Microsoft's Secret?

[herme3]

Today (December 15, 2004) I have been having trouble getting into my Microsoft Hotmail account. When I finally logged in, I noticed that the web site was moving very slow. When I went to my inbox I was very surprised to find messages that I had deleted. Some of them were deleted over a year ago. All of the messages were old messages from Homestead, my web-hosting provider. At first, I thought Homestead accidentally sent me all of their old e-mail messages. Then I noticed that in my inbox, the dates that were shown were all from a long time ago. Does this mean that Microsoft secretly keeps all of your e-mail messages after you delete them? I thought this was against their privacy policy. What does everyone else think about this?

[5614]

unless you've carefully read all of microsoft's license agreements and terms and conditions i wouldnt put anything past any company!

 

one would assume they were archived or something and for some reason accessed and placed back into your account.

 

a strange tale though!

[Auk]

Herme I had the same problem once. I believe that it is just some archive files that returned as 5614 said. Just out of interest what kind of platform do you have?

[herme3]

Just out of interest what kind of platform do you have?

 

I have Windows XP Home Edition. Does anyone have any idea where this archive is? Is it hidden on the Hotmail web site's server? Are all messages on Hotmail archived after you delete them? I don't see why Microsoft does this. What could have made the server decide to put these archived messages back in my account over a year later?

[Auk]

I believe there are programs that get rid of archive files that are kept for no reason. Look for them on Download.com. I've got ME for a platform.

[Sayonara]

Ask hotmail.

[sepultallica]

I have Windows XP Home Edition. Does anyone have any idea where this archive is? Is it hidden on the Hotmail web site's server? Are all messages on Hotmail archived after you delete them? I don't see why Microsoft does this. What could have made the server decide to put these archived messages back in my account over a year later?

 

it would have to be on the msn side. i dont think that it would get archived (for security reasons) on the pc. i think i read somewhere that all mail service providers have to keep everything. including all mail.

[mossoi]

The data protection act states that all email within a company must be archived for 10 years. It could be something similar to that although I don't know the policy for public email.

[Jordie]

Today (December 15, 2004) I have been having trouble getting into my Microsoft Hotmail account. When I finally logged in, I noticed that the web site was moving very slow. When I went to my inbox I was very surprised to find messages that I had deleted. Some of them were deleted over a year ago. All of the messages were old messages from Homestead, my web-hosting provider. At first, I thought Homestead accidentally sent me all of their old e-mail messages. Then I noticed that in my inbox, the dates that were shown were all from a long time ago. Does this mean that Microsoft secretly keeps all of your e-mail messages after you delete them? I thought this was against their privacy policy. What does everyone else think about this?

 

Yahoo, Msn, Gmail and any other free email provider always keeps backups of your inbox. If they ever have technical issues they have that backup to restore from if needed. They should delete these backups once a new backup is made. I have a Gmail account (and am very happy with it. If any of you want an invite pm me) and on this page http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/more.html they state what I have said above.

[mossoi]

I have a feeling that as you are using another party's service they are obliged to keep all the email that passes through their servers for legal reasons (such as protection against offensive emails). While they can store your data it is strictly controlled by their Privacy Policy (http://privacy.msn.com/tou/). A company is legally obliged to supply information such as email that has passed through its servers under the demand of a legal authority.

 

It's not a case of MS wanting to spy on your emails it's more a case of the governments of this world demand information be stored and provided when they demand it.

 

MS and other big companies tend to get the blame for this sort of activity but it's more often than not the authorities who force (at great expense to the company involved) the storage of both electronic and paper records so that they may demand these things at their discretion.

 

If anybody does want to criticize this invasion of privacy then complain to your politicians not the companies - although you won't get very far because, after all, 99% of governing a country is bureaucracy.

 

I have personally experienced this and still hold information on staff whom I employed 5 years ago. I don't want to keep all the damn paperwork but I have to by law and if I was to lose or have it stolen then I would be at fault for allowing this information to be used by a third party.

 

This link shows an example of the type of quandry companies regularly find themselves in due to legislation coming at them from two angles: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,2085874,00.htm.

 

Having said all that here's a link to a site that claims Hotmail is sharing personal details of its users for financial gain: http://www.peacefire.org/hotmail/sharing-addresses.shtml.

 

I am slightly suspicious of what they say though because the last paragraph states that "HotMail had been silently blocking their users from sending us mail". This sounds a lot like conspiracy theorists at work!

 

Here's food for thought, many forums assume ownership of your intellectual property when you post on them. They maintain the right to distribute and retain information and treat it as their own. I don't know if this forum has such rules but I know many that do. Try asking them to remove one of your posts and if it has some value to them they'll tell you where to go.

[mossoi]

From the link posted by Jordie above:

Of course, the law and common sense dictate some exceptions. These exceptions include requests by users that Google's support staff access their email messages in order to diagnose problems; when Google is required by law to do so; and when we are compelled to disclose personal information because we reasonably believe it's necessary in order to protect the rights, property or safety of Google, its users and the public.

"When google is required by law" - part of that requirement is retaining information for a set period of time - usually counted in years not months or weeks.

 

"and when we are compelled to disclose personal information because we reasonably believe it's necessary in order to protect the rights, property or safety of Google, its users and the public" - that is somewhat open ended. Not the fault of Google necessarily but something they are obliged to contemplate due to law.

 

I'm not trying to say that all our information is accessible by everybody who wants it but just that one should be aware that most information is stored for a long time - it's not large companies leveraging income out of unsuspecting customers, it's laws and legislation that's ultimately designed to protect the majority against the actions of the minority.

[mossoi]

Sorry for the monologue but it looks as though Gmail agree with me. From the same link posted by Jordie as earlier:

Let's be clear: there are issues with email privacy, and these issues are common to all email providers. The main issue is that the contents of your messages are stored on mailservers for some period of time; there is always a danger that these messages can be obtained and used for purposes that may harm you. There exists a real opportunity for misuse of your information by governments, as well as by your email provider. Careful consideration of the relevant issues, close scrutiny of email providers' practices and policies, and suitable vigilance and enforcement of appropriate legislation are the best defenses against misuse of your information. The only alternative is to avoid new technology altogether, and forego the benefits it provides.