In a recent cnet.com article named:
"Spyware cures may cause more harm than good" one reads about certain spyware removal tools themselves installing spyware,...

The definition of Spyware, "collecting information and sending that data without consent or knowledge by the user to an unknown recipient."

As noted in the above article, a specific paragraph states:

"A recent unscientific EarthLink survey gives some indication of the spread of the problems. The company offered its subscribers a free online
spyware-scanning tool, similar to an antivirus scan program. In the course of 426,500 scans, EarthLink found more than 2 million adware files installed and more than 9 million "adware cookies"--a type of cookie that tracks people's surfing habits."

It comes from an expert source, that this software is *not* online, it is installed on the user's computer as an interface software. This software may indeed scan the installed hard drive for spyware, however, it does not at any time
prompt or inform the user that said scan results will be sent to anyone.

Yet, with the above quote from the article, the Earthlink Total Access software has performed up to par with the definition of spyware,...
regardless of any benevolence.