Microsoft Treads Narrow Line on Privacy

Microsoft’s hold on the desktop and on the client interface to the Internet gives the company a huge head start in creating profitable Web services like the HailStorm Foundation Services. But these services are based on the premise that people will store information about themselves online. Public concerns about privacy and the consequences of putting huge amounts of personal data in Microsoft’s hands require the company to lobby carefully to ensure that regulators don’t cripple its efforts; to court people with promises of privacy and advanced security for their data; and, in some cases, to lead the charge to protect personal data.

Threats to Privacy

Concerns about privacy are not new. In the 1970s, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international economic and social policy organization, began work on privacy policies aimed at striking a balance between governments’ need for information about their populace and individuals’ right to privacy. (For a summary based on the OECD guidelines, see “Seven Principles of Privacy“.)