Michael Zimmer.org

Microsoft has fired a new salvo into the search privacy wars, announcing it will delete IP addresses from the Bing search engine logs after 6 months.

Microsoft has decided to take the lead in search privacy and agree to the European Union’s demand that data retention be cut to six months. Previously, Microsoft de-identified its search logs immediately, but didn’t purge the IP address until 18 months. Now, de-identification still takes place immediately, and the IP addresses are completely removed in 6 months.

A collection of information and communication companies, advocacy groups, and academic centers have announced the formation of the Global Network Initiative, aimed at protecting free expression and privacy on the Internet on a global scale.
From the announcement:
In an effort to protect and advance the human rights of freedom of expression and privacy, a diverse coalition of leading information and communications companies, major human rights organizations, academics, investors and technology leaders today launched the Global Network Initiative.
From the Americas to Europe to the Middle East to Africa and Asia, companies in …

I’ve been ridiculously busy lately, and need to quickly catch up on some recent items of note:

Scientific American has a nice special issue dedicated to “the future of privacy.” Nothing new here for most privacy scholars, but it is a nice treatment of the issues that is approachable to those who don’t spend every breathing moment thinking about privacy and surveillance theory. (Also very good for undergraduate courses!)
Colorado Law School professor Paul Ohm has released an important new article on “The Rise and Fall of Invasive ISP Surveillance,” where he …

Google has provided some more information about their beta eHealth product, including this claim regarding privacy and security:
Privacy and Security – Due to the sensitive and personal nature of the data that will be stored in Google Health, we need to conduct our health service with the same privacy, security, and integrity users have come to expect in all our services. Google Health will protect the privacy of your health information by giving you complete control over your data. We won’t sell or share your data without your explicit …

Similar to my recent probes and interactions with the designers of the social networking site Moli, I recently enjoyed the opportunity to discuss privacy-related design issues with the product manager for Microsoft’s HealthVault platform.
HealthVault is Microsoft’s attempt to provide an online platform where personal electronic health records can be stored, managed, and shared with various healthcare providers. HealthVault also features a topical search engine allowing users to search specifically for health-related information (Microsoft will use sponsored search ads on the search engine to monetize the HealthVault platform). Microsoft’s press release …

Breaking news that could shake up the search industry, as well as having broader implications for concentration of user data (if we can convince the FTC of the connections between antitrust and privacy wrt online businesses rely on user data for their products and services):
Microsoft Makes $44.6 Billion Bid for Yahoo
Microsoft said Friday that it would offer $44.6 billion for Yahoo, the ailing search giant. The surprise offer of $31 a share represents a 62 percent premium to Thursday’s clsoing share price. Yahoo shareholders could elect to receive either cash …

I’m under deadline pressure currently, so very quickly:
Declan McCullagh and Elinor Mills at CNet have surveyed the major search engine providers about their privacy practices related to retention of user data and behavioral targeting. Full story here, and the search engines’ actual replies here.

Excellent summary, but much remains unknown…

The title of this post is the headline from a story in today’s Wall Street Journal (non-firewall version here), detailing how the largest web search engines are starting to make changes to how they handle the data collected from their users — and how some are approaching it as a competitive advantage to try to take some air out of Google’s balloon:
Microsoft and Ask are also trying to step out in front of the issue. The companies today will announce their plans to try to bring together a broad swath …

Taking contextual advertising to the next logical level, it has been reported that a recent patent filing indicates Microsoft want to develop an advertising framework that uses applications and data on one’s computer, rather than one’s actions on the Web, to provide context for triggering ads. Imagine writing a letter in Word and having the (already annoying) paperclip pop up and try to sell you something based on what you’re typing (see image). From the report:
The advertising software, which could be part of the operating system, a standalone app, or …

Not wanting to be outdone by Google’s recent news about profiling users based on their psychological profiles, reports have emerged that Microsoft is developing new technologies to identify users based on their browsing habits:
IF YOU thought you could protect your privacy on the web by lying about your personal details, think again. In online communities at least, entering fake details such as a bogus name or age may no longer prevent others from working out exactly who you are.
That is the spectre raised by new research conducted by Microsoft. The …

BBC columnist Bill Thompson warns readers that new DRM technology, especially that found in Vista, is damaging the freedoms that the Internet was based on:
The freedom of expression that was once available to users of the Internet Protocol is being stripped away. Our freedom to play, experiment, share and seek inspiration from the creative works of others is increasingly restricted so that large companies can lock our culture down for their own profit. [...] governments and corporations around the world are making a concerted effort to dismantle the open Internet …

An important press release came out this week regarding a coalition of Internet companies, IT providers, human rights organizations, and academics joining forces to address human rights violations enabled by technologies and practices by some of the member organizations, such as providing means of surveillance for regimes like China to identify and jail dissident citizens. From the release:
A diverse group of companies, academics, investors, technology leaders and human rights organizations announced today its intention to seek solutions to the free expression and privacy challenges faced by technology and communications companies …

A post on Slashdot recalls the discovery of an SUV filming the streets of San Francisco:
Today as we were biking around our neighborhood in a small city we saw a strange vehicle slowly driving around. It appeared to be an SUV, bristling with cameras mounted on the roof, and pointing just about every possible direction. The first time we saw it, all we could see was that it had a sign on the side, something about Windows. The second time we saw it, we stared at it so hard that …

Microsoft publicly released a 49-page internal document, called Microsoft’s Privacy Guidelines for Developing Software Products and Services outlining recommendations for both Micorsoft and other software developers to help them protect customer privacy when building applications that deal with sensitive information, such as Web sites or Web-based features that send personal information over the Internet. Here is an excerpt from the introduction:
Protecting customer privacy is critically important.   In many areas of the world, privacy is considered a fundamental human right.   Additionally, protecting customer privacy can increase loyalty and be a market …

In a New York Times article about the massive de-bugging effort Microsoft is undertaking to get their new Vista operating system released on time, mention is made that 450,000 users are testing the software, and that their computers are sending crash data back to Microsoft. So far, Microsoft has collected 5.5 petabytes of information — the equivalent of the storage capacity of 690,000 home PC’s.
Repeat: Microsoft has 5.5 petabytes of information from 450,000 users’ computers. That’s 5.5 quadrillion bytes. A bunch.
Rod Van Meter picked up on this right away:
Microsoft now …