MS Settles With FTC Over Passport Privacy Complaints

There will be a number of stories out shortly (here's an early one) noting that Microsoft has settled with the FTC over privacy complaints relating to Microsoft Passport. Short summary: Microsoft made lots of false representations about the security of Passport, and collected more information than it disclosed in its privacy policy, and now must be penalized in the usual Microsoft fashion - they must promise not to do it again. The FTC's settlement page has the complaint and settlement documents. We've covered this extensively - All Your Bits Are Belong to Us, EPIC's complaints about the integration of Windows XP and Passport, Microsoft Defends Passport, EPIC pushing state attorneys general to act against Passport, etc. In fact EPIC has an entire page devoted to Passport. The FTC settlement requires two main things: that Microsoft adopt basic security practices (what were they doing before?), and that Microsoft be audited by a third-party to assure compliance - perhaps it will be TrustE, since Passport's privacy policy remains approved by TrustE.

Comments

How to cook a lizard

[chabotc]

Situations like this always remind me of a anecdote from australia.

If you want to cook a lizard, put it in a pot of cold water, and then slowly raise the temperature. The criter, being cold blooded, will not notice the temperature change as its body will follow the external temperature shifts.

Now if you would throw a lizard in a pot filled with boiling water, it sure would notice, and run the hell away..

The same goes for most bad relationships humans find them selves in. If you would end up in the situation you are in now instantly, you would scream bloody murder, and never accept it!

However, since change happens slowly and small step by small step, people always seem to think "well that little bit extra doesn't make the difference". And you end up in an incredible nightmare, without realising it !

I gues in a way this describes the situation that most people find them selves in with microsoft. They don't know what happened since it never happened in one go.. They don't realise just how disfunctional the relationship is.

Some day people might wake up, but historical evidence would dictate this will not happen untill we are in a LOT bigger mess then we would ever consider acceptable from the start.