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Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Privacy Statement


Last Updated: June, 2005
Microsoft is committed to helping protect your privacy. To help you make an informed choice regarding your privacy, Microsoft publishes privacy statements that disclose what information is collected, how that information is used, and what privacy controls exist. A printable version of this Privacy Statement can be viewed in your browser at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=41386
This privacy statement explains the data collection and use practices of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (including Update Rollup 2) features that are included with your version of Windows XP (“Media Center”). It does not apply to other online or offline Microsoft Web sites, products, or services. Other Microsoft Web sites, products, and services may have their own privacy statements. To read the privacy statement for the rest of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=25243.
When we need information that personally identifies you or allows us to contact you, we will explicitly ask you for it. For example, if you choose to register your software, we will collect your name, address, telephone number, business name, and e-mail address. The personal information we collect from you will be used by Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates to provide the service(s) or carry out the transaction(s) you have requested or authorized, and may also be used to request additional information on feedback that you provide about the product or service that you are using; to provide notifications regarding the software; to improve the product or service, or to provide you with advance notice of events or to tell you about new product releases.
Media Center and the Internet
Media Center has tightly integrated Internet capabilities in order to provide you a rich set of features, such as the ability to create an enhanced media playback experience. The information that Media Center sends across the Internet depends on the feature being used and what privacy controls have been set. Each of these features will be explained further in the statement below.
Information collected by Microsoft as part of providing you with these features may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents 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.
We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as handling the processing and delivery of mailings or providing customer support. We will only provide those companies with the information they need to deliver the service. They are required to maintain the confidentiality of that information and are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
Microsoft may access and/or disclose information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Microsoft; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Microsoft and its family of Web sites, or (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, users of Microsoft products or services, or members of the public.
Electronic Program Guide
The Electronic Program Guide (or Program Guide) service provides you with customized television listings information specific to your television service. In order to customize the listings, you will be asked for your postal code and what television service you receive. If you choose to use the Program Guide service, with a broadband connection to the Internet, up to 14 days of television listings will be downloaded to your computer every day. If you use a dialup connection to access the Internet, you must manually download the television listings or store your connection user name and password in the Internet Explorer connection settings so that the connection can be used automatically. Your connection user name and password will not be sent to Microsoft.
When you use the Program Guide, it will collect and provide to Microsoft information regarding the operation of the television listings downloaded from Microsoft to your computer. This information includes the amount of data downloaded, the duration of the download, whether the download completed successfully, and any edits you make to remedy incorrect channel assignments. This information also includes certain standard information about your computer hardware and software such as your IP address, access times and geographic information which may include your country and postal code.
You may terminate your use of the Program Guide at any time. To do this:
  1. On the Media Center Start menu, select Settings.
  2. In Settings, select General.
  3. In General, select Privacy, and then select Privacy Settings.
  4. Clear the checkbox next to Use the Guide.
After you clear this setting, the current TV listings will remain on your computer but you will not receive any new listings.
For more information about what Program Guide related information is collected and how that information is used, please see the Electronic Program Guide privacy statement available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30562
Enhanced Playback of Digital Music Files
Media Center uses Windows Media technology to play music files (e.g., WMA and MP3 files) that are located in the Windows Media Library (the same library used by Windows Media Player). When you play music files, the Windows Media technology will access the Internet if:
  • You need to acquire a license to play a protected music file
  • You need to download a CODEC (software used to compress and decompress digital media) to play a music file
  • You are playing back streaming music or radio from the Internet
  • You are playing a music file that does not have related media information (such as album title, album art, song title, DVD title, artist, and composer) stored in your Windows Media Library
There are privacy options in the Windows Media Player that control what happens when you acquire licenses or download a CODEC. To learn more about what privacy controls exist and how playing back streamed content affects your privacy, see the Windows Media privacy statement available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=28009.
Playback of Protected Digital Content
When you play music or video content that is protected by Microsoft Digital Rights Management technology (DRM), Media Center will need to get a license from a license server on the Internet if one is not already on your computer. Most license servers are operated by companies other than Microsoft. When requesting a license, Media Center will provide the license server certain standard information including your computer’s IP address, an ID for the music or video file, the action you have requested (such as play), information about the DRM components on your computer such as their revision and security level, and a digital certificate. This digital certificate is used only to generate a license and, because it is encrypted, is not available to the license server in a way that uniquely identifies your machine.
By default, Media Center will automatically attempt to acquire a license silently unless the license server requires some input from you (such as registration information or a fee). You can turn off automatic license acquisition in Windows Media Player. If you do so, you will be prompted to obtain a license for any new content that requires one.
To learn more about automatic license acquisition and how DRM affects your privacy, see the Windows Media privacy statement available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=28009.
WindowsMedia.com and Enhanced Playback of CDs and DVDs
To enrich your experience when playing physical CDs and DVDs, Media Center can download from WindowsMedia.com and display related media information about your content such as the album title, album art, song title, DVD title, artist, and composer. For CDs and DVDs, Media Center sends an identifier for the CD or DVD to a service operated by WindowsMedia.com. If related media information is found for the CD or DVD, WindowsMedia.com will send the information back to your computer, where it will be displayed for you.
This information is cached on your computer for as long as Media Center is open. Album art retrieved by Media Center for physical CDs and DVDs is not available when you are not connected to the Internet. When Media Center is closed, the information will be removed, following the policies you have set for your Internet cache. For more information about your Internet cache, see the Help documentation in your Web browser.
To prevent Media Center from searching for related media information for CDs and DVDs:
  1. On the Media Center Start menu, select Settings.
  2. In Settings, select General.
  3. In General Settings, select Automatic Download Options.
  4. Scroll down, clear the checkbox next to Retrieve Media Information for CDs and DVDs from the Internet, and then select Save.
