QQ International - Spyware?

after i downloaded and used QQI once my phone has been eating up my data and there's a big discrepancy between what my phone says as data used and what my phone company says. My phone has become so very slow when sending messages and trying to make phone calls that i think it is related because none of it existed until i downloaded QQ. I swear if this is spyware and if and when i find out then i will do everything possible to have it blocked in the US and have those responsible tracked down and exposed for the world to see. I feel it's yet another Chinese government spy tool. Both our nations have agreements and i expect China to uphold their end for once...  I should add that a company in the US that steals data illegally or knowingly allows a foreign nation to steal and share with the chinese government is considered spying and espionage. If found guilty the terms are the worse on the books. Not long ago the punishment was the firing squad but now i think its 40 years or 30? You would actually get less time for murder which is kinda screwed up imo. 

wow i am a chinese girl ,and my engish is not so well

one of my friends on msn who told he always learn chinese on the website

...

and i see u guys are so kind ,

i like the topic ,QQ

and i have QQ..

anyone wanna add me ?

 i just wanna be ur frineds and we can teach each other

this is my qq:344510707

I got 5 qq. Does anyone has qq more than I ? HAHA~

Yikes! I just finished reading the whole thread to date.  Someone in my household is using QQ; now I am gripped with fear and will attribute every glitch to it ;).  Seriously, I am definitely going to run an AdAware scan.  Last time I poked around on CPod to look for info about QQ International I could not find anything related to the partnership that I had seen previously.  Has CPod disassociated itself with QQ?  Please let us know.

I got my QQ number 1st time without any problems at all, following Rich's advice - thanks Rich! Although it did not follow the same sequence - perhaps the site has been re-designed.  

Now I have to decide whether to use it!   

Can anyone give me an update on the use of QQ?  Most of the comment here is pretty negative - I am wondering if poddies still feel the same way about QQ.  Can any current users of QQ give me the benefit of their advice?  Am I putting my computer at risk using QQ?  What are the current dangers involved in using QQ for email and chat?  

xiaophil,

I found this site @ google when I was searching for an English-learning site.

我的英语太烂了，想提高提高，呵呵。

咱们走着瞧吧！

Tal

I pray not, but I sense a sock puppet.

@lynnjiao
I was speaking from my own personal experience of course. No doubt there are many Chinese people who are very aware of virus and spyware issues.

As xiaophil has mentioned however, spyware/malware is not always classed as a virus, and will not necessarily be considered harmful by many anti-virus applications. I have however frequently had warnings about various bits of Ten Cent code from many anti-spyware and anti-malware applications, (for example Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc).

Also, quite frankly, I would never willingly have QQ on any computer I use (or use it myself), mainly because I have noticed just how easy it seems to be to pick up viruses whilst using it. Perhaps such viruses spread easily through the network as users send stuff to each other or make contact, or perhaps it is used for fun by hackers who enjoy making mischief. Whatever it is, it does seem to happen a lot, and cleaning up virus infected computers or re-installing Windows (in Chinese!) is such a time-consuming bore.

Also personally I never use Instant Messaging progs because they are such thieves of time. Learning Chinese is time consuming enough as it is without another distraction.

lynnjiao但是， 我以前装了qq在我的电脑里，我的反抗malware程序立刻告诉我了我的电脑被qq传染了。spyware和virus不一样，不过两个都有点危险。不管怎么样，我注意到这是你第一次在CPod留言，我有点好奇，你是怎么找到这里的？

QQ is very hot in China.

I've got 3 accounts with different contacts.

And tal,

I'm afraid I don't agreed with you.

"Most Chinese don't even 'get' the concept of spyware/malware. If you try to explain it to them, they mostly don't care. It just seems entirely natural to them that a software company would do that, would want to be able to collect information about you, or be able to make money by pumping advertising at you or selling on info about your browsing habits, etc."

And,

Just like most of the free software,you can download and use QQ for free. So Ads will appear when you log in.It's normal.So you call it "spyware"?

It's not fair.

I have used QQ(Chinese version) for 9 years.No one of anti-virus softwares told me that QQ was a spyware.Kaspersky,Symantec antivirus,Kingsoft,Rising...no one.

jackyao,

Thanks for that mate.Great to hear from someone from the company.I have great faith in John though so I've already created an account.Now just gotta find some mates.

btw,you spilt a bit of that coffee on your left shirt collar,and I wouldn't have it so close to your laptop..could fry it.小心。 ：）

Hello everyone.  I'm glad to see that we have this QQ international discussion going on.

