Posted by Geff on October 16, 1998 at 16:56:22:
Oh, I forgot to mention a couple other things that Microsoft does…
WebTV also keeps track of all websites visted and how long you were there… that gets uploaded as well. So, don’t surf on any questionable sites 
They take the info and give/sell it to advertisers. They admit that they even have an entire staff that does nothing but go over the uploaded data 24 hours/day.
Getting scared yet?
Geff
A little off the subject, but… - Posted by Geff
Posted by Geff on October 16, 1998 at 16:43:28:
I know this is a little off the subject, but I think it needs to be brought up. I just found something out about WebTV last night. While I’m not a WebTV user, I’m sure some of the people who post on here are. Anyway, here is some info you might be interested in.
Every night WebTV dials up the main server and uploads information without the user knowing about it. What information is it? Everything.
WebTV keeps track of all the stations you view, how long you were there, keeps a log of it and then uploads the info to Microsoft (WebTV’s parent company) every night. Microsoft claims it let you know about this practice by putting a statement in their user agreement. I’m not sure about this because I’m not a user. It’s probably somewhere in the fine print.
I feel this is a big invasion of privacy and would urge all WebTV users to complain to WebTV and directly to Microsoft. I certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone using webTV in light of this new information.
The statements above about the practices of WebTV were taken from the TV network ZDTV, I claim no responsiblity for the accuracy of the statements.
Geff
P.S. Don’t you just love the disclaimer. I just wanted to cover my back… I don’t personally want to mess with a company that has as much $$ as Microsoft does.
Re: A little off the subject, but… - Posted by Mirko
Posted by Mirko on October 18, 1998 at 10:06:31:
I believe they do the same thing at MSN so the same recommendation goes for those who use MSN as their access provider.
Re: A little off the subject, but… - Posted by Rich[GA/FL]
Posted by Rich[GA/FL] on October 16, 1998 at 17:29:21:
Didn’t this same thing go on with Prodigy about7-8 years ago? I heard from some people who were using the service then that while they were on line their disk light was almost constantly on and their “send” light on the modem was also on. After some investigation, it was determined that the contents of one’s hard drive was being downloaded to Prodigy while you were surfing their service. Talk about invasion of privacy!! This smacks of the same nonsense!
– Rich –