Hotmail policy raises privacy concerns
Posted by me101 on 22 May 2002 - 17:23 · 10 comments & 234 views
About the Author
Full name: Unknown
Forum name:
me101
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Full name: Unknown
Forum name:
me101Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Slashdot It!
Submit to reddit
Submit to blinklist
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Add to furl
Share on Facebook
Add to Windows Live
Add to Google
Reports surfacing indicate that Hotmail may had changed users' default privacy settings. However, Microsoft executives say the free e-mail service didn't change its current privacy policy, it merely rolled out new technology that better reflects its evolving "pure opt-in" philosophy.
Thanks to that new technology, however, many users may discover that when they signed up for the service they unwittingly agreed to share that information, which could range from an e-mail address to demographic data.
"There has been no change of MSN's privacy policy," says Adam Sohn, product manager in Microsoft's .Net platform strategy group. "We are merely showing people their current settings. Microsoft, including MSN, remains committed to the protection of our consumers' information, as well as working to empower consumers with the tools they need to control their information online," Sohn says.
Analyst David Ferris, president of Ferris Research, credits Microsoft for giving users direct access to their options. Many people will accept an agreement without reading it, he noted. The customers who were surprised that their accounts were set to share "probably had agreed to it, they just didn't realize it," Ferris added. "That's not to say they shouldn't be unhappy."
Yahoo customers complained in March when the company's free e-mail service reset users' accounts, Microsoft, on the other hand, has been moving its Hotmail service to a "pure opt-in model," meaning that no account information is shared by default, Sohn says. "This gives people more control of how their information is shared," he says.
Hotmail has been rolling out the technology changes for months, but apparently few users noticed the three lines of text plus check boxes at the bottom of their personal profile page, under the Options setting in their Hotmail account, he says.
Under the heading "Choose how much of your .NET Passport information Microsoft can share with other companies' .NET Passport sites at sign-in" are check boxes for "share my e-mail address," "share my first and last names," and "share my other registration information."