Microsoft gives up right to read your emails with new policy

• March 28, 2014
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We reported not even week ago that Microsoft read a user’s email and messenger chats as they investigated a former employee who leaked company secrets. This caused quite a stir, since Microsoft and its main competitors, like Google and Yahoo, spelled out clearly in their privacy policies that they could do this. Starting immediately, Microsoft will keep your emails private unless there is a search warrant for a particular account.

This is a tremendous step forward for those worried about their privacy. In a blog post, Microsoft announced the changes. If they suspect there is evidence of law breaking on a user’s account, it will not be viewed without a warrant. Since it will be spelled out in their privacy policy, Microsoft will be legally bound to follow it for as long as it is in their policy.

The post further explained that they will be working with the Center for Democracy and Technology as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation as they continue to look into revisions to their privacy policy. These organizations are well-known for standing up for internet users’ rights.

It should be stressed that these changes do little to protect users from government surveillance, especially since the NSA never seems to have a problem getting any warrant they ask for. If you want safety from that, the sender and recipient both need encryption software to encrypt and decrypt emails. Even then, you still have to trust the recipient to keep the contents safe.

While this move doesn’t fix everything, it is still both bold and consumer friendly. If you want an excellent email interface that shields you from corporate spying I enthusiastically recommend Outlook.com. We host our GettingThingsTech.com email accounts with Outlook.com and now are happy to continue doing so.

• Microsoft
• outlook
• privacy

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