Microsoft’s previously secret guide to how it stores your data, intended for the eyes of law enforcement agencies only, has leaked online. The Microsoft guide reveals how long the firm keeps your information and details how the authorities can get hold of it.
Law enforcement agencies in the US need warrants and court orders to grab data. Microsoft is legally required to follow those instructions but it doesn’t have to offer up such thorough details.
The Microsoft guide was released by a site called Cryptome which was subsequently taken down after Microsoft’s legal department contacted its host. However, the Microsoft document is still online.
The document covers Xbox Live, Windows Live, MSN and Microsoft Office Live accounts and reveals the breadth of information that can be revealed to law enforcement. The data includes your name, address and credit card number in some cases.
Microsoft are not the first company to have documents leaked through Cryptome. The site has previously exposed Facebook privacy documents.
The Microsoft guide focuses on the firm’s interactions with US law enforcement agencies but points international plods to Microsoft folk in there local who will follow similar rules.
Take a gander at the Microsoft document on Scribd for yourself and let us know what you think.
Out now | £free | Microsoft (via Scribd/Business Insider)
