Interesting article from Fortune - on the one hand, it is comforting I suppose to see Microsoft (as well as other sites) concerned about the confidentiality aspects of harvesting contact information and correlating relationships across sites. On the other hand, if the quid-pro-quo "deal" aspect of this is true (see assertion below), then it's a pretty obvious how deep (not) that concern for members is...
Now, with the emergence of social networks like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, I've discovered to my happy surprise that my contact list has a hidden value far beyond my personal convenience. Sign up for virtually any social network these days, and you'll be asked if you want to upload your contacts. Click yes, and your computer will automatically check the names of your contacts against the names of registered users and, just like that, connect you with your in-network buddies.
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Since last summer, lawyers representing the company have been sending cease-and-desist letters to startups that offer new users the ability to import their Microsoft Hotmail contacts. In a move that Valley guys are deriding as ham-handed, Microsoft is offering a quid pro quo: Third-party sites can access Hotmail contacts if they make Microsoft's instant-messaging client available to their users - for 25 cents per user per year. Then the company says it will waive the fee if the sites make Messenger the exclusive in-network messaging client. Such a deal.
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Microsoft insists that its primary concern is our security. These little startups are storing your password along with your address book, says Brian Hall, general manager for Windows Live. "We want to make sure our data are kept between our users and our servers."
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