Is WGA used to violate your privacy or not?

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I was reading this article, then I came to this paragraph and was shocked!

"Microsoft traced most of the pirates through its online validation program, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Some of the defendants were reported to the company's antipiracy hotline."

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Microsoft-Sues-eBay-Software-Pirates/story.xhtml?story_id=10000B5Y3NUO

If WGA is touted to protect and respect the privacy of thos who use Windows, how could it do this without violating privacy?!?

I checked the FAQ and privacy policy of WGA:

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/PrivacyInfo.aspx?displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/FAQ.aspx?displaylang=en

"Q: What information is collected from my computer?

A: The genuine validation process will collect information about your system to determine if Windows is genuine. This process does not collect or send any information that can be used to identify you or contact you. The only information collected in the validation process is:

* Windows product key
* PC manufacturer
* Operating System version
* PID/SID
* BIOS information (make, version, date)
* BIOS MD5 Checksum
* User locale (language setting for displaying Windows)
* System locale (language version of the operating system)

Q: How does Microsoft use this information?

A: The information serves three purposes:

* It provides Web page flow, tailoring the pages you see based on your responses.
* It conveys demographics, which help Microsoft to understand regional differences in Windows usage.
* It confirms user input. User input is often compared against data collected from the PC in order to determine whether to grant a user’s request for additional access."

And I repeat,

"This process does not collect or send any information that can be used to identify you or contact you."

Then how the heck did ""Microsoft trace most of the pirates through its online validation program, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA)."?!? Is it just me, or is this a gross misuse of WGA?

--
nubian

http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/vista.html
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Windows validation
    ... > Right-click on each item denoted as "Windows Genuine ... > Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of Microsoft Download ... > The Windows Genuine Advantage validation check process ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: Microsoft Video Screensaver installation problems
    ... Right-click on each item denoted as "Windows Genuine ... Advantage Validation Tool" and select "Remove". ... Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of Microsoft Download Center ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Windows validation
    ... Right-click on each item denoted as "Windows Genuine ... Advantage Validation Tool" and select "Remove". ... Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of Microsoft Download Center ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsupdate)
  • Re: Genuine Advantage bug
    ... Right-click on each item denoted as "Windows Genuine ... Advantage Validation Tool" and select "Remove". ... Please use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of Microsoft Download Center ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • SecurityFocus Microsoft Newsletter #176
    ... MICROSOFT VULNERABILITY SUMMARY ... Microsoft Windows XP HCP URI Handler Arbitrary Command Execu... ... PHPNuke Category Parameter SQL Injection Vulnerability ... Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Vulnerability Identific... ...
    (Focus-Microsoft)