From now on, when you log on to Outlook.com, Office.com, Bing, MSN, OneDrive, or any of a dozen other Microsoft services, security and privacy are things you don't have to worry about. Or so Microsoft claims, according to a newly revised "Services Agreement" that's big on words like "privacy," "transparency" and "simplicity."
After years of making noise about Google's longstanding practice of using the contents of users' emails to serve ads relevant to those users (remember the "Scroogled" ads?), Microsoft has seemingly put its money where its mouth is. The vendor is now vowing never to "use what you say in email, chat, video calls, or voicemail to target advertising to you." Before you let out a sigh of relief, there's one caveat to be aware of -- and it has the potential to be huge.
In the fine print, the new Microsoft Services Agreement states that by using OneDrive or Bing or what have you, you grant Microsoft the right to freely view or share your content for one of the following reasons:
- To protect customers
- To protect lives
- To maintain overall security of Microsoft services
- To comply with law enforcement
It sounds good in theory; those are all honorable goals that customers can appreciate. Like all such agreements, though, users must assume the company in question will abide by its agreements using common sense and the spirit of the law. It's the big business equivalent of "you're just going to have to trust us."
Microsoft also reminds users that "sharing content" is a two-way street. Every time you send an email, share a OneDrive link, distribute a photo, etc., you have shared your content and given the recipient the right to "use, save, reproduce, distribute, display, and transmit that content" as they see fit. Regardless of your feelings about Microsoft, you have to appreciate the directness of their advice on how to avoid giving away these rights. The service agreement says, in no uncertain terms, "If you don't want others to have that ability, don't use [our] services to share your content."
These updated privacy rules are a direct response to an incident in April 2014 when a Microsoft employee was arrested for leaking company secrets. Microsoft reportedly learned about the employee's betrayal by scanning his Hotmail (now Outlook.com) account. Users and the press were outraged by this privacy violation -- even if the suspicious party was found guilty of breaking the law.
Microsoft's new services agreement goes into effect as of July 31, 2014.
