Juno’s Plan for Control of Users’ PCs Raises Concerns
Juno Online Services Inc. may require subscribers of its free Internet service to give up more control of their computers, prompting complaints about privacy and security risks.
Juno, which now compels those users to view ads and share marketing data in exchange for free Internet service, wants to raise additional revenue by selling unused processing power from subscribers’ computers to research institutions and corporations.
Under such a plan, Juno software would run whenever subscribers leave their computers idle. The software would operate much like a screen saver and halt when the subscriber resumes computer use.
New terms posted on Juno’s Web site in recent weeks give the company the right to require new and existing free Internet subscribers to leave computers on around the clock.
A user’s computer could even be programmed by Juno’s software to automatically call Juno’s systems with computational results if the user does not access the service frequently.
Users would have to pay for electricity, computer maintenance and, in some cases, long-distance telephone charges. Juno and its partners would keep any profit if the computations generate anything of commercial value.
Richard Smith, chief technology officer for the Privacy Foundation, has qualms about opening up computers. “How do I know somebody isn’t messing with my data?” he asked. “I have concerns about how well their customers will be aware of what’s going on.”
In announcing the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Network initiative, Chief Executive Charles E. Ardai called it “a way to derive new forms of revenue from assets we already have.”’
Purveyors of free Internet access have struggled as revenue from online ads dwindle.
In December, online search portal AltaVista cut off about 3 million users from its free service. NetZero, Juno and BlueLight.com are the only major free services remaining. Juno hopes to remain so, but the company has yet to show a profit.
Juno claims more than 14 million registered users, 4 million of which it says log on at least once a month. They include free users and those who pay for premium services.
The Juno initiative is a form of “distributed computing,” a way of breaking complex tasks into smaller pieces on which individual computers can work. It is already done on a volunteer basis by astronomy buffs probing for extraterrestrial life.
Ardai said the company has not secured any deals to sell its supercomputing services, but he envisions signing up biotechnology companies as customers.
Demand for such computational power is expected to grow rapidly as the field of “bioinformatics” takes off. Bioinformatics, which requires massive number-crunching, is the use of computerized databases to help scientists decipher genetic information needed to combat disease and prolong life.
At first, Juno’s supercomputer network will be tested using volunteers. But if Juno needs more computing power, said spokesman Gary Baker, the company may require it of the heaviest users or all users of the free service.
Subscribers would have the option of upgrading to a paid service to avoid the requirement.
George Kurtz, chief executive of security company Foundstone Inc., said that although Juno’s service appears free, “you’re paying for the service with privacy.”
Kurtz is concerned about what might be monitored on a subscriber’s computer, how that information might be used and, from a security perspective, what kind of code would be run.
Bruce Murphy, chief executive of another security firm, Vigilinx, warned of “electronic Armageddon” if malicious software is distributed despite Juno’s best intentions.
Baker said Juno would institute unspecified safeguards to prevent its partners from commanding computers inappropriately. He also said Juno had no interest in snooping.
“This system is designed to use the processing powers of these computers and not to look at hard drives, read cookies or do anything of malicious fashion,” Baker said. “These things are not required to do what we need to do.”
