Given the following article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24815.html Does anyone know of any legal efforts to stop companies such as Microsoft from collecting this sort of data on customers or are we truly at the mercy of privacy statements and terms of usage clauses that realistically we have no way of reading? In reading this article on "The Register" I have once again become alarmed by the abilities of companies to collect information that may or may not be tied to a user ID. We the consumer are almost helpless to protect ourselves simply because there are not enough hours in the day to screen every product that we use for invasions on our right to privacy. If the government wished to do this would they not need a court order to wire tap our connection which apparently is very difficult to get. I know this sounds naive, but why don't companies such as marketing firms, Microsoft etc need some sort of license to collect personal data on all of us. I am not that worried about big brother watching me, I am more worried about the ethics involved and at what point is the consumer protected? I am sorry if this is off topic, but it seems to fit in the same vein as UCITA in that it effects all our lives in computing. Regards, Adam
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