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What Is WindowsMedia.com?

WindowsMedia.com consists of a family of web sites and web-based services. The WindowsMedia.com services are used by Microsoft Windows software, such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. You can access the WindowsMedia.com privacy statement discussed in this article by going to Help, Privacy Statement within Windows Media Player.

NOTE

To Microsoft's credit, they don't try to hide their privacy statements. Take Windows Media Player as an example. The privacy policy can be accessed from Help, Privacy Statement. Then there's a link to the policy from Tools, Options, on the Privacy tab. There's also a link in the Help file. And finally, there are several links on Microsoft's web site pointing to the privacy statement.

What They Collect

According to Microsoft, "In general, WindowsMedia.com doesn't collect personally identifiable information, such as name, address, or telephone number." That's true. In general, it doesn't—but sometimes it does. For example, if you sign up for a WindowsMedia.com newsletter, it collects your email address, which is definitely a piece of personally identifiable information.

So what specific information does WindowsMedia.com gather? Here's a list of items that WindowsMedia.com may collect from you:

  • Your email address, if you sign up for WindowsMedia.com newsletter

  • Your ZIP code

  • The web sites and pages you visit within WindowsMedia.com

  • Your IP address

  • Your browser type

  • Domain names

  • Access times

  • Referring web site's addresses

  • Any data that WindowsMedia.com receives when processing service requests

The information listed above is kept in daily logs, and Microsoft retains those daily logs for at least one year.

What They Share

When you use WindowMedia.com, you agree to the following terms:

  • If you sign up for the WindowsMedia.com newsletter, your email address will be sent to the MSN Newsletter Service.

  • Any information you enter and submit to WindowsMedia.com to improve the quality of the Metadata Retrieval service may be shared with other users of the service.

TIP

What does Microsoft mean by "other users"—other Microsoft employees? No, everyone else in the world who uses their service.

  • Your personal information may be shared with all Microsoft vendors, or subcontractors who provide limited services such as customer support. Microsoft does say that the vendors are required to maintain the confidentiality of that information and are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.

  • Your personal information may be stored and processed not only in the United States but also any other country in the world. According to Microsoft, they abide by U.S. Department of Commerce's "safe harbor" framework when it comes to the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union. What about countries outside the European Union? Well, we don't know. There's no mention of that.

What About Cookies?

A cookie is placed on your hard drive when you use WindowsMedia.com. The cookie contains a unique identifier that allows WindowsMedia.com to generate anonymous visitor statistics. The cookies are also useful for vendors to determine the type of music you listen to. You have the ability to decline cookies, but then certain features of Windows Media, such as Radio Tuner presets, will not function properly. Here's what you agree to about cookies:

  • WindowsMedia.com can place cookies on your computer.

  • MSN also has the right to place cookies on your hard drive.

  • Any third party that WindowsMedia.com allows to display ads on WindowsMedia.com web sites also will have the right to place "persistent" cookies on your hard drive. These cookies may reveal your listening habits—more specifically, the requests made by Windows Media Player—so that the content providers can offer you personalized services. What else the third parties do with the information is up to them, and you need to read their privacy statements for more details.

NOTE

What, you mean that you don't keep track of all the content providers for all the streaming media you use at any given time, and read their privacy statements on a regular basis?

  • Any third party that MSN allows to display ads on WindowsMedia.com web sites also has the right to place "persistent" cookies on your hard drive.

I want to make a couple of additional comments on the issues of cookies and ads. As the privacy statement mentions, Microsoft doesn't control the cookies placed on your hard drive or the ads by third parties, so if any of these advertisers decide to place spyware on your computer, don't blame Microsoft—because you've already agreed to it.

Also, as mentioned earlier, you can turn off the cookies in Internet Explorer. However, you should be aware that when you make changes to cookies settings in Internet Explorer, those changes affect not only the Windows Media Player but also Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and any other program that may use cookies, as indicated in Figure 1.

Figure 1Figure 1





Privacy statements from other companies, such as IBM and Novell, pretty much include the same statements about cookies and ads. Oracle.com, however, uses a different language when they talk about cookies. They say that their cookies usually last anywhere between 30–365 days but some cookies may last longer. Translation: Oracle.com may use persistent cookies that never expire.

Links to Third-Party Retailers

To make it easier for you to make online purchases, WindowsMedia.com may include links to third-party retailers. Let's see what you're agreeing to when it comes to third-party links:

  • If you click any links on WindowsMedia.com and connect to third-party web sites, those sites in turn may place cookies on your computer. How they use your personal information is up to them. It's your responsibility to read their privacy statements. Needless to say, Microsoft's privacy statements don't apply to third parties.

  • Microsoft is not responsible for the privacy statements or the collection practices of these third parties. Therefore, if these third parties use spyware, Trojan horses, or any other means to collect your personal information, you agree that Microsoft is not to be blamed.

The section that deals with third-party links in the WindowsMedia.com privacy statement is pretty standard compared to the privacy statements of most web sites.

Use of Web Beacons

WindowsMedia.com web pages and the WindowsMedia.com newsletter may contain electronic images called web beacons. These beacons are also referred to as single-pixel GIFs. Their purpose is to count the users who have visited the web pages and to deliver co-branded services. They also help a vendor determine the time, date, cookie numbers, and other information related to the web pages you're visiting. As far as web beacons are concerned, you agree to the following:

  • WindowsMedia.com can use web beacons to determine the date and time of your web page visits and the description of the web page on which the beacon resides.

  • Any third party that does business with Microsoft can also place their own web beacons to determine the date, time, and description of the web pages you've visited.

Essentially, you agree that Microsoft, and every vendor in the world that does business with Microsoft, has the right to know your web browsing habits, including the date and time of the web pages that you were viewing and the description of those web pages. What the third parties do with that information is totally up to them.

Communicating with Streaming Media Servers

When you use Windows Media Player, you might listen to streaming audio or watch streaming video. Let's see what you're agreeing to:

  • When you play streaming audio, video, or radio stations on Windows Media Player, Microsoft will send the streaming media server a log. Microsoft doesn't typically operate these streaming media servers, so you agree that it's up to the content provider to decide how the logs are used and whether the logs are shared with other third parties.

  • The logs may include the following:

    • Billing and advertisement tracking

    • Connection time

    • IP address

    • OS version

    • Player version

    • Player identification number (Player ID)

    • Date

    • Protocol

    • And more...

In this article, we've only looked at the privacy statement for WindowsMedia.com. Because WindowsMedia.com has some close ties with MSN, as indicated by the references to MSN services, you might be interested in finding out how MSN collects and shares your personal information. Did you know that MSN collects information such as your email address, name, home or work address, telephone number, ZIP code, credit card number, billing address, age, gender, preferences, interests, and favorites? It then combines this data with information obtained from other Microsoft services, as well as all other companies. For more information, check out the link to MSN's privacy statement at the end of this article.

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Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020