Ja, dit is waar. Microsoft verzamelt deze informatie en heeft daar ook nooit geheimen van gemaakt:
De Privacy Statement van Windows Update:
Windows Update Privacy Statement (Last Updated 10/15/2002)
Windows Update is committed to protecting your privacy. To provide you with the appropriate list of updates, Windows Update must collect a certain amount of configuration information from your computer. None of this configuration information can be used to identify you. This information includes:
- Operating-system version number
- Internet Explorer version number
- Version numbers of other software for which Windows Update provides updates
- Plug and Play ID numbers of hardware devices
- Region and Language setting
The configuration information collected is used only to determine the appropriate updates and to generate aggregate statistics. Windows Update does not collect your name, address, e-mail address, or any other form of personally identifiable information.
Windows Update also collects the Product ID and Product Key to confirm that you are running a validly licensed copy of Windows. A validly licensed copy of Windows ensures that you will receive on-going updates from Windows Update. The Product ID and Product Key are not retained beyond the end of the Windows Update session.
To provide you with the best possible service, Windows Update also tracks and records how many unique machines visit its site and whether the download and installation of specific updates succeeded or failed. In order to do this, the Windows operating system generates a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) that is stored on your computer to uniquely identify it. The GUID does not contain any personally identifiable information and cannot be used to identify you. Windows Update records the GUID of the computer that attempted the download, the ID of the item that you attempted to download and install, and the configuration information listed above.
Wat is er nu dus ontdekt dat niet al lang bekend was? Inderdaad, bar weinig. Microsoft kán inderdaad een hoop doen met die informatie, maar dóet dit niet. Soms is Microsoft best braaf hoor