6 ms·

Microsoft changes privacy policy to defer to law enforcement

50 points by kenjackson 13y ago

gum_ina_package 13y ago
Very good, very responsible move on their part. Hopefully, the other tech giants will follow their lead and update their own policies.
- th0br0 13y ago
  Responsible? Mayhaps. But the issue is that this move was required and the incident happened in the first place...
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    So you mean, being wrong is unforgiveable, and admitting your wrong and taking corrective action is meaningless?
    - kiallmacinnes 13y ago
      Agreed - I dislike MS as much as the next HN reader does, but you're bang on here. Every company makes mistakes and, at face value, this looks like a good measure to avoid the same mistake in the future. Credit where its due and all that...
    - th0br0 13y ago
      No. Being wrong is not unforgivable, and the steps they have taken to remedy this issue are "good" ones. What I'm peeved about is that they dared to violate their users' privacy in such an extensive way in the first place... and that there are no consequences from doing that.
      - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
        There were plenty of consequences for doing that, and hence the new policy. Do you think Microsoft just did this for whimsical reasons?
- barista 13y ago
  Nice to see them come back so quickly admit and correct. Microsoft is making some good moves these days.
deleted 13y ago
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elros 13y ago
Having read that Microsoft had changed their privacy policy to deter law enforcement, I can't help but to be disappointed =/
snowwrestler 13y ago
This is one of those times it's nice that the HN editors force headlines to match the original content. I hope they do this one soon. Original HN headline: Microsoft changes privacy policy to defer to law enforcement What MS actually said they'd do is refer the matter to law enforcement rather than investigate it themselves. This is a good thing because criminal investigations come with all sorts of protections for citizen rights and privacy. If it's just MS doing their own investigation, they can do whatever the want. It's a black box with no accountability.
- toast0 13y ago
  >Original HN headline: Microsoft changes privacy policy to defer to law enforcement >What MS actually said they'd do is refer the matter to law enforcement rather than investigate it themselves. This is a good thing because criminal investigations come with all sorts of protections for citizen rights and privacy. Isn't what the headline says? The link's original headline "We’re listening: Additional steps to protect your privacy" is much worse: Who's listening? technet.com may not obviously be Microsoft What are the additional steps? Actually it seems like it's only one step: to refer the case to law enforcement, or in other words to defer to law enforcement
deleted 13y ago
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50 points by kenjackson 13y ago

Very good, very responsible move on their part. Hopefully, the other tech giants will follow their lead and update their own policies.

th0br0 13y ago
Responsible? Mayhaps. But the issue is that this move was required and the incident happened in the first place...
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  So you mean, being wrong is unforgiveable, and admitting your wrong and taking corrective action is meaningless?
  - kiallmacinnes 13y ago
    Agreed - I dislike MS as much as the next HN reader does, but you're bang on here. Every company makes mistakes and, at face value, this looks like a good measure to avoid the same mistake in the future. Credit where its due and all that...
  - th0br0 13y ago
    No. Being wrong is not unforgivable, and the steps they have taken to remedy this issue are "good" ones. What I'm peeved about is that they dared to violate their users' privacy in such an extensive way in the first place... and that there are no consequences from doing that.
    - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
      There were plenty of consequences for doing that, and hence the new policy. Do you think Microsoft just did this for whimsical reasons?
barista 13y ago
Nice to see them come back so quickly admit and correct. Microsoft is making some good moves these days.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

elros 13y ago

Having read that Microsoft had changed their privacy policy to deter law enforcement, I can't help but to be disappointed =/

snowwrestler 13y ago

This is one of those times it's nice that the HN editors force headlines to match the original content. I hope they do this one soon. Original HN headline: Microsoft changes privacy policy to defer to law enforcement What MS actually said they'd do is refer the matter to law enforcement rather than investigate it themselves. This is a good thing because criminal investigations come with all sorts of protections for citizen rights and privacy. If it's just MS doing their own investigation, they can do whatever the want. It's a black box with no accountability.

toast0 13y ago
>Original HN headline: Microsoft changes privacy policy to defer to law enforcement >What MS actually said they'd do is refer the matter to law enforcement rather than investigate it themselves. This is a good thing because criminal investigations come with all sorts of protections for citizen rights and privacy. Isn't what the headline says? The link's original headline "We’re listening: Additional steps to protect your privacy" is much worse: Who's listening? technet.com may not obviously be Microsoft What are the additional steps? Actually it seems like it's only one step: to refer the case to law enforcement, or in other words to defer to law enforcement

deleted 13y ago

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