CCleaner Promises To Improve Data Collection System
In terms of PC maintenance software, CCleaner is one of the most popular software programs out there. Its ability to hunt down junk files on your system (particularly those that the inbuilt windows drive cleaner cannot) is one of the main reasons why for many people it’s a ‘go-to’ program for their system. It is so popular in fact that the designing company, Piriform, has been subject to many cyber attacks and on more than one occasion we have seen a ‘fake’ version of the software turn up online.
As part of more recent versions of the program though, CCleaner has included a form of data collection. This has, however, proven to be highly controversial with the userbase. As such, in a forum post, Piriform has promised to make the system a lot clearer in the future.
Active Monitoring
CCleaner has a data collection system called ‘active monitoring’. This anonymously gathers data to help them look to understand their user base better. It seems, however, that a lot of people don’t like the idea of this data collection. Piriform suspects that it might just be a little paranoid over the choice of the name.
Another criticism of the data collection is that opting out is apparently rather confusing and fairly well hidden. Based on this feedback, Piriform has said that while they will continue to use the ‘active monitoring’ software, they will make opting out of the data collection a clearer process.
Should Users Be Worried?
Piriform seems very clear and upfront as to the reasons for the data collection. I have it installed on my computer and I’m not concerned in the slightest. If you are new to it though, we’d always recommend that you ensure that you download it directly from the Piriform website. 3rd party providers can be a minefield for adware, malware and other computer nasties.
What do you think? Which maintenance software programs do you use? – Let us know in the comments!
