more MSN spying

I just downloaded MSN Messenger 5 and noticed the addition of the "Customer Experience Improvement Program" which allows Microsoft to collect anonymous information about Messenger usage:

http://messenger.microsoft.com/support/sqm.asp

"Here are a few examples of the questions we are trying to answer through the data we collect:

What percent of people are unable to sign in to MSN Messenger?
What is the average time it takes someone to sign in?
What number of sent messages never reach the recipient?
What percent of people get disconnected when using MSN Messenger?
What percent of people are unable to establish an audio conversation? "

It's got a horrible yellow box at the top of the Contacts window asking you to register, just great, something else to annoy me along with all those tabs and adverts.

What do you think?

I think it's time for you to install Trillian (go to http://www.trillian.cc ) and to get rid of M$ spying policies.

One day, they will add in their products an agreement to lose all his civil rights.

KissCool -- I use Trillian, too, but if my MSN messages have to travel over the MSN network, wouldn't they be able to get most of that information anyway? I guess it would all depend on how the MSN IM protocol defines how valid messages are formed so the client can interpret them. However, if the server receives those messages first before the destination client (which should be how it works), they could potentially be scanning those packets for some "client" variable that announces the type of client being used, among other personal data. It's possible, I'm not saying that's what they do.

Wouldn't it be grand if someone would code a ICQ/AIM/MSN/Yahoo!/PowWow server clone so we wouldn't have to rely on corporate servers to talk to our friends?

If it ain't spying it ain't Micro$oft

That's for this reason that Trillian has capabilities to launch direct connections (as all the IMs) and to encode them in 128 bits.
Yes, I know, a better encoding or a SSl connection should better. But it's better than nothing. And M$ can't decently monitor everything.

***********
What kind of data is NOT collected?

We do not collect any personal data that might identify who you are. We do not collect your e-mail address or the names of the people on your contact list.
***********

They don’t need to collect this information, they all ready have it and it’s very easy for them to put the info they do collect together with it.

Although they state its totally voluntary, im sure they’ll be making a few ‘errors in judgment’ as to who agreed and who didn’t. It just wouldn't be good marketing practice to get it right.

If you download 5.0 from the link in msn messenger, I noticed it keeps your old version completly intact. It just installs a new msn. If you prefer the older version, just have windows load the old version rather then the newer one at start up and so on.

Personally I stay away from most if not all chat clients, ICQ went to basket not unlike Netscape after AOL bought them. At any rate just about every product M$ sells reports home and always it is said they do not use it but to improve customer service yet look at their new security release interface a newbie would spend hours there sever thousand cookies etc. One problem with most chat clients are the logs by default are on and most are in simple text hence they can be altered. Remember how many times words are twisted even live chat more can be done with logs and it's poses a huge security issue n business if the logs are not encrypted. Hell my new printer wants to talk to the web and it is for customer service in the EULA caught a few packets and what was really sent and took it back to Costco, yeah could say at the firewall this program cannot ever talk to the web, but ethics wise it is spyware plan simple and thy will not get my money again. Chat clients you are taking a huge security risk both from who makes the program but from those trusted chat pals you do not know real life. I'd go for the suggested client stated here and encourage the MSN messenger users over to it rather then they take you to that damn butterfly thing.