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EPIC Urges State AGs to Pursue Microsoft Passport
An anonymous submitter sent: "The Electronic Privacy Information Center has sent a letter to all state attorneys general urging them to pursue Microsoft Passport under state consumer protection laws."
"State AGs"? Shouldn't that be "State AsG"? I know, I expect too much.
Should anybody ask "How is this a bad thing?", send them to read Privacy and Power: Computer Databases and Metaphors for Information Privacy (linked to here) by Daniel Solove. I personally think it is worth reading the whole thing, but it's kinda long, so maybe this NY Times article is a better suggestion.
It basically says, "You may think Big Brother isn't interested in you, and you may be right, but there is a Big Unknown gathering so much information about you, she could come after you once you become a nuisance to her!", only in a less conspiracy-theoretical way..." I think we need a law that forces companies to have a large checkbox in their sign-up forms saying "I don't mind having my personal information sold to other companies". This should be un-checked by default. I'm sure some countries probably have this already. "
As you are from the UK, you might be interested in the things covered by the Data Protection Act (DPA). The DPA can be used in the UK to protect yourself from people misusing your personal information. A quick guide can be found here Companies can be quized as to how they use the information and what information they hold on you. For as little as £10
In addition you have the right to sue the company for any loss resulting from faulty information they use, and you can have data removed / corrected as approriate (see here for details)
As passport is based in the US I'm doubt you have any rights covered by this act (although you might as they are providing the service in this country). However I think this is a step in the right direction, in the UK this covers most companies and data including credit ratings. This is a brilliant set forward and offers hope to all those people who are screwed because of faulty information, or just pissed off with companies sending them letters ;)
For certain types "sensitive" of information a company will have to get your explicit permission before using your information eg. race, religion etc.
I am intending to write to the Information Commisioner to ask about Microsofts information gathering activities in this country and if they can be stopped / modified to ensure that they conform to the DPA. Maybe if enough people do this we can get a result for the UK.
If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone.
The FCC is the Federal Communications Commission. If you are involved in a dispute that is, in any way, commercial, they will not involve themselves. You have to talk to the FTC. This can be a bit of a bitch if you're small time and buying spectrum, or the like, and got ripped off, because it is the FCC who actually knows what is going on, but since it is a service dispute they won't get involved.
The FTC is the Federal Trade Commission. They are a very different animal - for one thing, they are a hugely more powerful institution. They are the people you have to talk to if you want a dispute (like, say, MS Passport is mysteriously billing you for services you didn't buy) resolved without involving the courts; even if you are going to go to court you generally have to talk to the FTC first.
It is, perhaps unfortunately, very difficult to get the FTC's attention. I assume that the state attorneys general know this. Also, major decisions at the FTC are made by political appointees; the Bush administration has been seen by many attorneys general as being soft on MS.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
> I have been on the receiving end of Microsoft's >"Security Policy" in the past, finding myself
>(accidentally or deliberately, I have no idea)
>subscribed to several salubrious MSN forums.
>After several months and few non-automated
>replies, I finally topped receiving the
>e-mails, but with neither explanation of why
>I got them, who had done it, nor even an >acknowledgement or an apology.
This happened to me also! I wonder how many people have been signed up who never did so themselves. It is extremely annoying because there is no means to remove onself and then you start getting a whole bunch of trash email at your real email address.
This is wrong, if you have a passport account you can delete it. Visit the Contact Us help page, and select the 'delete my account' from the list of things in the I need to list. They'll then send you a mail asking for answers to the secret questions. They were very responsive when I tried.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
It can be done. I managed to get my Passport Account cancelled. It was not easy, but here's how I did it.
Send e-mail to the following address requesting the removal of the passport account and the information associated with it:
passport@css.one.microsoft.com
Be sure to word it strongly or you may not get a response. I ended up getting to the point where I was using curse words and basically spamming this address. I also reported this incident to my local news media (who did nothing. surprise surprise) and informed Microsoft of this.
My big beef on this whole Passport thing was that I was signed up because I am Microsoft Certified. I NEVER requested it, I never checked a box saying I wanted information or anything else from them. So I paid $100 to take a test that allowed MS to harass me.
BTW once you have a response from the above e-mail you will get a number. Be sure to include it in every e-mail you send. Go to the MS support site and start spamming them as well. Eventually they will listen. At least they did for me.
A last note. It did take me a couple weeks to rid myself of the PASSPORT, so be patient and persistent.
Good luck!!!
If Darwin was right, you'd be dead by now.
Disclaimer: Word?, Excel? and Windows? XP? are registered trademarks of Microsoft? Corporation. ?Copyright 2002. All rights reversed.
Thank you for contacting Bank One Online(sm).
Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXX:
In response to your letter concerning Bank One?s relationship with Microsoft, we want to assure you that Bank One rigorously screens any potential partners and continually strives to bring high-quality products and services to our customers. Bank One is constantly seeking new ways to service our customers, and we believe Microsoft has technologies and experience which can help us improve the quality of products and services that we offer. We continue to work with a wide array of technology providers in all segments of our business, and we believe Bank One customers will be well-served by our relationships with Microsoft and other technology providers. Many of our customers have been supportive of this relationship and we hope you understand that we use many technology providers.
We appreciate your business as a Bank One customer and hope you will continue banking with us. If you have any other questions regarding our products or services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Bank One Online
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I just emailed them the letter from EPIC, and hopefully they will read it. I urge any of you who are Bank One customers (or any bank for that matter) to contact them and find out if they are planning on using .NET in the future. Send them this letter, let them know if you are opposed to your money and security being handled by MS.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.