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rcable1 Profile
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Registered: 04-2004
Location: High Point, NC
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Opinions Please


I found this article on Annas board and wanted to get everyones opinion.

I may be reading this wrong but this looks to me a possicble huge privacy invasion issue, but again maybe I missed something.

Thu Jul 29, 2004 08:10 PM ET
   
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , which is challenging market leader Google Inc. in the online search market, demonstrated for the first time on Thursday a search engine that looks for information on computer hard drives as well as information on the Web.
The world's largest software maker had hinted before that it was interested in offering search technology for information beyond the Web, but Microsoft vice president Yusuf Mehdie gave the clearest signal yet that Microsoft would enter the local hard drive search space, considered the next battleground among search technology providers.

"We will be able to search beyond the Web in a very fast fashion," Mehdie told analysts and reporter gathered at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters for its annual analysts meeting.

"We have made a lot of progress," Mehdie said, but did not give a launch date or time frame for the new technology.

Microsoft, Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) are positioning themselves for major upgrades over the next year as they try to attract more users and advertising revenue by enhancing their search services.

The competitors have also shifted their attention toward providing search tools for information buried in computer hard drives.

Earlier this month, Microsoft bought Lookout, a small program that allows users of its Outlook e-mail, contacts and scheduling program to bypass the search tools provided by Microsoft and sift through e-mail, contacts and other information with keywords.

Results by Lookout, which can also search through files on the hard drive, are returned nearly instantaneously.

Microsoft gave no indication whether it used any technology from Lookout for its new search technology.

"We wanted to show you a local PC and e-mail searching that we build as a joint effort across the company," Mehdie said.

In a demonstration, Mehdie typed search terms into a prototype version of MSN Toolbar, which runs as an add-on to the Internet Explorer browser.

Search results, such as e-mail, e-mail attachments, pictures and documents, were also returned nearly instantaneously. Results from the Web for the same search terms were displayed on a separate pane to the right.




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Man and The Moon
30/Jul/04, 12:37 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Firlefanz Profile
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Registered: 05-2003
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Re: Opinions Please


This is terrible news.

I also think that this is incredibly wrong, and very hypocritical. After all, who but Microsoft is always harping on about copyright violations and such. What if they search my hard drive, jank out the book I'm writing and presenting it to everyone online? That cannot be legal!

I refuse to have my privacy invaded like that. It might be slightly better if it was for different reasons, but I won't let people look at my private pictures, just for Microsoft's next business coup. emoticon

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- Firlefanz

Reading: "Northern Lights", by Philip Pullman
Writing: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book

My home - Schreiberlinge unter sich
30/Jul/04, 12:48 Link to this post Email   PM  Blog
 
David Meadows Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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I don't understand why this is news. Microsoft have always provided me with software to search hard drives (at least since Windows 95, and it got better once they introduced Index Server as a standard component of Windows 2000), and very useful it is too.

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"If you are worried that your children are going to read low-quality information, teach them. Teach them what to read. Teach them how to judge information."
Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web)
30/Jul/04, 14:25 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Prezimonto Profile
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Registered: 10-2003
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ok does this software search just your harddrive along w/ a google search, or does it access other peoples through the internet?

1) if its situation A, who cares.
2) if its situation B, there will be programs to block that search as soon as it comes out, along with lawsuits. Further, firewalls and internet security would probably block a foreign search already. If a company is running windows they'd be forced to drop internet, or switch OS's. Finally, I wonder if there's something burried in that 10 page agreement written in laywerese(the only know written language harder to understandand more boring than sciencese) we're all "required" to read before installing windows that would let them get around law suits.
30/Jul/04, 17:31 Link to this post Email   PM  ICQ  Blog
 
Alpha Centauri Profile
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Registered: 02-2004
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It seems to me that MS decided to take advantage of their own software security holes... thus converting their dreaded bugs into ..."features". No worries, folks. You can STILL be safe and protect your privacy if you follow these simple rules:

1. Install the MS Operation System ONLY (as plain an installation as possible).

2. Install TCP/IP protocols ONLY. Never, EVER, install "features" like MSN, NetMeeting and the like (even if they're presented to you as default or recommended installation options).

