QQ and spyware

[tooironic]

So to settle the question once and for all: does Tencent QQ have spyware?

[abcdefg]

It has a lot, but mostly just "tracking cookies." I never encountered anything truly malicious.

[BrandeX]

I started getting popup ads when I tried it, so I switched back to Pidgin.

[abcdefg]

I got a lot of popups too.

[zise58]

yes and have a lot

[taylor04]

yes, I have had to reinstall it many times because I'll accidentally delete it when I scan my computer...

[ABCinChina]

Yes, I don't think it's a particularly "safe" software, but you have to use it. I'm currently using TM2009, but even it does some suspicious stuff all the time.

[tooironic]

Do you really have to use it? Aren't there other software or websites you can use instead?

[BrandeX]

Correct, there is no need to ever install QQ. You can use their web based service at web.qq.com or a generic IM client such as Pidgin. www.pidgin.im

[ABCinChina]

Are these universal IM clients easy to use? I like the idea of combining AIM/MSN/QQ all into one. Will you lose any functionality such as one click to QQ spaces, MSN profile look-ups, etc.?

[eatfastnoodle]

that will depend on how you define "spyware", certainly there are adware in combined size bigger than MS windows. My suggestion would be getting away as far as possible from official QQ (there is a reason Tencent became a multi-billion giant, in fact, the biggest internet company in China, in merely a decade.) Try open source alternative if possible. Though Tencentl, in order to protect is own revenue, takes very very very seriously any real or perceived threat to its core business, which is QQ. So don't bet on your alternative QQ last long. Chances are every time there is a upgrade, your alternative QQ would be bricked (to use a phrase reserved for Apple.) You can consider QQ as a company with Apple's control freak streak AND Microsoft's monopolistic power.

[ABCinChina]

Pidgin doesn't work very well with QQ. It worked the first time when I used client version 2008, then I logged on and logged on and it says my account was disabled. Now I can't log on using the normal QQ. Anyone know the correct settings?

Edit: There do seem to be some bugs with Pidgin. After adding some other accounts, they don't show up but shows as active in the account list. And some of the functionality is not there. For instance, if you want to add a new buddy, you have to sign out of Pidgin and use the normal program to do so.

Edited March 1, 2010 at 06:47 AM by ABCinChina

[BrandeX]

I've found the most reliable method is to use web.qq.com

[pancake]

The Mac version seems quite harmless.

[liuzhou]

you have to use it

No, I most definitely do not.

[gregorcn]

The NYTimes recently wrote:

"China’s leading instant-messaging service, called QQ, automatically installs a program on users’ computers that monitors their communications and blocks censored text."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/asia/08censor.html?pagewanted=2&ref=technology

Does anybody have another source for this? If this is true, one more reason not to use QQ...

[Bob in Mars]

Not sure about that, but if someone wants to chat with Chinese, he/she just can't run away from QQ ....

Hey, anybody heard about this joke:

If 100 Chinese r using the Internet, 99 of them r using QQ ! .......Wait a minute, where is last one? ...... He is busy installing QQ ! : )

[BrandeX]

Use web based QQ chats instead then, you don't need to use their client.

[roddy]

Or send them to get the Chinese version of MSN - given the number of posts on here about the hassles and dangers of QQ, it's got to be the easier option.

[tooironic]

Not sure about that, but if someone wants to chat with Chinese, he/she just can't run away from QQ ....

In my experience, the vast majority of Chinese people I meet both online and irl have MSN as well, so it's never really been an issue for me.