Microsoft Admits Email Snoop, Revises Privacy Policy

Microsoft has revised its Hotmail / Outlook email privacy policy. It's in response to concerns after the company admitted to reading emails and instant messages of a blogger who allegedly tried to sell Microsoft intellectual property without permission.

Former Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo is currently being investigated for stealing Microsoft trade secrets. According to Microsoft, in 2012 Kibkalo acquired pre-release Windows 8 source code, which he emailed to a mysterious blogger who has not been named. It's the anonymous blogger who had his email and instant messages snooped.

Microsoft Conducts "Limited Review" of Blogger's Accounts

Microsoft alleges that the blogger not only posted images of the then-unreleased Windows 8 operating system to his blog, but that he also tried to sell some of the information acquired from Kibkalo -- including Windows Server activation keys. The activation keys allow users to gain access to Microsoft products without paying for a license.

Microsoft says the blogger also tried to send unreleased and proprietary software code to a third party. The third party then contacted Microsoft's Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, who then forwarded the information to Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Investigations department, which is responsible for investigating intellectual property leaks.

Microsoft now admits it conducted a lengthy investigation that included a "limited review of [the blogger's] Microsoft operated accounts." (Source: cnet.com) Microsoft also reached a confidentiality agreement with the blogger, which is why he has not been formerly identified in the complaint against Mr Kibkalo. (Source: nytimes.com)

Microsoft has defended its action by pointing to its terms of service, which the company says "make clear our permission for this type of review". The firm also says that "this happens only in the most exceptional circumstances." Specifically, Microsoft's terms of service read: "Microsoft reserves the right to review materials posted to the Communication Services and to remove any materials in its sole discretion." (Source: bbc.com)

Privacy Lawyers say Microsoft Actions 'Highly Unusual'

Many Microsoft users expressed frustration with the company's actions in this case. In response, Microsoft deputy general counsel John Frank has introduced a revised and more descriptive privacy policy. The hope is that the new privacy policy will reassure users of Microsoft services like Outlook and OneDrive.

But, that's not likely to change anyone's mind any time soon. Privacy lawyers say that while Microsoft's actions appear to have been legal, its snooping through customer data and without a court order was highly unusual.

Attorney and civil liberties expert Jennifer Granick says that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act allows service providers to read and disclose customers' communications when necessary in order to protect the rights or property of the service provider. She went on to say that Microsoft's actions were within these boundaries, but the actions themselves were "stupid," and likely to raise privacy concerns amongst journalists and bloggers that use any of Microsoft's Internet services to communicate with their sources.

"Microsoft essentially decided that whatever privacy expectation that its own customers supposedly had was basically a dead letter. It simply decided that in its own corporate interest, it can intrude on a person's email," said Edward Wasserman, the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley.

"To see Microsoft using this right to essentially look through a blogger's email account for evidence of wrongdoing and then turn it over on a silver platter for law enforcement, it is extremely undesirable," noted Nate Cardozo, a staff lawyer for privacy rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Source: nytimes.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Do you agree with Microsoft's actions discussed in this article? Particularly, do you believe Microsoft had a right to snoop through emails and instant messages to serve its own purpose? Finally, does Microsoft's actions leave you worried about your privacy and the data you've stored online? Or, does it make you want to switch service providers?