<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
is	O
the	O
developer	O
of	O
MyWOT	B-Operating_System
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
and	O
Web	O
of	O
Trust	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
online	O
reputation	O
and	O
Internet	O
safety	O
service	O
which	O
shows	O
indicators	O
of	O
trust	O
about	O
existing	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2016	O
Norddeutscher	O
Rundfunk	O
investigation	O
revealed	O
that	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
sold	O
user	O
activity	O
data	O
collected	O
from	O
its	O
apps	O
and	O
browser	B-Protocol
extensions	I-Protocol
to	O
third	O
parties	O
in	O
violation	O
of	O
the	O
privacy	O
policies	O
of	O
the	O
app	B-Application
stores	I-Application
on	O
which	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
distributed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
was	O
founded	O
in	O
2006	O
by	O
Sami	O
Tolvanen	O
and	O
Timo	O
Ala-Kleemola	O
,	O
who	O
wrote	O
the	O
MyWOT	B-Operating_System
software	O
as	O
post-graduates	O
at	O
the	O
Tampere	O
University	O
of	O
Technology	O
in	O
Finland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
MySQL	O
founder	O
Michael	O
Widenius	O
invested	O
in	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
and	O
became	O
a	O
member	O
of	O
the	O
board	O
of	O
directors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
is	O
no	O
longer	O
a	O
portfolio	O
company	O
of	O
Widenius	O
's	O
venture	O
capital	O
firm	O
,	O
OpenOcean.vc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2016	O
,	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
TOW	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
has	O
partnerships	O
with	O
Mail.ru,	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
hpHosts	O
,	O
Legit	O
Script	O
,	O
Panda	O
Security	O
,	O
Phish	O
tank	O
,	O
GlobalSign	B-Device
and	O
TRUSTe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
November	O
2013	O
,	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
had	O
over	O
100	O
million	O
downloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
has	O
made	O
money	O
by	O
collecting	O
browsing	O
history	O
data	O
from	O
its	O
users	O
and	O
selling	O
that	O
usage	O
data	O
;	O
it	O
said	O
that	O
it	O
anonymized	O
the	O
data	O
before	O
selling	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2016	O
,	O
a	O
German	O
state	O
media	O
investigation	O
found	O
that	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
had	O
secretly	O
collected	O
personal	O
user	O
details	O
and	O
sold	O
or	O
licensed	O
this	O
information	O
to	O
unidentified	O
third-party	O
businesses	O
and	O
entities	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
monetization	I-General_Concept
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
browser	B-Protocol
add-on	I-Protocol
was	O
involuntarily	O
removed	O
from	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
's	I-Application
add-on	O
store	O
,	O
and	O
voluntarily	O
removed	O
from	O
other	O
browsers	O
 '	O
add-on/extension	O
stores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
was	O
eventually	O
reinstated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
German	O
public	O
broadcasting	O
station	O
NDR	O
reported	O
the	O
results	O
of	O
an	O
investigation	O
by	O
in-house	O
journalists	O
,	O
showing	O
that	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
collected	O
,	O
recorded	O
,	O
analyzed	O
and	O
sold	O
user-related	O
data	O
to	O
third	O
parties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
obtained	O
was	O
traceable	O
to	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
and	O
could	O
be	O
assigned	O
to	O
specific	O
individuals	O
,	O
despite	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
's	O
claim	O
that	O
user	O
data	O
was	O
anonymized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
German	O
media	O
contacted	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
with	O
the	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
investigation	O
prior	O
to	O
publication	O
of	O
the	O
report	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
declined	O
to	O
comment	O
on	O
the	O
findings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
days	O
after	O
the	O
news	O
story	O
aired	O
,	O
Mozilla	O
removed	O
the	O
browser	B-Protocol
add-on	I-Protocol
from	O
the	O
Firefox	B-Application
add-on	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
subsequently	O
removed	O
its	O
browsing	O
tool	O
for	O
other	O
browsers	O
,	O
including	O
Chrome	B-Application
and	O
Opera	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
"	O
Mobile	O
Security	O
&	O
Protection	O
"	O
mobile	B-Application
app	I-Application
was	O
removed	O
from	O
Google	B-Application
Play	I-Application
,	O
approximately	O
one	O
week	O
after	O
the	O
extension	O
was	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
extension	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
blog	O
post	O
published	O
on	O
December	O
19	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
stated	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
upgraded	O
their	O
browser	B-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
released	O
it	O
in	O
the	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
extension	O
gallery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
upgraded	O
version	O
included	O
"	O
several	O
major	O
code	O
updates	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
protect	O
our	O
user	O
's	O
privacy	O
and	O
an	O
opt-out	O
option	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
Settings	O
,	O
for	O
users	O
who	O
do	O
not	O
wish	O
to	O
share	O
data	O
with	O
us	O
but	O
still	O
want	O
to	O
have	O
easy	O
access	O
to	O
WOT.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2017	O
,	O
Mozilla	O
reinstated	O
the	O
MyWOT	B-Operating_System
browsing	O
tool	O
in	O
the	O
Firefox	B-Application
add-on	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
Services	I-Operating_System
offers	O
an	O
add-on	O
for	O
web	O
browsers	O
including	O
Firefox	B-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
,	O
Opera	B-Application
,	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
and	O
Baidu	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOT	B-Operating_System
was	O
discovered	O
to	O
be	O
selling	O
personally	O
identifiable	O
user	O
data	O
in	O
November	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
and	O
The	O
Washington	O
Post	O
wrote	O
about	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
—	O
the	O
NYT	O
in	O
2010	O
and	O
the	O
Post	O
in	O
2008	O
and	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	O
Worlds	O
Preston	O
Gralla	O
and	O
Rick	O
Broida	O
had	O
both	O
recommended	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
as	O
of	O
2009	O
and	O
2010	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
minus	O
side	O
,	O
he	O
found	O
several	O
clearly	O
adult	O
sites	O
unrated	O
,	O
and	O
he	O
wished	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
would	O
also	O
rate	O
sponsored	O
search	O
results	O
,	O
like	O
its	O
major	O
competitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2013	O
,	O
Soft-pedal	O
reviewer	O
Ionut	O
Ilascu	O
wrote	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
reliability	O
of	O
the	O
service	O
has	O
grown	O
in	O
the	O
past	O
years	O
,	O
despite	O
voices	O
accusing	O
it	O
of	O
being	O
exactly	O
the	O
opposite	O
of	O
what	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
,	O
and	O
proof	O
is	O
the	O
collaboration	O
with	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
Opera	B-Application
and	O
Mail.ru	O
Group	O
"	O
,	O
concluding	O
:	O
"	O
As	O
a	O
service	O
,	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
(	O
Web	O
of	O
Trust	O
)	O
may	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
biased	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
latest	O
developments	O
in	O
balancing	O
the	O
user	O
opinion	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
provide	O
relevant	O
information	O
point	O
to	O
the	O
contrary.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2011	O
,	O
a	O
lawsuit	O
in	O
Florida	O
(	O
United	O
States	O
)	O
was	O
filed	O
against	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
and	O
some	O
of	O
its	O
forum	O
members	O
,	O
demanding	O
that	O
WOT	B-Operating_System
remove	O
certain	O
website	O
ratings	O
and	O
associated	O
comments	O
cautioning	O
about	O
phishing	O
scams	O
.	O
</s>
