14 DAY TRIAL // HP is the latest big name dragged into a scandal involving spying allegations, as the company has reportedly installed spyware on customers’ computers with a driver update that might collect data without consent.
While these claims aren’t entirely proven just yet, a report from CW indicates that it all started earlier this month when HP replaced its Touchpoint Manager software with a new driver called HP Touchpoint Analytics Service.
The driver update was shipped to users via the integrated Windows Update and deployed automatically on Windows computers, obviously without displaying a prompt or asking for consent.
The problem with this new HP software is that it slows down computers and is reportedly collecting some data that’s silently sent to the parent company – this is a behavior that is suggested straight by the name of the service, though it’s very clear that user consent should be given before the data collection starts.
Users report substantial slowdowns
HP itself confirms that HP Touchpoint Manager is no longer shipped as a standalone program, but says nothing about any privacy chances that could require users’ consent.
“The HP Touchpoint Manager technology is now being delivered as a part of HP Device as a Service (DaaS) Analytics and Proactive Management capabilities. Therefore, HP is discontinuing the self-managed HP Touchpoint Manager solution. From helping you enforce a mobile security policy to wiping a device, HP Touchpoint Manager features the tools you need to ensure all your managed devices’ security—and brings you greater peace of mind,” the firm explains.
There are users complaining of substantial slowdowns after installing the driver update, possibly caused by the service running in the background to collect data and send information to HP.
The cited report links to such a claim posted on HP’s official forums and which is yet to receive a response from the parent company until now.
“From yesterday to today it's been making my computer work so hard I can hear it like cranking away and the light in the back of my computer is flashing rapidly in-tune with the cranking. In Task Manager I can see it starting and stopping numerous applications, it's client service and installer, console window host, command prompts, timeout-pause command prompt, it's causing a lot of up and down use of AntiMalware service executable and local system,” one user said.
Neither HP nor Microsoft commented on these claims so far, but we’ve reached out to both and we’ll update the article should some clarification be provided.