Microsoft caught an employee sending leaked Windows information to a blogger by reading their emails. Now, Microsoft is in trouble for breaching privacy.
A digital rights advocacy group is furious at Microsoft for accessing users emails despite the fact that Microsoft were trying to find who was leaking out private Windows information.
The group is claiming that Microsoft should have reached out to law enforcement officers to investigate the leaks instead of reading private emails.
Former Microsoft employee, Alex Kibkalo was traced back to the leaks and has now been accused of stealing unreleased Windows information and sharing it with a blogger.
Microsoft defended their actions, publishing a blog stating that in the Hotmail Terms of Service, it does state that the company can take such action if there is probable cause. Microsoft also claimed that it could not have procured a warrant to search their own servers.
Companies like Yahoo, Google and Apple also have similar Terms of Service which state that emails can be read for legal purposes.
In fact, Google’s terms of service states, “users acknowledge and agree that Google may access…..your account information and any content associated with that account…in a good faith belief that such access….is reasonably necessary to protect against imminent harm to the…property of Google.”
Microsoft’s lawyer stated, “we took extraordinary actions based on specific circumstances,” but reassured customers that in the future they will have a federal official review cases such as these.