I'm currently working on QQ international, and before that I work at MSN China.

I want to make clear that QQ, as a company, never puts spyware in our products.  Yes, we do have advertisement in the software, just like any other web site.  But advertisement does not equal to spyware.  Spyware is something that steal your personal inforation such as password, your browsing histories.

In QQ, we treat privacy issue seriouslly.  We never collect PII(i.e., personal identifiable information, such as your phone number, home address).

Any questions, please feel free to contact me and I'm happy to discuss with you.

My QQ account is:1217767649

Enjoy QQ.

Looks like QQ cleaned up their act just over a year ago:

http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/11/25/8086-tencent-starts-blocking-chinese-qq-spyware-programs

hehe,

"stop repeating everything I say"

@Barbs

Sorry, I was a bit obscure.  思 is a subject which involves instruction in 'proper thinking'.  Rather like religious education in some Western schools?  I was in a way giving some further weight to tal's comments about the extent of critical thinking he has observed.  

This was my first experience in a Chinese PS.  I was un-nerved by the students ability to repeat everything I said.  I said "stop repeating everything I say" and they repeated "stop repeating everything I say".  I said "No, I want you to answer me in Chinese", and they said (in unison) ''No, I want you to answer me in Chinese".  I could only conduct a conversation in Chinese.  Oh well, I got some Chinese practice.  :-)   

Anyone know if the Ubuntu version has spyware too?

I've tried Pidgin and Empathy before, and it would rarely connect to the QQ servers, and often seemed to get my QQ account disabled.

Hey guys,I've been off at a fn and just caught up.Thanks for all your advice.xiaophil and stone_nomad,yeah I read about some of the workarounds earlier today like pigin and coral QQ which is apparantly going through the courts again in Shenzhen I think it was.I think there was also a premium service you could subscribe to to avoid the ads.[I also found that one of the downloads for QQ messenger I think it was works in Windows 7].Still,I'm a bit put off I must say.Thanks tal for your insights.Adware is one thing for them to be blase about but what about identity theft,bank account details,fraud,etc? Yeah,and I also came across some comments relating to spying by the powers that be which someone rightly pointed out is not too palatable to foreigners.changye,now there's a good idea.Only thing is here I don't think one'd be able to download qq software at an internet cafe and it's unlikely to be installed here.I suppose some services are still going to be available on the web though? As I've not used it before I'm not  too sure.bodawei,I think I will really have to 思 for a while.I'm sure I'm missing something hinted at in your comment.

I think it'd be great if Jenny got the QQ International folk [though it was founded down Shenzhen way I gather there's the international office in Shanghai] on the Jenny Zhu show and interviewed them and perhaps even addressed some of these concerns.I'm all ears.

I was able to get pigin to work with QQ a year or two ago under Linux. I only had one friend who wanted me to use it and so I've stoped using it, but for those that are real interested in comunicating with QQ people and not using tencent software it is worth a try.

@barbs, tal

I visited a primary school today and perused the blackboard in the teachers' room, noting that the kids have a subject abbreviated as 思. Understood 语, 英, 数, 科 （科学的科），体, 等等。But 思？ Time out for contemplation?  Sounds nice.  Asked a teacher '这是什么？and she said 思想的思。 Not to worry, only one period a day.  Say no more?

As a postscript, adults at university have a time in their day with a 'counsellor'. It was 'sports day' Friday and they were told that if they didn't go to the sports day they had to go to '思'.  Good way to get the numbers up for the 100 meters sprint?  

:-)    

Hi bababardwan

Furthermore, most young Chinese guys play computer games and QQ things at an Internet cafe. Who cares spywares and viruses?

baba, I thought by now you would have sussed that the concept of personal or individual freedom that westerners take for granted, is not a meaningful concept in (mainland) China. Chinese people are conditioned from an early age not to even desire such a thing, to subconsciously feel it is some kind of foreign decadence/nonsense.

I have had experiences trying to clean up PCs here which were infested with spyware and viruses caused by QQ. I will never have it on my own PC, (but have to put up with it on the one I share with my wife, because like many/most Chinese, she can't do without it.)

Most Chinese don't even 'get' the concept of spyware/malware. If you try to explain it to them, they mostly don't care. It just seems entirely natural to them that a software company would do that, would want to be able to collect information about you, or be able to make money by pumping advertising at you or selling on info about your browsing habits, etc.

