http://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/fullnotice.mspx#collection
Microsoft is committed to protecting your privacy. Please read the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement below and also any supplemental information listed to the right for additional details about particular Microsoft sites and services that you may use.
This Microsoft Online Privacy Statement applies to data collected by Microsoft through the majority of its Web sites and services, as well as its offline product support services. It does not apply to those Microsoft sites, services and products that do not display or link to this statement or that have their own privacy statements. Some products and services mentioned in this statement may not be available in all markets at this time.
Collection of Your Personal Information
At some Microsoft sites, we ask you to provide personal information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address, or telephone number. We may also collect demographic information, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites. If you choose to make a purchase or sign up for a paid subscription service, we will ask for additional information, such as your credit card number and billing address, which is used to create a Microsoft billing account.
In order to access some Microsoft services, you will be asked to sign in with an e-mail address and password. Many different Microsoft sites and services use the same credentials which we refer to as your Windows Live ID or Microsoft Passport Network credentials.In order to access some Microsoft services, you will be asked to sign in with an e-mail address and password, which we refer to as your Windows Live ID or Microsoft Passport Network credentials. You can use the same credentials to sign in to many different Microsoft sites and services, as well as those of select Microsoft partners. By signing in on one Microsoft site or service, you may be automatically signed into other Microsoft sites and services. If you access our services via a mobile phone, you may also use your telephone number and a PIN as an alternative credential to your username and password. As part of creating your credentials, you may also be requested to provide questions and secret answers, which we use to help verify your identity and assist in resetting your password, as well as an alternate e-mail address. Some services may require added security, and in these cases, you may be asked to create an additional security key. Finally, a unique ID number will be assigned to your credentials which will be used to identify your credentials and associated information.
We may collect information about your interaction with Microsoft sites and services. For example, we may use webWeb site analytics tools on our site to retrieve information from your browser, including the site you came from, the search engine(s) and the keywords you used to find our site, the pages you view within our site, your browser add-ons, and your browser's width and height. We may also use technologies, such as cookies and web beacons (described below), to collect information about the pages you view, the links you click and other actions you take on our sites and services. Additionally, we collect certain standard information that your browser sends to every website you visit, such as your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring Web site addresses. We also deliver advertisements (see the Display of Advertising section below) and provide Web site analytics tools on non-Microsoft sites and services, and we may collect information about page views on these third party sites as well.
When you receive newsletters or promotional e-mail from Microsoft, we may use web beacons (described below), customized links or similar technologies to determine whether the e-mail has been opened and which links you click in order to provide you more focused e-mail communications or other information.
In order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with Microsoft, information collected through one Microsoft service may be combined with information obtained through other Microsoft services. We may also supplement the information we collect with information obtained from other companies. For example, we may use services from other companies that enable us to derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.
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Accessing Your Personal Information
You may have the ability to view or edit your personal information online. In order to help prevent your personal information from being viewed by others, you will be required to sign in with your credentials (e-mail address and password). The appropriate method(s) for accessing your personal information will depend on which sites or services you have used.
Microsoft.com - You can access and update your profile on microsoft.com by visiting the Microsoft.com Profile Center.
Microsoft Billing and Account Services - If you have a Microsoft Billing account, you can add to or update your information at the Microsoft Billing Web site by clicking on the "Personal Information" or "Billing Information" links.
Microsoft Connect - If you are a registered user of Microsoft Connect, you can access and edit your personal information by clicking Manage Your Connect Profile at the Microsoft Connect Web site.
MSN & Windows Live - If you have used MSN or Windows Live services, you can update your profile information, change your password, view the unique ID associated with your credentials, or close certain accounts by visiting MSN / Windows Live Account Services.
MSN Public Profile - If you have created a public profile on MSN, you may also edit or delete information in your public profile by going to the MSN Member Directory.
MSN Keyword Advertising - If you buy MSN Keyword advertising, you can review and edit your personal information at the Microsoft adCenter Web site.
Microsoft Partner Programs - If you are registered with Microsoft Partner Programs, you can review and edit your profile by clicking Manage Your Account on the Partner Program Web site.
Xbox - If you are an Xbox Live or Xbox.com user, you can access and edit your personal information on the My Xbox page on Xbox.com or on your console by selecting Privacy Settings under Edit Gamer Profile on Xbox 360, or selecting the Info Sharing option in Account Management for the Original Xbox Live dashboard.
Zune - If you have a Zune account or a Zune Pass subscription, you can view and edit your personal information at Zune.net (click Manage My Account from your profile page) or through the Zune software (sign in, click your Zune tag, then click My Account or Privacy Settings to go to the appropriate page at Zune.net).
Some Microsoft sites or services may collect personal information that is not accessible via the links above. However, in such cases, you may be able to access that information through alternative means of access described by the service.
Or you can write us by using our Web form, and we will contact you within 30 days regarding your request.
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NB - Bolded emphasis mine.
--L.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
). Just don't like the idea that they can collect information on how I use the computer. Or maybe I don't understand what that translates to.