Note: This setting is independent of the Work Offline setting found in Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer.
WindowsMedia.com is a Web site operated by Microsoft. Like most Web sites, WindowsMedia.com maintains a log of all requests that are sent to it (such as a request for media information for a CD or DVD) along with the sender's IP address. The log will include your WindowsMedia.com cookie if cookies are enabled for the site. To learn more about how WindowsMedia.com affects your privacy, see the WindowsMedia.com Privacy Statement available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31525 or from the bottom of any WindowsMedia.com Web page. For more information about cookies, and how to control them, please see the Cookies section below.
Media Center Updates
For the latest features and improvements, you can get updates to Media Center from Windows Update. You have control over whether and how Windows Update operates. The Windows Update privacy statement is available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=31488.
Usage History within Media Center
Media Center keeps track of the radio presets and music you listen to, and the photos and videos that you view by displaying thumbnails of the last three items you’ve accessed on the Media Center Start page. This list can only be altered by accessing different content which will then be displayed and replace less recent content in the list.
Additionally, Media Center will display the last two Settings pages accessed, as well as the last three items accessed in More Programs. This list can only be altered by accessing different items which will then be displayed and replace less recent content in the list.
Media Center keeps track of the last TV channel watched or recorded so that the next time you select TV you will be tuned to the last channel. A list of recently recorded shows is also created and displayed on the first page of My TV. This list can only be altered by deleting a show on the list or by making more recent recordings.
A history of what has recorded and what hasn’t recorded because of problems is kept indefinitely. To clear this list:
  1. On the Media Center Start menu, select My TV.
  2. In My TV, select Recorded TV.
  3. In Recorded TV, select History.
  4. In History, select Clear history.
None of the usage history described above is sent to Microsoft. However, other people who use your computer may be able to access it.
Customer Experience Improvement Program (Update Rollup 2 Only)
The Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) feature is included in Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. If you have this version of Media Center and choose to participate, CEIP will collect basic information about your hardware configuration and the reliability of our software and services to identify trends and usage patterns. This information helps improve the quality, reliability and performance of Microsoft software and services.
The information CEIP collects includes the type and number of errors you encounter, software and hardware performance, and the speed of services. We do not collect your name, address or other contact information. We use the information collected to improve our software and services.
This feature generates a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) that is stored on your computer to uniquely identify it. The GUID is a randomly generated number; it does not contain any personal information and will not be used to identify you. CEIP uses the GUID to distinguish how widespread the feedback we receive is and how to prioritize it. For example, this number allows Microsoft to distinguish between one customer having an error 100 times and 100 customers having the same error once. The GUID is stored on your computer and sent with every CEIP report.
You are offered the opportunity to participate in CEIP during setup. If you choose to participate and later change your mind, you can turn off CEIP at any time by:
  1. On the Media Center Start menu, select Settings.
  2. In Settings, select General.
  3. In General Settings, select Privacy.
  4. In Privacy, select Customer Experience Settings.
  5. In Customer Experience Settings, clear the checkbox.
For additional, general information about CEIP, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=19422.
Third Party Web Sites and Applications
Online Spotlight provides you with access to Microsoft and third party Web sites, content and services. When you access third party Web sites, content or services, you will be subject to the third parties’ privacy practices. Similarly, when you run third party applications in Media Center, you will be subject to the third parties’ privacy practices. Microsoft is not responsible for the privacy practices of third party sites or applications.
Some applications and Web sites available in Online Spotlight request information from your computer in order to provide you with an enhanced experience. They have the ability to ask Media Center for information about the currently playing song or video, including title, artist and length of the content. Applications and Web sites cannot obtain any information about television shows you watch, but they can request other information such as the zip code you used when you configured the Electronic Program Guide. A Web site might use this information to customize content, such as providing weather information based on your zip code.
You can turn this feature off. To do so:
  1. On the Media Center Start menu, select Settings.
  2. In Settings, select General.
  3. In General, select More Programs Options.
  4. Clear the checkbox next to Access media information from Media Center.
Cookies
What is a Cookie?
A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web server. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.
A cookie is often used to personalize your visit to a Web site or to save you time. For example, to facilitate a purchase the cookie could contain information such as your current selection, as well as personally identifiable information, such as your name or e-mail address. Similarly, streaming media servers you connect to through the Internet may also establish cookies on your computer. To help Web sites track individual visitors, cookies often contain a unique identifier. It is up to the Web site that created the cookie to disclose to you what information is stored in the cookie and how that information is used.
Controlling Cookies
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you decide to block one or more cookies, the Web sites that use them may not function correctly. For example, if the WindowsMedia.com cookie is blocked, you may lose some features like the ability to set Radio Tuner Presets in the Windows Media Player.
Cookies previously saved to your hard drive may still be read by Media Center unless you remove them. If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer as your Web browser, you can use the Internet Options in Microsoft Windows to modify your browser settings for cookies as follows:
  1. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Privacy tab.
  2. Move the slider up to Block All Cookies. On this setting, Web sites will not be able to store cookies on your computer.
Note: Blocking all cookies is an extreme action to take. The next two Internet Explorer privacy levels, High and Medium High, may be more suitable. In addition, it is possible to block a cookie for a specific site via the Edit menu. Please see Internet Explorer on-line Help for more information.
Security
Microsoft is committed to protecting 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.
Changes to the Privacy Statement
We may occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date at the top of the privacy statement. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to be informed of how Microsoft is protecting your information.
Contact Information
Microsoft welcomes your comments regarding this privacy statement. If you believe that Microsoft has not adhered to this statement, please contact us at mcepriv@microsoft.com.
Windows XP Media Center Edition Privacy
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
To find contact details for the Microsoft subsidiary or affiliate in your country or region, see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/.
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