Software Bullying
Company's forcing users to adopt, sign-up, and agree to shit because they can.
Every morning, when I turn on my laptop, I am greeted with a message from Norton 360 Antivirus, “Your computer is at Risk!". This message has nothing to do with an actual security threat. My virus definitions and Norton software are up to date. This is software bullying at its finest, and Norton is a powerful and unrelenting bully.
It all started when I got tired of all the daily Norton messages. It was alarming and I assumed something must be wrong with the software. I tried completely deleting Norton and reloading. (A completely nightmarish process and worthy of its own post.) No change. The daily warnings continued. Searching the Norton FAQs and user community support provided no clues on how to stop the messages. I finally got on with Norton tech support via their chat tool.
Norton support jockeys’ favorite thing to do is to completely remove Norton and reinstall it. Their support personnel in India love to take control of your machine and do all the driving for you. Apparently this must be the best way to make Norton’s products work because the dozen or so times I have called, this is inevitably the action required. This process speaks volumes about Norton’s product, its complexity, and its invasiveness into your operating system and files. I’ve NEVER liked Norton for all of the above reasons and was able to avoid them for years by using other products. A recent software bullying requirement from a key client’s IT department required me to have Norton to work within their ecosystem. So I am reluctantly back in Norton’s clutches.
After multiple support tickets and elevation to level 2 support, it was determined that I am “at-risk” because I have not installed all of the Norton products. Norton wants me to install their web tools onto each of my browsers, use their VPN, use their password manager, and the list goes on. Turns out the only way to stop that “at-risk” message was to install the products. I was assured I could then delete them immediately after installing and the message would not come back.
Really!
This is the very definition of spam and malware. A product that invades your system and takes over operations. It borders on ransomware. This is software bullying at its finest.
And Norton is not alone. Adobe is equally complex. Equally as invasive. And equally as demanding about access to the internet, your files, and being “on” at all times.
This is the ecosystem approach taken by many of the long-standing software giants. You must use all of our integrated apps. No, you can’t pick and choose and no you can’t unbundle it.
The other kind of bullying takes the form of paying for necessary software but being forced to agree to invasive marketing and messaging requirements to use the product you purchased. A seller of refrigerators can’t force you to subscribe to regular messages, banners, and communications as a precondition to cool your food and make your ice. Nor can they require you to agree to marketing and use of your personal information. Why should I pay for the product and agree that they can do as they please with my info as a precondition to using my purchased product? Because they are and remain software bullies.
To be clear, I understand if I am not paying for the software then I AM the product - that is my information is how the company is making a profit. When I pay for a product however, I believe that they should be paying me to use my info. While babystep consumer rights inroads are being made on this front, nothing substantive or sweeping is happening in the US.
Rather than succumb to the bullying, I am fighting back.
Good morning Norton warning. You suck!