,----[ Controversy ]
| Internet privacy groups contend that the use of index.dat files in
| the Windows operating system is an invasion of privacy. One of their
| main complaints is that the index.dat file cannot be deleted or
| erased easily, because it is always open when Windows is running.
| Open or "locked" files cannot be deleted in any way.
|
| Another contention is that the operating system gives a false sense
| of security. Even after the user has cleared the internet cache folder,
| temporary internet files folder, and history folder, the index.dat files
| on Windows continue to store all visited web addresses and cookies and
| some temporary files. Some people state that this will eventually cause
| the index.dat files to grow very large, while the average user
| remains unaware of what its going on.
|
| [...]
|
| This problem has been fixed in Internet Explorer 7.
`----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index.dat
>From what I was told, Internet Explorer 7 phones home as means of improving
MSN search results (like Alexa and Netcraft 'spyware' -- remote history
trail).
|
|
