Is GlassWire spying?

Looking for information about the program before buy it, I found the following message in Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/user/DaronWilliamson/comments/b9e2zb/glasswire_is_spying_on_you/

Can anyone who has it check this out or can someone from GlassWire give an answer to this? I searched in the forum but I didn’t find anyone talking about this.

@Joseahfer

Thanks for posting. No, we do not spy on anyone and never have, and never will.

Your network activity never leaves your device at all for Windows or Android, so we could not see it even if we wanted to, even under court order!

Privacy Policy Details
https://www.glasswire.com/privacy/

It’s also funny that the post says GlassWire does not show its own network activity, when it does and always has. This is also mentioned in our FAQ that GlassWire checks for updates and updates its suspicious host list. You can check your firewall yourself to see and you can also make GlassWire block itself.

Unfortunately there actually are many apps that actually do collect all your network activity though. Just check their privacy policies. You should especially check out other “Data Usage” apps on Google Play and read their privacy policies to learn why they are ‘free’.

Another funny thing is that the Reddit post calls ManyCam part of the NSA. ManyCam is a virtual webcam software you can see here https://manycam.com/. Some of our team members worked on ManyCam before and we’re proud of our work. Many major entities like Stanford University, NASA, and many others used ManyCam. None of our team works on ManyCam currently though.

ManyCam_Virtual_Webcam
Download and use it yourself, there is nothing sinister or scary about it unless you think this is scary? I’m not sure what the NSA needs with webcam effects but I hope they enjoy our cat faces. :slight_smile:

We’re also proud of our work on GlassWire and we love working on this project! We also know that many malware and spyware developers do hate our software, because we reveal their hidden network activity.

We’ll keep working hard to help protect privacy and PCs or others, and we’ll continue to donate to the EFF as an organizational member.

We understand that GlassWire tends to attract people that are paranoid about privacy. We’re paranoid ourselves and that’s why we built GlassWire.

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Is it reasonable to trust a Reddit account that makes accusations but gets one of the key accusations wrong? It looks like the account was setup simply to badmouth GlassWire.

GlassWire provides the ability to block itself as shown below where I’ve blocked it myself. If you do this then you will have to check for updates manually but that is not difficult because, as the warning message says, you just go to their download page:

FYI, automatic update of GlassWire is one of the most requested features. Here’s some of the many requests so those users don’t want to block GlassWire’s network connection:

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Too many cases of that going on all throughout reddit. I take most things with a grain of salt.

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If I’m not mistaken Gleasswire can not have automatic updates because it would require vulnerability issues (open ports etc.) and you would no longer have a private firewall which is what Glasswire is all about. Ken_Glasswire or the other techs can tell more about it. Hope that helps.

Bat Pup

No? That’s just… Where did you ever get that idea?

It’s as basic as a secure check to an IP/domain and (hopefully) in place upgrade, like what Firefox does.

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Well, I Guess so. Linux Mint uses Firefox and Linux seems to be pretty secure. I just don’t trust Windows even though I play games on it. I had the government snooping around on my computer through Firefox on my windows computer. Haven’t had any problems though. Don’t know what that was about but that’s why I’m using Glasswire. Lol!

What leads you to believe you had people spying on your computer, especially through Firefox?

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A big label in red letters saying FBI Warning! Your browser has been seized. You have entered an illegal website. I was shopping for golf equipment and obviously I must have click on a fake link. I had to uninstall Fire fox and reinstall it before I could use it again. Not to mention I didn’t back to that site. Whew! Talk about scaring the vagitas out of you! Lol! The guy that helped me told me not to import your bookmarks, start over and put them in manually and don’t go back to that site.

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The FBI can seize an internet domain but the FBI cannot and do not seize your web browser. This is normally a ransomware scam. They used to set a proxy so you couldn’t get to any other site but I guess that the latest web browsers prevent that happening now.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-your-browser-has-been-locked-ransomware

This normally has nothing to do with spying.

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That was a scare tactic to try and get you to download/install ransomware. I’ve seen that kind of thing, even at work. A simple Alt+F4 gets rid of it usually.

Firefox is perfectly safe to use, though to help stop sites and scares like that be sure to use uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, and Privacy Badger.

I’d even recommend Malwarebytes Premium license for the real-time protection.

Thanks Tarun, I’m using Malwarebytes because that’s what HowToGeek.com recommends. I’ve learned a lot from them. They even recommend Glasswire for a firewall. That’s how I found Glasswire. They haven’t let me down yet.

In addition to Glasswire, I also use Sandboxie when using Firefox.
Sandboxie puts Firefox in a sandbox and prevents rogue downloads and infections from reaching your operating system.
I have been using it for about a month and it works really well.
Some say a sandbox is better than antivirus programs when browsing the web.
It is free.
https://www.sandboxie.com/DownloadSandboxie

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Thanks JoeyT, I give it a try!

I actually recommend Glasswire on my Lunarsoft Wiki PC Security page. Malwarebytes as well, though I’m an Expert on their team so I may be a tad bias.

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On the contrary, GW uses your device data to protect you from malwares from suspicous networks not for the sole purpose of intruding and expose your personal info.

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