Windows Media Player 8 Logs User Behaviour!

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This will probably be the top story of the day. The Associated Press revealed that Microsofts Media Player that is shipping with Windows XP operating systems logs the users playing behaviour in a file. "The system creates a list on each computer that could be a treasure for marketing companies, lawyers or others. Microsoft says it has no plans to sell the data collected by Media Player 8," the AP report reads. It seems that not only WMP 8 logs user playing profiles but that this is only the top of the iceberg. AP stated that WMP 8 only added logging support for playing DVD's!

Microsoft issued a new Privacy Policy for WMP on Wednesday. The previous version informed customers that they were downloading the information about CDs but never stated it was being stored in a log file on each computer. The new statement makes clear that information is being downloaded for both DVDs and CDs, but does not explain how users can eliminate or get into the log file. As part of downloading the information about songs and movies from the Web site, the program also transmits an identifier number unique to each user on the computer. That creates the possibility that user habits could be tracked and sold for marketing purposes. Source: The Associated Press