Published: May, 2006
At Microsoft, we're working hard to protect your privacy, while delivering products that bring you the performance, power and convenience you desire in your personal computing. This privacy statement explains the data collection and use practices of the Microsoft Community Bar Version 1.0 (“Community Bar”). It does not apply to other online or offline Microsoft sites, products or services.
Community Bar is an Internet Explorer add-in that enriches the Web browsing experience by providing personalized, contextual information relevant to your browsing activity. It uses panels (similar to framed Web pages) that collect which Web page you’re browsing in Internet Explorer and return some information to you about that page. Among other things, the panels let you tag, make comments about or rate the sites you browse and see the tags, comments and ratings that other Community Bar users have made. Community Bar does not modify the pages you visit; instead, it lets you build a community around pages (distinct from the pages themselves) and lets you interact with other Community Bar users who visit those pages.
When you install Community Bar, you will be prompted to log in using your Microsoft Windows Live™ ID. After logging in, you are given an anonymous username (unrelated to your Windows Live ID), which you can later change. Your username will be associated with any tags, ratings, notes, or other information you provide about a page while using the Community Bar. The username can be any name not already in use – whether you choose to use your real name as your username is up to you. You shuld also read and understand the Windows Live ID privacy statement.
When you log in to Community Bar, your login and password will be sent to Microsoft. When you're logged into Community Bar, the URL for each Web site you visit in Internet Explorer, including intranet URLs and non-html pages such as http://widgets.microsoft.com/doc/something.xls, is sent to the servers that host the panels in your copy of Community Bar. The only exception is that HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer) URLs are not sent. The panels collect the URLs in order to return to you notes, ratings, etc. that others have made about the page located at that URL.
Some panels that may be used in Community Bar are hosted by Microsoft; others are hosted by third parties. This privacy statement only describes what happens to information collected by the Microsoft-hosted panels. For third-party panels, what information is logged and how that information is used depends on the privacy policies of the third party hosting the panel. You can verify whether a particular panel is hosted by Microsoft by clicking on Settings and looking at the Author column.
In addition to the URLs you visit when you’re using Community Bar, actions you take while using Community Bar such as adding or removing panels, resizing panels and logging in are sent to Microsoft. Actions you perform using the Community Bar panels hosted by Microsoft are sent as well, such as searches you perform, notes you author in the notes panel, adding or clicking on a tag in the tags panel, and clicking on an inlink in the inlinks panel. We also collect certain standard information that your browser sends to every website you visit, such as your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring Web site addresses.
A key element of Community Bar is allowing other users to see the notes, comments, tags and ratings you add in the Community Bar panels hosted by Microsoft. Notes in Microsoft-hosted panels that you mark as "viewable by me" will not be available for viewing by other Community Bar users, but will be stored on Microsoft servers. In order to be able to display your notes, tags, etc. to others and back to you, we save this information in association with your login (the login you obtained from http://www.theworkingnetwork.com). We may also link the data described in this privacy statement other than notes, comments, tags and ratings to your login, although that other data will not be displayed to other users in a manner that is linked to your login.
The Microsoft-hosted panels do not intentionally collect any personal information from you. If a Web site has used the “Get” method on a page that is collecting personal information from you, and you are not using SSL, the panel servers will receive the data you entered in forms, or other information associated with the URL such as search terms. If the Microsoft panel servers receive any personal information in this manner, it will not be used to identify or contact you.
The information sent to Microsoft by Community Bar and the Microsoft-hosted panels may be used to improve Community Bar and our other products and services, as well as for analysis purposes. Except as described in this statement, personal information collected by Community Bar and Microsoft-hosted panels will not be transferred to third parties without your consent. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as packaging, sending and delivering purchases and other mailings, answering customer questions about products or services, processing event registration, or performing statistical analysis of our services. We provide those companies the minimum personal information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities, and by using a Microsoft site or service, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. 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. Microsoft may disclose personal information about you 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.
If you would like to prevent Community Bar from sending information to the panel servers, simply close Community Bar. If you would like to prevent Community Bar from sending information to a particular panel server, you can remove that panel by clicking on Settings and unchecking the box next to the panel. If Community Bar is running, it will send the URLs you visit to all panels in your copy of Community Bar.
Cookies
Some of the features in Community Bar may use cookies in conjunction with an associated Web site. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. A cookie is uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. We use cookies in Community Bar to store your login status. This allows you to use Community Bar without having to enter your login and password each time you start the program.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Internet Explorer automatically accepts cookies, but you can modify its settings to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of certain content within panels or Web sites you visit, and will need to log in to Community Bar each time you use it.
Third-Party Cookies
Some third-party panels or Web pages may place cookies on your computer. Thedata that is stored in these cookies and how that data is used is determined by the third party hosting the panel or serving the Web page, and use of the cookie is subject to that third party's privacy practices. Please contact these third parties directly for further information regarding these cookies.
Controlling Cookies
It is possible to block the creation and
transfer of cookies by using Internet Explorer. If you decide to block one or
more cookies, the Web sites that use them may not function correctly.
To prevent all cookies from being stored on your computer:
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 Internet Explorer Privacy tab. Please see Internet
Explorer Help for more information.
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. For example, we store the information you provide on computer servers with limited access that are located in controlled facilities.
We may occasionally update this privacy statement. If we do, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this statement. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to be informed of how Microsoft is protecting your 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 by using our Web form.
Microsoft Privacy
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 U.S.A.
(425) 882-8080