Sunday, May 19, 2002
What kind of spam do YOU want today?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 11:18 AM
http://www.msnbc.com/news/753687.asp?0dm=B12KT
In March, I told you about Yahoo and their spammage. Well, apparently someone in MS's Hotmail/Passport department read the message, but didn't get the message. "MSN Hotmail users may be surprised to learn that Microsoft Corp. currently has permission to share their e-mail address, birthday, zip code, and occupation with virtually any of its business partners. Hotmail users exploring their e-mail setting have discovered two new options, both now checked “yes” by default for most: “Share My e-mail address” and “Share My other registration information.” Microsoft says Hotmail customers had agreed to share such information when they accepted the company’s privacy policy, and the check boxes are actually a privacy enhancement that offers new options to limit the sharing of the data."
To turn off these settings, go to your Hotmail account, select Options across the top, then Personal Profile and scroll to the bottom of the page.
{rant}This is totally inexcusable. "Users who sign up for Hotmail today will find all three boxes are unchecked by default, a sign that Microsoft is committed to giving users more control over where their information is distributed, he said. But everyone who signed up before the personal setting change — a large proportion of Hotmail’s estimated 110 million users — currently has the privacy settings set to give Microsoft permission to share the data."
Committed!?! That spokesperson should be committed to an asylum for believing that line. If they were truly committed, they would have turned these settings off by default for the over 100,000,000 users. That's right, ONE HUNDRED MILLION HOTMAIL USERS! Now, I like Microsoft. They make great products. Yes, they have bugs in them, but so does approximately 100% of other software out there. MS just takes the brunt of the jokes because they have about 95% market share with many of their product lines. However, Microsoft has a long way to go to earn the consumer's trust because of tactics like this and security breaches. Recall last fall that all of your passport information was available to some hackers that simply knew your passport email address, usually a Hotmail account. I purchased Office 95 because it was superior to Lotus Development's offerings at the time. I prefer Microsoft Money to Quicken. And here is a shocker. I love the Pocket PC!
I use Microsoft's online services too, out of choice because I find them superior in many repects to the competition. I visit Expedia several times a month to book my flights or get maps. I use Microsoft Investor quite a bit and have for several years, even when I had to pay for some of the premium services, but I refuse to store my data on their server. I suspect this was a big reason the My Services portion of .NET was killed last month. Who wants to store all of their info on Microsoft's server? The truth is I would love to be able to. Log onto any PC anywhere and access my data. The reality is though, until MS buttons up their security and quits changing their privacy policy behind my back, they will get minimal information on me.
"In retrospect, we probably could have done a better job of communicating that to folks," Sohn said. "We’re figuring out right now what’s the best way we can make sure people understand." Mr. Sohn, I have an idea. Give your privacy department our Hotmail email address and let them email us the communication. I'd rather get that as opposed to an unsolicited email helping me get a 'University Diploma'.
I am sure someone in the Hotmail/Passport/MSN marketing department is merrily singing Lovely Spam as they skip down the halls, but it is hurting Microsoft's reputation, and ultimately, their wallet. We simply do not want SPAM. We didn't want it hundreds of years ago, and we don't want it today.{/rant}
Thanks to Humphrey to filling us in on this.
In March, I told you about Yahoo and their spammage. Well, apparently someone in MS's Hotmail/Passport department read the message, but didn't get the message. "MSN Hotmail users may be surprised to learn that Microsoft Corp. currently has permission to share their e-mail address, birthday, zip code, and occupation with virtually any of its business partners. Hotmail users exploring their e-mail setting have discovered two new options, both now checked “yes” by default for most: “Share My e-mail address” and “Share My other registration information.” Microsoft says Hotmail customers had agreed to share such information when they accepted the company’s privacy policy, and the check boxes are actually a privacy enhancement that offers new options to limit the sharing of the data."
To turn off these settings, go to your Hotmail account, select Options across the top, then Personal Profile and scroll to the bottom of the page.
{rant}This is totally inexcusable. "Users who sign up for Hotmail today will find all three boxes are unchecked by default, a sign that Microsoft is committed to giving users more control over where their information is distributed, he said. But everyone who signed up before the personal setting change — a large proportion of Hotmail’s estimated 110 million users — currently has the privacy settings set to give Microsoft permission to share the data."
Committed!?! That spokesperson should be committed to an asylum for believing that line. If they were truly committed, they would have turned these settings off by default for the over 100,000,000 users. That's right, ONE HUNDRED MILLION HOTMAIL USERS! Now, I like Microsoft. They make great products. Yes, they have bugs in them, but so does approximately 100% of other software out there. MS just takes the brunt of the jokes because they have about 95% market share with many of their product lines. However, Microsoft has a long way to go to earn the consumer's trust because of tactics like this and security breaches. Recall last fall that all of your passport information was available to some hackers that simply knew your passport email address, usually a Hotmail account. I purchased Office 95 because it was superior to Lotus Development's offerings at the time. I prefer Microsoft Money to Quicken. And here is a shocker. I love the Pocket PC!
I use Microsoft's online services too, out of choice because I find them superior in many repects to the competition. I visit Expedia several times a month to book my flights or get maps. I use Microsoft Investor quite a bit and have for several years, even when I had to pay for some of the premium services, but I refuse to store my data on their server. I suspect this was a big reason the My Services portion of .NET was killed last month. Who wants to store all of their info on Microsoft's server? The truth is I would love to be able to. Log onto any PC anywhere and access my data. The reality is though, until MS buttons up their security and quits changing their privacy policy behind my back, they will get minimal information on me. "In retrospect, we probably could have done a better job of communicating that to folks," Sohn said. "We’re figuring out right now what’s the best way we can make sure people understand." Mr. Sohn, I have an idea. Give your privacy department our Hotmail email address and let them email us the communication. I'd rather get that as opposed to an unsolicited email helping me get a 'University Diploma'.
I am sure someone in the Hotmail/Passport/MSN marketing department is merrily singing Lovely Spam as they skip down the halls, but it is hurting Microsoft's reputation, and ultimately, their wallet. We simply do not want SPAM. We didn't want it hundreds of years ago, and we don't want it today.{/rant}
Thanks to Humphrey to filling us in on this.
