Network World - HP's e-mail tracer in widespread use

Robert McMillan - 9 October 2006
The tracer software that HP investigators used to try to sniff out boardroom leaks sounded like it had been ripped from the pages of a bad science-fiction novel. That is, until the company began talking about it in detail at a congressional probe into the spying scandal.

The technology tool the company used, called a Web bug, is designed to allow e-mail senders to track the path a message takes, including whether a recipient opens the message and forwards it to another party. And it turns out the technology is widely used in e-mail newsletters to track readers and also by law enforcement in investigations, security experts say.

The company that supplied Hewlett Packard is ReadNotify. I expect they can't believe their luck at having such a high-profile customer endorse them, however unwittingly and unwillingly.