Microsoft has altered how the Windows Genuine Advantage software behaves after accusations that the program was "phoning home" very frequently turned out to be true. At a system boot, the WGA software would exchange data with Microsoft's servers, even if the installation of Windows XP had been confirmed as legitimate by the software at an earlier date.
Lauren Weinstein, co founder of People for Internet Responsibility, posted his findings on a blog and compared the tool's activity to that of spyware. "I fail to see where Microsoft has a 'need to know' for this data after a system's validity has already been established," Weinstein wrote. "I'll leave it to the spyware experts to make a formal determination as to whether this behavior actually qualifies the tool as spyware."
Windows Genuine Advantage has two main tasks, the first of which is "validation". The tool will check your XP installation and determine whether it is legitimate or pirated. If it is legit, then the second task will not go ahead. If the installation is pirated, then the second task, which is "notifications", will begin. Users running a pirate XP with WGA installed will start to receive messages with links to Microsoft's site to see the benefits of using legit software.
According to Microsoft, the validation tool does in fact send data back to Microsoft, but that the notifications tool is limited to the download of a new settings file which will enable Microsoft to update how often reminders are displayed and to disable the WGA program, if necessary. "No additional information is sent to Microsoft," said a company spokesperson. "Other than standard server log information, no information is collected."
Microsoft has changed the WGA tool to phone home only once every 2 weeks instead of every time the computer is booted. After Weinstein's post was discovered, he was contacted by two executives for a friendly chat. "We can argue about whether or not the tool's behavior is really spyware," Weinstein wrote. "I believe that the [Microsoft] officials I spoke to agree with my assertion that additional clarity and a more 'in your face' aspect to these notifications in such cases would be highly desirable."
Source:
Sci-Tech Today
Windows Genuine Advantage has two main tasks, the first of which is "validation". The tool will check your XP installation and determine whether it is legitimate or pirated. If it is legit, then the second task will not go ahead. If the installation is pirated, then the second task, which is "notifications", will begin. Users running a pirate XP with WGA installed will start to receive messages with links to Microsoft's site to see the benefits of using legit software.
According to Microsoft, the validation tool does in fact send data back to Microsoft, but that the notifications tool is limited to the download of a new settings file which will enable Microsoft to update how often reminders are displayed and to disable the WGA program, if necessary. "No additional information is sent to Microsoft," said a company spokesperson. "Other than standard server log information, no information is collected."
Microsoft has changed the WGA tool to phone home only once every 2 weeks instead of every time the computer is booted. After Weinstein's post was discovered, he was contacted by two executives for a friendly chat. "We can argue about whether or not the tool's behavior is really spyware," Weinstein wrote. "I believe that the [Microsoft] officials I spoke to agree with my assertion that additional clarity and a more 'in your face' aspect to these notifications in such cases would be highly desirable."
Source:
Sci-Tech Today
