Microsoft has recently updated its services agreement with a few noteworthy changes, which are related to the company’s various privacy settlements. Per latest reports, the Redmond-based company has notified its users about the recent developments via a mail that was sent on Friday (Aug. 31), and stated that the changes will come into effect from Oct. 19.
Microsoft, similar to the strategies employed by Google, introduced the changes that will allow the company to access and show user content across all its cloud properties. The new terms now state that the content can be used to "provide, protect and improve Microsoft products and services," whereas the previous version of the TOS granted Microsoft the right to appropriate user content "solely to the extent necessary to provide the service."
“This is an agreement between you and Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live one of its affiliates) that describes your rights to use the software and services identified in section 1.1. For your convenience, we have phrased some of the terms of this agreement in a question and answer format,” the new service agreement states. “You should review the entire agreement because all of the terms are important and together create a legal agreement, once accepted by you, that applies to you.”
The improvised agreement applies to Microsoft Hotmail, Microsoft SkyDrive, Microsoft account, Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Photo Gallery, Microsoft Movie Maker, Microsoft Mail Desktop, Microsoft Writer (collectively referred to as the "Microsoft branded services"), Bing, MSN, Office.com, and any other software, Web site, or service that is associated with the agreement.
What this means is that Microsoft can now take out content from cloud-based services like SkyDrive, Hotmail, or Office.com and use it to personalize a user's Bing search results. The company said that such content monitoring would align "to the way we're designing our cloud services to be highly integrated across many Microsoft products."
However, Microsoft isn't the first company to adopt this policy as both Sony and Netflix have already executed binding adjudication clauses and class action waivers.
