Microsoft Is Pushing for Privacy?
Kevin Poulsen writes on Wired News:
When it comes to protecting customers' privacy, Microsoft doesn't have the best record. So when the software giant backs new federal privacy legislation, onlookers suspect the company is probably protecting itself.More here.
At the Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference, or CFP, in 1999, Microsoft collected an ignominious Big Brother Award after it was caught hiding unique identification numbers in users' Microsoft Word documents.
In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged Microsoft with falsely claiming that consumer data held in its Passport electronic wallet service was highly secure. The company settled, agreeing to bolster Passport's security.
So when the company announced late last year that it was favoring sweeping federal privacy legislation holding companies accountable for how they treat consumer data, one might be forgiven for wondering what the company had up its sleeve.
On Wednesday, Microsoft returned to CFP on the 10th anniversary of the august privacy confab to explain how a confusing patchwork of state privacy laws, and increasingly sophisticated threats to consumers, finally scared the company straight.
posted by Fergie @ 5/03/2006 03:40:00 PM
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