I said in my last missive that I'd discuss the privacy issues of Windows at another time. Well, guess now's as good a time as any.

Microsoft: The Company That Cares

I've just read an interesting article in a local (Seattle) monthly computer magazine concerning the way in which Microsoft was using functions in Windows 98 to send info about your system configuration, when you either registered their products (a required action of course), or when you used the Windows 98 "Update Wizard" to snag updates off the Net. In both cases with neither your consent or knowledge!

In fact, it seems that in some cases even if you had quite specifically told Windows not to send such info, it was sent anyway. Against your wishes. Microsoft at first of course, flatly denied that such a thing was taking place. Then they did their best to put a positive "spin" on the story by claiming that it was (a) a bug, and not a feature of Windows 98, and then (b) claiming that the info wasn't being held on the Microsoft site for any long-term duration. Of course they later retracted that, and their latest blurb seems to be that they are, "actively seeking out all occurrences of such info in their files and deleting them." Hmmm... could have sworn they'd said it wasn't a feature of Windows 98?

"That's the only thing companies like Intel and Microsoft understand. Hit them in the pocketbook and they'll listen. Otherwise they couldn't care less."

Intel: Another Company That Cares

There's also the Intel P-III Personal Serial Number fiasco. According to Intel, the PSN is being used for "e-commerce", and as a way to prove that you're really who you say you are. Funny? I thought that was the whole idea behind the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and encryption when sending credit card information over the Net? All software, no hardware needed. Intel at first claimed that the PSN was "totally safe", but that particular lie was soon shown to be just that - a lie - by a site in Germany (if I'm not mistaken), that proved it was not only possible to "hack" the PSN on the P-III, but to do so in such a way that the user wasn't aware it had happened. Intel came out with a "software fix", but I ask you: Are you ready to trust them on that? Especially after the hardware itself was able to be hacked? I for one, am not. Go to www.bigbrotherinside.org to find out more. And buy AMD, or Cyrix. Anything but Intel. That's the only thing companies like Intel and Microsoft understand. Hit them in the pocketbook and they'll listen. Otherwise they couldn't care less.

"Microsoft and Intel it would seem, think that they're "too big" to have to worry about such mundane concerns as the consumer's right to privacy."

If you care about your privacy - and it should be obvious to all that I most assuredly do - then do not support a company that is actively working to take away what little remains of your privacy, in this day and age. There is absolutely no excuse for either the P-III PSN or the Windows 98 "stealing info" situation to have ever occurred. Microsoft and Intel it would seem, think that they're "too big" to have to worry about such mundane concerns as the consumer's right to privacy. What programs I have on my hard drive, or where I go on the Net, are of no concern whatsoever to Microsoft or Intel, or at least they shouldn't be. If I buy a product from Microsoft it is - or at least it should be - my right to decide whether or not to register that product. Of course, if you don't register the product you don't get support for the product or notice of any upgrades released or whatever, but it should be your decision. So long as you came by your copy of the software honestly, Microsoft should just butt out! What right have they to know that I may be running the Corel or Lotus office suites? What right have they, to be "snooping about" on my hard drive, that I paid for? None.

Hit them where it hurts folks. Don't buy their products, and tell all your friends to do the same. That's the only language they understand.