Last updated: August 2013
Microsoft is committed to protecting your privacy, while delivering software that brings you the performance, power, and convenience you desire in your personal computing. This privacy statement explains many of the data collection and use practices of the NuGet-Based Microsoft Package Manager (“Package Manager”). It focuses on features that communicate with the Internet. It does not apply to other online or offline Microsoft sites, products, or services.
Package Manager is a developer-focused package management system that simplifies the process of finding and incorporating third-party libraries into solutions during development.
Collection and use of your information
The information we collect from you will be used by Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates to enable the features you are using and provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized. It may also be used to analyze and improve Microsoft products and services.
In order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with Microsoft, information collected through one Microsoft service may be combined with information obtained through other Microsoft services. We may also supplement the information we collect with information obtained from other companies. For example, we may use services from other companies that enable us to derive a general geographic area based on your IP address in order to customize certain services to your geographic area.
Except as described in this statement, personal information you provide will not be transferred to third parties without your consent. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as answering customer questions about products or services, processing event registration, or performing statistical analysis of our services. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
Microsoft may access or disclose information about you, including the content of your communications with Microsoft, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the services; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public. We may also disclose personal information as part of a corporate transaction such as a merger or sale of assets.
Information that is received by Microsoft through the Package Manager may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or service providers maintain facilities. Microsoft abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.
Collection and use of information about your computer
When you use software with Internet-enabled features, information about your computer ("standard computer information") is sent to the web sites you visit and online services you use. Microsoft uses standard computer information to provide you Internet-enabled services, to help improve our products and services, and for statistical analysis. Standard computer information typically includes information such as your IP address, operating system version, browser version, and regional and language settings. In some cases, standard computer information may also include hardware ID, which indicates the device manufacturer, device name, and version. If a particular feature or service sends information to Microsoft, standard computer information will be sent as well.
The privacy details for each Package Manager feature or service listed in this privacy statement describe what additional information is collected and how it is used.
Security of your information
Microsoft is committed to helping protect the security of your information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For example, we store the information you provide on computer systems with limited access, which are located in controlled facilities.
Changes to this privacy statement
We will occasionally update this privacy statement to reflect changes in our products, services, and customer feedback. When we post changes, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this statement. If there are material changes to this statement or in how Microsoft will use your personal information, we will notify you either by posting a notice of such changes prior to implementing the change or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how Microsoft is protecting your information.
For more information
Microsoft welcomes your comments regarding this privacy statement. If you have questions about this statement or believe that we have not adhered to it, please contact us at wptprivacy@microsoft.com.
Web Platform and Tools Privacy
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Specific features
The remainder of this document will address the following specific features:
PACKAGE SEARCH AND ENUMERATION
What this feature does:
This feature will access a list of packages that are available for download and installation from a package source. If you have specified a package source that resides on an external computer system, using this feature will connect and transmit information to the external computer system over the Internet. By default, a URL under the nuget.org domain is specified as a package source.
Information collected, processed, or transmitted:
This feature will transmit standard computer information typical of HTTP requests, development environment information, such as edition and version, and information related to your project, such as project type GUIDs, to whichever parties host your configured package sources.
Use of information:
If you configure your project to search for packages in a package source hosted by Microsoft, then we will use the information we receive to provide search results or enumerations of packages. We may also use the information to improve our package source service, such as to prioritize commonly searched-for packages or to make searches contextually aware, or in other ways described in this privacy statement.
Choice/control:
Do not launch the Package Manager from Visual Studio if you do not want it to connect to a package source. Alternatively, you may specify only package sources that reside on internal networks.
PACKAGE DOWNLOAD
What this feature does:
This software feature will download any packages that you have selected for installation and will place them into a project folder on your computer. If a package that you have selected for installation depends on additional packages that are not already contained in your project folder, Package Manager will automatically download those additional packages from their respective package sources, some of which may reside on external computer systems.
Information collected, processed, or transmitted:
This feature will transmit standard computer information typical of HTTP requests, development environment information, such as edition and version, and information related to your project, such as requested packages, to whichever parties host your configured package sources.
Use of information:
If you configure your project to search for packages in a package source hosted by Microsoft, then we will use the information we receive to transmit packages to your computer. We may also use the information to improve our package source service or in other ways described in this privacy statement.
Choice/control:
Do not install packages using the Package Manager if you do not want the Package Manager to connect to a package source to download packages. Alternatively, you may specify only package sources that reside on internal networks.
PACKAGE RESTORE
What this feature does:
This software feature will allow you to add package references to your project. If you attempt to build a project that includes package references, Package Manager will automatically download and install any missing packages from your configured package sources, some of which may reside on external computer systems.
Information collected, processed, or transmitted:
This feature will transmit standard computer information typical of HTTP requests, development environment information, such as edition and version, and information related to your project, such as package dependencies in your project, to whichever parties host your configured package sources.
Use of information:
If you configure your project to reference packages in a package source hosted by Microsoft, then we will use the information we receive to transmit packages to your computer. We may also use the information to improve our package source service or in other ways described in this privacy statement.
Choice/control:
To prevent Package Manager from automatically downloading missing packages during build time, open the Tools > Options dialog from within Visual Studio, select “Package Manager” from the options, and uncheck the “Allow NuGet to download missing packages” checkbox.