Software that gathers information often for marketing/sales purposes or for resale to others without the user’s knowledge or permission. Usually, the presence of spyware on a computer is hidden. While often the information being gathered indicates where the user goes on the internet, it can also be used by some parties to get email addresses, passwords and other confidential information. Spyware can be attached to free downloaded information and then the gathered information is transmitted back to the originator. 

Software programs exist for detecting and removing Spyware and for preventing Spyware from being loaded onto the user’s computer