Anyway, regardless of how you got it, some software tracks your online activity and more and then sends that data back to some marketing company somewhere so they can add it to your profile. If you want to prevent that from happening, installing a spyware scanner is the best way.

Note that some anti-virus programs will scan for spyware, but leave adware alone but because ad-ware is technically legal. That's why you need to install and run a spyware scanner now and then.

Currently, we recommend Ad-aware spyware scanner.

There are several different free adware and spyware scanners, but Ad-Aware is one of the simplest to use. Just install it and run the scanner every week or so to make sure that any spyware that sneaks onto your computer gets removed.

The sick thing about this story is that the spyware wasn't a hack against these companies, but was planned and sanctioned by the companies.

Between April 2007 and January 2008, visitors to the Kmart and Sears web sites were invited to join an "online community" for which they would be paid $10 with the idea they would be helping the company learn more about their customers. It turned out they learned a lot more than participants realized or that the feds thought was reasonable. To join the "My SHC Community," users downloaded software that ended up grabbing some members' prescription information, emails, bank account data and purchases on other sites. Sears called the group that participated "small" and said the data captured by the program was at all times secure and was then destroyed.

Remember that there are no laws currently to protect against the abusive data collection and sharing practices that many companies employ. Be careful with your data and don't trust even the most reputable-seeming companies to choose your privacy over the almighty dollar.