicking the 'X' in the corner isn't enough to shut down the software completely - to do so, open the Task Manager In your version of Windows, select Cdeaner and click End Task. If you restart your PC, open Task Manager again to check if CCleaner has also restarted. It's worth thinking about whether you even need Caeaner. If you're only using it to clear away old temporary files. that's easy enough to achieve without installing a piece of software, while Gearing out what nins on startup and uninstalling unwanted programs can be done directly through Windows. We recommended the best free alternatives to CCleaner in our cover feature in Issue 450 (bit.ty/web user450).
What do we think?
Trust is important to PC users and many of us are sensitive to privacy matters right now. Any software developer that thinks it has a right to track and monitor you to impart its product isn't thinking straight. Imagine if you bought a toaster and it tracked how often you loaded it with slickest bread. It sounds silly, but when developers assume they can monitor use, it's just as ridiculous. Users don't owe developers their data. There's a simple solution for CCleaner and other software creators -just ask permission first. Many users will happily give it to get better software. That helps build trust, which is something CCleaner and Piriform could do with right row, since the pair of recent security a rod privacy debacles are casting a shadow.
