Microsoft Privacy Defence Delays Police Options

[TRIaXOR]

lol, they say NZ law doesnt appy in the US, Makes me think tho, most US courts think US law Applies everywhere (Divineo anyone?)

[dokworm]

With that logic your saying anywhere the Xbox 360 is sold Microsoft has to abide by that countries laws. I don't think that would work...at all...ever...

It isn't about Microsoft helping a thief out, it is about Microsoft sticking to their policies.

yeah sure they are sticking to their policies. They hand over info to the Chinese police forces to prosecute poor SOBs that defy the government there, and happily block content to appease the Chinese government.
But with a case of straighforward theft in NZ they won't comply because of privacy issues. My arse, they just don't give a rat's about the NZ market, if it was China Microsoft would go get the guy themselves and deliver him on a plate.

[signal-to-noise-ratio]

" personally I see no problem with this (I'm not a criminal, so why should it?). M$ should have given the police the guys details and helped put the asshole in jail. People that break into other peoples houses and thieve their stuff are total scum!.

Unless your falsely accused of a crime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."



"When freedom is outlawed only outlaws will truly be free."

[exodus1977]

New Zealand have police? :P

Yes.

[biabia8659]

Yes.

Looks like a Taxi..

[Shooman]

Yes.

Oh you f**king noob!

That's an Australian Police Car!

You can tell because of the number to dial...000 (NZ is 111)

Right - now that that's out of the way.
I'm a NZer and read about this on Stuff.co.nz
So MS are saying "hey - even though we have a NZ based company, well sell 360's in NZer under NZ consumer law and is sold whereby you must use NZ currency....all information gathered from us falls under US law...."
BULLSH*T!
They are based in NZ and the information obtained from a product SOLD in NZ, all details given to them would fall under NZ law.
Morally, they SHOULD. Guys - this is someone whose pinched a 360 (umong other things) and tried to use it online. If it puts a criminal behind bars and stops him from nicking other stuff - so be it.
All of you guys here would be singing a different tune if it was your 360 that was stolen...

[Quest]

ms proves to be very stupid.
that guy was NOT a customer.
-> http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus?book=Thes...amp;va=customer

they should have handed the info over to the police.

Quest

p.s. i also doubt that the guy agreed to the EULA ;-)

This post has been edited by Quest: Feb 8 2007, 08:01 AM

[Arvarden]

Only a high court judge can rule whether information about X person should be forwarded to X authorities. If the Police do not follow these simple rules we are one step closer to a police state.

[HamSandwhich]

I'm sure EA will sell the police his details.

[Psykomantis00]

Only a high court judge can rule whether information about X person should be forwarded to X authorities. If the Police do not follow these simple rules we are one step closer to a police state.

Exactly. It's the people that say "I have nothing to hide, why should I care if my information is looked at without proper paper work?" That are completely retarded. If anyone just asked for important documentation about you and got it, ID theft would be a lot higher than it is already. I have nothing to hide either, but if the police came to my house without a warrant and told me to let them in, they would be seeing the barrel of my AR-15 unless they showed me a warrant. Cops going against policy is breaking the law. How can you trust one criminal to find another?

[vingasoline]

Maybe the guy that phoned MS bought the system. If you buy a hot system off ebay, and sign up on live, how would you like it if MS gave your personal info to the cops so that they could go to your house and take it from you, and possibly charge you with posession of stolen goods.. As far as MS is concerned the guy bought the system, therefore he will be protected under the privacy policy.

[Martinchris23]

A lot of you are seeing this the wrong way.

I applaud MS for what they did - everyone has rights and when Microsoft promise to keep your information private, they have to uphold it. The Privacy act states that information has to be revealed to uphold the law. Microsoft will look after a customer first, so an individual's details are priority.

Here's the thing - Nothing short of a court order would be needed to obtain the information, because the guy (remember, he's not a criminal until proven guilty in court) agreed for MS to store his private details and keep them private. If MS had released his details, THEY would have been held liable and he could have sued them. Futhermore, it's entirely possible that the case could have been thrown out due to inadmissable evidence. His privacy agreement with MS is set in stone - noone can breach it without express permission.

[HamSandwhich]

Word on the street, and by the street I mean them little pretend streets in the zoo, is that the cops who took that guys 360 not so long ago sold it to the guy.

[njptrading]

A lot of you are seeing this the wrong way.

I applaud MS for what they did - everyone has rights and when Microsoft promise to keep your information private, they have to uphold it. The Privacy act states that information has to be revealed to uphold the law. Microsoft will look after a customer first, so an individual's details are priority.

Here's the thing - Nothing short of a court order would be needed to obtain the information, because the guy (remember, he's not a criminal until proven guilty in court) agreed for MS to store his private details and keep them private. If MS had released his details, THEY would have been held liable and he could have sued them. Futhermore, it's entirely possible that the case could have been thrown out due to inadmissable evidence. His privacy agreement with MS is set in stone - noone can breach it without express permission.

Absolutely true - And like people said earlier, what if the cops were fake? At the end of the day Microsoft should be applauded for sticking to theie Privacy Policy whatever the cops will say. And for whatever reason.

However the moment a warrant is brought into the equation (and MS checks it out to be legit with the police headquarters), then MS can give the info up. Well played by MS. That guy's a criminal but MS has policies, and if they dont follow they can become liable. Yes everyone wants to bring a burglar down, but it has to be done by the book. No emotions involved. (MS Employee: "Hey cops you want this guy's info? what he robbed a x360? here i'll GLADLY give you his info!").

Data protection is a very important thing and it shouldnt be underestimated. If MS gave the info out all guns blazing without a warrant (just because the cops talked rough with their blahdy blah about NZ laws, bringing a guy to justice, etc..), the'd have been under the griller for much worse than a burglary - breaking the data protection act.

They played it well. And i dont think MS would kiss arse with a country that is important to them i.e. China. Again if they broke data protection they'd be in MUCH MUCH deeper trouble and i dont think MS would risk it. IF info was leaked, it'll have been because of one employee not following the book - not a decision made by the main shareholders! No fucking way would MS shareholders and main managers decide to leak info about criminals to a kissarse country - no fucking way - they have more brains than that because they'd know they're putting the company AND it's image on the line! Like i say it'd be down to one employee if there were leakage problems.

This post has been edited by njptrading: Feb 8 2007, 03:21 PM

[spliffbizzie]

if i had been the cops i would have nicked(arrested) all the people at ms for perverting the course of justice, they have info about a criminal WHO BROKE INTO PEOPLES HOUSES and wont tell, thats bound to be against the law, what happens if he broke into somebodys house and killed somebody while ms knew all along who he was and where he lived and didnt tell the police.