So there was a story out this week that Microsoft had read the emails of a French blogger who had received code from a former Microsoft employee, the employee has been arrested in Seattle, accused of leaking Windows 8 to the tech blogger.
The blogger actually contacted Microsoft to verify what was going on, Microsoft then went through his hotmail and messenger and found the email from the former employee.
This of course has created quite a stir about privacy and what providers can and cannot do. The Guardian is out today with a story where Apple, Yahoo and Google have said they reserve the right to read their users emails.
From the article:
Microsoft is not unique in claiming the right to read users’ emails – Apple, Yahoo and Google all reserve that right as well, the Guardian has determined.
The broad rights email providers claim for themselves has come to light following Microsoft’s admission that it read a journalist’s Hotmail account in an attempt to track down the source of an internal leak. But most webmail services claim the right to read users’ email if they believe that such access is necessary to protect their property.
Microsoft’s own terms of service allow the company to access content “when Microsoft forms a good faith belief that doing so is necessary [to] protect the‌ property of Microsoft”. It made use of that right to read the email of an un-named journalist who had allegedly taken possession of the source code to Windows 8 thanks to an internal leak at the firm.
Following the revelation that Microsoft could, and did, read users’ email, the firm’s deputy general counsel told the Guardian that it would be tightening up its privacy policy. The new rules require an internal and external legal team to review any internal requests for access, and commit the firm to increased transparency over future requests.
Read the full story here
