MS's IE privacy statement

  • Thread starter Thread starter johnludlow
  • Start date Start date
J

johnludlow

Hello, all.

I have recently become concerned about the amount of
spyware on my PC. I was wondering if MS had a privacy
statement to say what (if anything) IE would transmit to
Microsoft. I have not found one so far.

Thanks
 
johnludlow said:
Hello, all.

I have recently become concerned about the amount of
spyware on my PC. I was wondering if MS had a privacy
statement to say what (if anything) IE would transmit to
Microsoft. I have not found one so far.
Click to expand...

Nothing installed by Microsoft on your machine "phones home" without
your consent.

"Spyware Defined: Silent background use of an Internet "backchannel" connection MUST BE
PRECEDED by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by
the receipt of explicit, informed, consent for such use. Any software communicating across
the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and
rightfully termed: Spyware"

Run these Spyware scanners if you have concerns:
Spyware Removal Tools, Lavasoft's Ad-aware,
Direct download -
http://ftp.pcworld.com/pub/new/privacy___security/aaw6181.exe

Lavasoft/Ad-aware home: http://www.lavasoftusa.com
Mirror site: http://www.lavasoft.de/

SpyBot Search & Destroy,
Direct download -
http://spybot.eon.net.au/files/spybotsd_mainapp.exe

SpyBot home: http://security.kolla.de/
SpyBot How-To: http://www.tomcoyote.org/SPYBOT/
More detailed help: http://tomcoyote.org/~mosaic1/spybot/

Install, reboot, read FAQ and overview, use online update feature to
obtain the latest reference files, scan for Spyware much like you would
with your pre-installed anti-virus scanner.
Rid your machine of unwanted Spyware pests if any present_

HTH

--

siljaline

"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_
 
johnludlow said:
Hello, all.

I have recently become concerned about the amount of
spyware on my PC. I was wondering if MS had a privacy
statement to say what (if anything) IE would transmit to
Microsoft. I have not found one so far.
Click to expand...

View > Privacy Report...
 
Nothing installed by Microsoft on your machine "phones
home" without
your consent.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply

That's what I thought. However, someone I know keeps
claiming it's sending back details of what sites I go on,
and that MS are selling these details to other
companies. So for example, if I go on a site about
cancer cures, my health insurance doubles. That kind of
thing.

I don't believe it myself, but I decided to check the
privacy statement. Except I couldn't find one. Should I
find one, I will present it to my friend and ask if he
actually knows for certain that it has been broken.

I currently use SpyBot (have been using it for some
time). It detects the useage tracks shown by IE, but
doesn't automatically remove them (you have to select the
item).

This may not be a bad thing - the useage track is
probably just for my history and MRU lists (which I use
quite a lot so I don't want them to disappear).

However, the privacy statement URL given by SpyBot
(http://www.microsoft.com/info/privacy.htm) only applies
to Microsoft.com.

What I was looking for was a statement telling me what MS
acknowledged was being transmitted from my computer. I
would have agreed to a terms and conditions dialog, which
probably had the privacy statement or a link to it. I
know I should have read it thoroughly, but who takes the
time? And who can understand them without a lawyer
present to translate it into English?

"Spyware Defined: Silent background use of an
Internet "backchannel" connection MUST BE
PRECEDED by a complete and truthful disclosure of
proposed backchannel usage, followed by
the receipt of explicit, informed, consent for such use.
Any software communicating across
the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of
information theft and is properly and
rightfully termed: Spyware"

This suggests that if they don't have a privacy statement
readily available, then they can't legally take any info.

Thanks
 
-----Original Message-----


View > Privacy Report...
Click to expand...
I thought this only applied to the sites you were
visiting - what cookies they were keeping, etc. What
about IE itself?
 
Back
Top