Just about every software vendor or Web service collects information about its users. Some do it with more subtlety than others, but the fact is that there's hardly an application or Web site that doesn't gather some sort of intelligence about you every time you use it. Microsoft, of course, is no exception. From Windows Activation Technologies (WAT) to Bing, Microsoft stockpiles information on you even when you don't sign up for services such as Hotmail. But what does Microsoft know about you?
Actually, a more appropriate question might be: What kind of information about you can Microsoft see? It could see a lot, but there are some things that the company chooses not to view or store. For example, the unpopular WAT, formerly known as Windows Genuine Advantage, is perhaps the least intrusive of the Microsoft information-gathering tools. Bing and Hotmail get a little more personal, but experts and IT professionals say that they're less worried about Microsoft regarding privacy than they are about some other high-profile vendors. More...
Don't miss:
- The NSA helped make Windows 7...
- Bing blocks and filters sex searches in Arab countries...
- Bing bans the word "sex" for users in India!!!
- Australia investigates Google over privacy...
- Big Brother is closing in, but it's not too late to fight back...
No comments:
Post a Comment