Nowadays, lots of things are spyware. It's important that we acknowledge this fact. Back when the Internet had a more technical userbase, the shady nonsense software tries to pull nowadays would not have flown at all. Those people would be outraged, and they'd absolutely agree that things like Facebook, Spotify, and Windows 10 meet the definition of spyware.

But slowly, the Internet population grew to include the masses, and it turns out most people don't care whatsoever about what their software is doing or how it works so long as it gets the job done, whether that's communicating with relatives, playing music, or providing a platform for other applications.

This is what happens to every charged label.

1. People realize the label is powerful.

2. They begin applying the label to as many things they don't like as they can get away with.

3. This changes the definition of the label, causing it to become some blanket umbrella term.

4. The label loses its power, because it now describes many lukewarm behaviors instead of just the worst offenses.

For example, it's popular nowadays to say "everyone is racist." Well, if everyone is racist, is being labeled a racist really that bad? Not compared to what it used to imply about you.

>That definition is rather too broad. It makes basically everything spyware which dilutes the word too much to be useful.

I don't agree. I was very specific in stating that the practice of consuming a user's resources to transmit their information, without their explicit consent, nor an indication of the activity, for the sole benefit of Facebook and the software developer, can absolutely be considered spyware.