3. Use a third party browser (Mozilla, Opera, Firefox etc)

4. If you just HAVE to use IE, NEVER, EVER install MS provided accessories such as MSN or Yahoo toolbars, net search tools etc. There are third party programs which are much better and safer for searching on the net.

5. Always use a reliable AND updated virus and adware scanner and have your PC thoroughly checked at least once a week.

6. Always check the origin and the contents of the cookies received. FYI: Opera's cookies management is unsurpassed as far as safety and privacy is concerned.

7. Use common sense.

Keep in mind that local drive searching requires many specific parameters and technical factors that have to be met and following the above rules makes it almost impossible for anyone to invade your system. (no matter how much they might brag about it for marketing reasons).

emoticon

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30/Jul/04, 17:38 Link to this post PM 
 
David Meadows Profile
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I absolutely can't see the problem. Windows already has the features to block other people searching your drive, and the features to search other people's drives if they want you too. I can and do search the drives of other people's machines over a network (with their permission). It's a very useful ability.

Nowhere has Microsoft said they will invade any machines without permission.

It seems that some (perhaps ill-thought-out) Microsoft marketing hype has been jumped on and blown out of proportion just because people like to bash Microsoft. Let's use a bit of common sense before we assume they are intending to invade our private lives.

How many people in the world knowingly and happily open up thier drives to scrutiny by using Kazaa or similar filesharing programs? Millions...

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"If you are worried that your children are going to read low-quality information, teach them. Teach them what to read. Teach them how to judge information."
Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web)
30/Jul/04, 20:39 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Firlefanz Profile
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Registered: 05-2003
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David, I might have misunderstood the original post. I thought it meant that any computer with a Windows OS would be searchable through the internet, via search engines and willy nilly. That would be a privacy nightmare - at least in my opinion.

Of course I have allowed access to parts of my hard drive in our home network. On the other hand, I'm not into p2p, and I'm avoiding I.E. and Outlook like the plague. Privacy concerns are an issue.

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- Firlefanz

Reading: "Northern Lights", by Philip Pullman
Writing: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book

My home - Schreiberlinge unter sich
31/Jul/04, 13:37 Link to this post Email   PM  Blog
 
David Meadows Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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It's possible that I misunderstood the press release, but I'm assuming the simplest ("most sane") interpretation. The negative legal and ethical implications of searching hard drives without permission are so huge that I simply can't believe that even Microsoft would do it. (I can believe that a few governments might want to do it, but that's another matter.)



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"If you are worried that your children are going to read low-quality information, teach them. Teach them what to read. Teach them how to judge information."
Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web)
31/Jul/04, 15:09 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Firlefanz Profile
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"We will be able to search beyond the Web in a very fast fashion,"



It was this quote that rang my alarm bells. I wouldn't mind a program that searches my hard drive and the web - a combination of google and the Windows Explorer, so to speak, as long as I start it and it stays within my home network for the hard drive search.

But "beyond" sounds like "even better", and that's what scared me. How can you search even better than the web? That's only possible by seaching other people's hard drives.

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- Firlefanz

Reading: "Northern Lights", by Philip Pullman
Writing: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book

My home - Schreiberlinge unter sich
31/Jul/04, 16:25 Link to this post Email   PM  Blog
 
AnnaAngel1 Profile
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Registered: 08-2003
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i tottally stay away from MS , MSN , Netscape and anything else that requires any download like that . and if im leary of things of this nature i will delete it even from my e-mail .... i dont trust any of that stuff

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~Anna~
*Life is so beautiful so live it to the fullest of each and every new day*
11/Aug/04, 2:01 Link to this post PM 
 
Mathewmonty23 Profile
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Registered: 06-2004
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I have got msn but tats all i dont like to download things but i like to instant chat with Sarah ..so it all coool..i have had no problems with msn though

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27/Sep/04, 20:03 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
gkapitso Profile
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Registered: 09-2004
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Is Sarah one of the gals in the picture? :)

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Once there was The People--Terror gave it birth;
Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth
Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, 0 ye slain!
Once there was The People--it shall never be again!
11/Nov/04, 19:49 Link to this post Email   PM  Blog
 


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