IP: Microsoft Programs Have Privacy Concern

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>From: "Bill Burgos" <onomrbil@gol.com>
>To: Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
>Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 12:02:53 +0900
>
>Filed at 8:49 p.m. ET
>
>           By Reuters
>
>           SEATTLE (Reuters) - Documents created with some Microsoft
>           Corp. (MSFT.O) software can be rigged to ``phone home'' to
>           another computer and report where and how often a
>           document is read, a privacy organization said on Wednesday.
>
>           The technique, known as a ``Web bug'', takes advantage of
>           a shortcut for including images in Microsoft's Word word
>           processor, Excel spreadsheet software and PowerPoint
>           presentation program, the Denver-based Privacy Foundation
>           said on its Web site.
>
>           But the group's Chief Technology Officer Richard Smith added
>           that there was no evidence that anyone had exploited the
>           set-up, and he did not recommend that users disable the
>           features in their software.
>
><snip>
>
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-microsoft-
>privac.html
>
>Bill
>onomrbil@gol.com
>mailto:onomrbil@gol.com