Microsoft System Logs Users’ Choices
Microsoft Corp.’s new version of its popular Media Player software is logging the songs and movies that customers play.
The company said Wednesday that it was changing its privacy statement to notify customers about the technology after inquiries from the Associated Press.
The system creates a list on each computer that could be a treasure for marketing companies, lawyers or others. Microsoft says it has no plans to sell the data collected by Media Player 8, which comes free with the Windows XP operating system.
“If you’re watching DVDs you don’t want your wife to know about, you might not want to give her your password,” said David Caulton, Microsoft’s lead program manager for Windows Media.
The new privacy policy was issued Wednesday.
The media player has been bundled as a free addition to Windows for several years and allows users to play music CDs, DVD movies and digitally stored songs on their computers.
When a CD is played, the player downloads the disc name and titles for each song from a Web site licensed by Microsoft. That information is stored on a small file on each computer in the latest version of the software.
The new version released with Windows XP last fall also added the same technology for DVD movies.
Microsoft’s original privacy statement informed customers that they were downloading the information about CDs but never stated it was being stored in a log file on each computer. The new statement makes clear that information is being downloaded for DVDs and CDs, but does not explain how users can eliminate or get into the log file.
There is no easy way to clear out the log, Microsoft said, without crippling Media Player.
The only way to keep Media Player from going to the Microsoft site is to make the player think it is working without an Internet connection, which can be tedious if the user switches between watching DVDs and listening to Internet radio stations.
As part of downloading the information about songs and movies from the Web site, the program also transmits an identifier number unique to each user on the computer. That creates the possibility that user habits could be tracked and sold for marketing purposes.
Privacy experts said they feared the log file could be used by investigators, divorce lawyers, snooping family members, marketing companies or others interested in learning about a person’s entertainment habits. It also could be used to make sure users have paid for the music or movie and have not made an illegal copy.