QQ is immensely popular in China of course, you might as well say universal. Chinese people love wasting time on it, and any kind of ill effects seem unimportant to them compared with all the fun of the online 热闹, the chatting and the games and the tunes etc etc etc.

I privately suspect its popularity suits the powers that be, as I'd say it's almost certainly actually configured to allow hacking and spying by persons who might want/need to do that.

Baba

Almost everyone here is using a pirated OS.  A few people are savvy enough to have found a way to receive updates, but not most of them as far as I can tell.  Thus, most of the computers have a firewall that more metaphorically resembles a colander.  I never hear anybody mention this, let alone complain.  I'm not sure why this is, but I think it is because people are more used to shoddy equipment here, and as you said, more used to being silently observed.

I won't use QQ on my computer.  I wonder if CPod has thought this partnership through.

PS: there is a chat program called pidgin that supposedly can use QQ ID's.  My wife couldn't get it to work, though.  To tell the truth, she didn't really try too hard.

Long story, there was a Chinese girl who used my old computer and installed QQ and all the Tencent software and my computer is now completely unusable.  谢天谢地我有我的笔记本电脑。

That was a couple years ago, I don't know if they've improved or not, I don't dare find out.  What's even worse if the OS debilitating malware that will infect your computer if you even think about going near any 百度提供的软件。好恐怖啊！

Malware or no malware 我并不怕，“大兄弟” 观看着我！

Thanks xiaohu,

Well as tempted as I am to check out QQ and open an international QQ account I can't risk it when every internet reference to it seems to confirm spyware or malware risk and can find no reassurance to the contrary.Wikipedia says [though the article seems old]:

Because of QQ's extensive use of advertisements and processes related to ads, it has been branded as malicious adware by many anti-virus and anti-spyware vendors

Another comment from the net from mid last year:

I am an IT tech, and out of the 1000s of pcs ive seen in China, the only ones without spyware were owned by foreigners who dont use QQ.

..actually,this makes me really curious on what your average Chinese person thinks about this issue.Do they just accept spyware and not worry about it? Are they used to a big brother is watching type feeling [and see the big brother as entirely benevolent]? Any thoughts?

Yes, unfortunately I've found all the software put out by our good friends at Tencent Corp. to be spyware.  I

真可惜 Tencent Corp 所有提供的软件就是间谍软体。

Recent article on the new International version of QQ here:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/24/content_12530113.htm

Another one here:

http://www.mobinode.com/2009/11/28/tencent-not-going-global-with-qq-international/

I suppose it's a bit early for many Poddies to have an International QQ account? ,but how about a Chinese version QQ account?

Hang on:

"The QQ International right now has over 200k users since its official launch in October 2009"

Another telling comment:

"Popular international service such as Facebook and Twitter are not available in China right now, we think Tencent clearly sends a message saying, let’s connect on QQ International."

Hey,I just found this old CPod lesson on QQ:

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/msn-and-qq

I'm looking forward to the community discussion on it as much as the lesson.Looks like Bazza's been a champ posting there so looking for some insights.Still I'd like to hear more about this new international version.

So does anyone know whether this international QQ works on a windows 7 system? It only seems to mention xp and vista.Anyone else know anything about the spyware issue mentioned above?

Wow,some pretty amazing figures from the home page:

More than a billion registered accounts ! With China's population somewhere around 1.4 billion,that's approaching the equivalent of nearly everyone in China having an account[well,more than 2 out of 3 anyhow].Are rural poor likely to have an account? I guess some folk may have more than one account,or some may be old accounts.I wonder what proportion of accounts are from outside China? I suppose a contingent would be overseas Chinese.

Also over 50 million currently online on QQ and up to 90+million at peak.

哈，不明白你们在讨论什么！

Oh right.Thanks for that.I hadn't seen the CPod advert,but have seen it now.Though it's an international version,I presume it links seamlessly with the Chinese version? Is there a CPod blog on this? 

No no, it was a turn of phrase (alluding to Chinesepod's advert for it).

Here's the link though:

http://www.imqq.com/

As for Chinese QQ: I'm not sure if it still has spyware (google's unclear on the matter), but it's certainly very bloated.

byzanti,

When you say "this",did you mean to provide a link? If you have one I'd be very interested to check it out.Not keen on spyware though.What's the story there with the Chinese QQ? Is there a safe way to use the Chinese QQ without spyware risk?